On the corner of River and Kinnaird streets, fewer than ten blocks away from the concrete tower of Mather House, stands a true neighborhood bar.

For 42 years, residents of Cambridge's Riverside neighborhood have come to the charles River Sports Pub to shoot darts, shoot vodka, and shoot the bull after a long day's work.

"The neighborhood people are easygoing people," says owner Karen A Waldron, cracking open a bottle of Budweiser for one of the bar's regulars.

One regular patron, a retired fence company proprietor, says he frequents the bar because he feels comfortable there.

"This is probably the most cosmopolitan bar in the whole city," he says. "You can walk right in and mix right in. It's not a Harvard Square bar, but it's a neighborhood bar with neighborhood prices."

A giant Boston Celtics schedule covers one wall of the bar, and a poster of Cambridge Rindge and Latin's most famous alumnus--New York Knick Patrick Ewing--graces the opposite wall.

In fact, the all-star basketball player often returns to the bar, which backs up to Hoyt Field, the playground where Ewing shot hoops as a Cambridge youngster.

"When he comes back, he drops in, says hi, and has a few drinks," sys Kenneth L. Preston, a disabled veteran who says he comes to the bar "all the time."

The pub's dedicated patrons say the bar is a microcosm of Riverside, the Cambridge neighborhood in which it is located.

"This is proof that diversity can work. The new immigrants don't bother me at all," says Robbie Hahn, a 39-year-old lifelong resident of Riverside. "I know the names of almost everyone in this neighborhood."

According to city officials, Riverside extends from the Charles River to Mass. Ave. and is bordered by River Street and JFK Street. While Riverside technically includes Harvard's River Houses, many neighborhood residents hesitate to number Harvard students among their own.

Riverside residents say the neighborhood's diversity is its strongest asset.

"It's always been the most racially and ethnically diverse neighborhood in the city," says Cambridge City Councillor Michael A. Sullivan, whose family has represented Riverside for over fifty years.

On the corner of Howard and Callender streets sits a monument to Riverside's diversity, the Cambridge Community Center.

Eighty children of dozens of racial backgrounds come here each day after school to study and play, according to Dawn Swan, executive director of the community center.