Early each morning, Steve Buckley pulls up to the curb by the Someday Coffeehouse in Somerville. He parks on the traffic-filled street and strolls inside to find a steaming double latte and a bagel with cream cheese waiting for him and several regulars greeting him cheerfully.

And though Buckley shells out a few dollars on the breakfast, the small-town feeling in the urban town is something "you can't put a price on," he says.

Buckley is just one of the many Cantabrigians who have packed their bags and left Cambridge since the end of rent control three years ago pushed up prices on middle-income housing.

And three years later, Cambridge is slowly changing. Residents are, on average, a little wealthier; rents have predictably skyrocketed; political activism is on the decline.

But perhaps the biggest change is the hole left by the emigration of longtime Cantabrigians to lower-rent neighboring towns like Somerville.

As Somerville tries to hold on to its trademark ethnic diversity and urban feel in the wake of the Cantabrigian influx, Cambridge is losing the same battle as some of its most vocal groups diminish.

The End of an Era

According to a recent survey sponsored by the city of Cambridge, roughly 20 percent of residents who lived in rent-controlled buildings have left Cambridge altogether.

Somerville was a natural place for them to turn. Having voluntarily stopped rent control in the 1970s, it was relatively unaffected by the 1994 state referendum which ended rent control on Jan. 1, 1995.

It has remained cheaper than Cambridge for lack of a sizable university population which, due to high demand for property and the relatively high income of academics, tends to drive up prices, says James Bretta, executive director of the Somerville Community Development Department.

Barbara Cassessl of the Somerville Election Commission confirms that, since the end of rent control, a large number of voters previously registered in Cambridge are now Somerville residents.

Most are members of the lower-middle class, the income group hit hardest by the end of rent control.

While richer tenants could afford the increase in rent--which has increased an average of 15 percent since the end of rent control--and Cambridge's public housing was assisted with state aid, those in the lower-middle income bracket frequently left the city in search of cheaper quarters.

Since the end of rent control, the proportion of Cambridge renters with incomes greater than $60,000 has gone up from 14 to 25 percent, while those making between $20,000 and $60,000 fell from 62 to 55 percent, according to the city's Rental Housing Study, published in 1997.

"A lot of Cambridge residents have had to move out of the city because of the end of rent control and because prices have skyrocketed," says Cambridge City Councillor Katherine Triantafillou. "It's driving out the lower- and moderate-income families."

"Cambridge is becoming [made up of] poorer and more economically advanced people," says Glenn S. Koocher '71, the host of a weekly cable talk show and a former Cambridge School Committee member.

"The middle class may find themselves either forced out or tempted out because of the high yield for houses," he says.

Indeed, this was one incentive for Buckley to switch cities.

"I got a whole lot more house in Somerville [for the same price]," he says.

Besides the lower rents, Somerville also offers a little taste of old-time Cambridge in terms of its ethnic makeup, political activism and local flavor.

But not all Somerville transplants were initially excited about moving to the town that some Cantabrigians derogatorily termed "Slummerville."

"When I was living in Cambridge, I used to think of Somerville as the wrong side of the tracks," says Fred Preffer, who moved to Somerville from Cambridge four years ago, "I found it a lot easier to breathe around here [in Somerville]. There isn't a sense of exclusivity; it's a freer and much more tolerant setting," he says.

Rep. Patricia D. Jehlen (D-Somerville) agrees.

"The image is changing," she says. "Traditionally, there was a lot of prejudice against the city," and it was not until the Red Line T stop at Davis Square was built that the city became more accessible and trendy.

The Political Arena

The emigration of middle class Cantabrigians and corresponding influx of wealthier people have taken their toll on the vibrant political life within the city of Cambridge.

According to city officials, voter turnout at municipal elections fell to an all-time low of 40 percent in 1997, while in Somerville, though lower than Cambridge's, the turnout was consistent with previous years--around 30 percent. And City Council watchers say there is now a lower number of community speakers at once-packed council meetings.

"Poorer people are leaving the city and are being replaced by people where, although there may be a progressive social conscience, a larger number of people don't seem to be interested in local elections," Koocher says.

"The new people who are coming in have no reason to be interested in city government," he says.

John R. Pitkin, president of the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Association, sees the same political indifference in the new residents.

"It's definitely becoming gentrified," he says. New residents in Central Square "could care less" about politics, he says.

And while Somerville absorbs Cantabrigians, political life is as active as ever.

"You won't find another city that's more politically active," says Jack Hamilton, who directs the Somerville Community Action Agency, which provides legal advocacy to low-income tenants and immigrants.

"Somerville has historically been one of the most political cities in greater Boston," agrees Somerville Mayor Michael E. Capuano. "We play [politics] as a contact sport over here."

Death of Advocacy

The defeat of rent control advocacy in Cambridge combined with its unique structure of city government may help explain different levels of political activism in the two cities.

Some Cantabrigians say that the clout ofadvocacy groups--traditionally a big part of thecity's political life--has been declining, theresult of rent control's abolition.

"The demise of rent control and the inabilityof rent control advocates to reach a meaningfulaccommodation--because of the stridency of some ofthe tenant advocates--means that serious damage tothe cause of advocacy has been done, in manyrespects," Koocher says.

"The terms of political engagement havechanged," says Charles M. Sullivan, the executivedirector of the Cambridge Historical Commission.

"The rent control gave people a very specificfocus and a lot of leverage over city politicsthat is not there now," he continues.

Moreover, the two cities differ in the electionof their officials. In Cambridge the mayor iselected by the city council, and candidates forthe council are ranked by voters, not electedindividually.

In Somerville, both the mayor and 11 aldermen,Somerville's version of city councilors, arepopularly elected.

In Capuano's opinion, this system makesSomerville more political because voters mustspecifically select one candidate and are forcedto separate themselves into distinct camps,polarizing the political system.

"That makes politics a lot tougher," Capuanosays.

Diversity and Distinction

One attraction for the residents--new andold--of Somerville is the city's strong ethniccommunities.

"I found Somerville to be everything thatCambridge used to be; it's more ethnicallydiverse," says Steve Buckley, a Herald columnistwho moved to Somerville from Cambridge three yearsago.

Between the 1990 census and the rental housingsurvey, Cambridge's white, non-Hispanic populationgrew from 71.6 to 76 percent.

In the meantime, Somerville has become morediverse.

Between the 1980 and 1990 censuses,Somerville's non-white population has nearlytripled, according to Bretta, as immigrant groupsfrom Southeast Asia and Central America began tojoin the older Irish and Italian populations.

Bretta says Somerville "has always been a verymixed community," known for its "ethnic variety."

Jehlen agrees, "It's been a first stop forimmigrant groups through this century. We have agood mix of populations, a mix of incomes, a mixof ethnic groups."

Older immigrant groups, most notably the Irishand the Italians, have a strong foothold in citypolitics. Hamilton remembers what used to betermed "Gaelic-Garlic" friction in the city'spolitical arena.

Now, however, newer immigrant groups areemerging and influencing politics. Hamilton saysSomerville's Haitian, Brazilian and El Salvadorianaction groups are some of the city's most vocalpolitical organizations.

But now, another group of immigrants is makingits mark on the Somerville community.

"The new wave of immigrants are Cambridgepeople," Capuano says, laughing.

A Second Harvard Square?

Residents, recent transplants and Cantabrigiansalike compare Somerville now to Cambridge 25 yearsago in terms of politics, demographics andcommerce.

To start with, the influx of new residents fromCambridge is beginning to push up rents inSomerville, putting the city on the path togentrification.

Davis Square is particularly reminiscent of'70s-era Cambridge.

Hamilton's description of Harvard Square in1970 matches Davis today. It offered mom-and-popdrugstores instead of CVS and local restaurantsinstead of Bertucci's.

"Davis Square is its own up-and-coming,exciting community," Preffer says, but he addsthat "Davis is heading into a far more developedsituation than it has been. It's growing."

Buckley agrees. "Davis Square is what HarvardSquare used to be. It's not all caught up in thecommercialism yet," he says.

But the wary "yet" tone Buckley uses ismirrored by many Somerville residents.

"Davis is Somerville, in many ways," Capuanosays, "and our concern is that it doesn't getoverdeveloped."

And Somerville residents are taking a cue fromtheir neighbors, trying to divert their city fromgoing the way of Cambridge.

"If [Cambridge] doesn't put some brakes ondevelopment, I see us as becoming overdeveloped,and congested, with the quality of lifedeclining," Triantafillou says.

Meantime, Buckley says he worries that thethings he loves about Somerville--"the eclecticmix of people, the ethnicity, the littlestores"--may be driven out by the influx of moreaffluent residents.

Preserving the Cities

Capuano says the city's government andneighborhood groups are trying to keep Somervilleuniquely Somerville.

A priority of the Community DevelopmentDepartment is to keep the city affordable, Brettasays.

Sullivan, learning from Cambridge's experience,says the city's intervention may be necessary.

"Community pressure alone is not enough to stopdevelopment short," he says.

In the meantime, Cambridge is trying to stemthe tide, allotting $4.5 million in city taxes tosupport affordable housing, according to the citymanager's office.

"Unless we somehow get a handle on thisaffordability issue, I don't think we're going tobe able to get the kind of mix that we used tohave," Triantafillou says.

"Prices are getting so high that regular folkscan't afford it," she says.

Bretta is hopeful that Somerville will not loseitself as it absorbs Cantabrigians.

Somerville is "going to continue to become abit more rich, a bit more upscale, with a higherhousehold income," he says. "The challenge toeverybody that's here is to make sure that it'salways a place for the workingman. That's whatSomerville's always been about."

"If it loses that, it has lost its raisond'être," Bretta says.CrimsonDavin J. ChewSAVING SOMERVILLE: Somerville MayorMICHAEL E. CAPUANO hopes to preserve the city'sunique character amid an influx of newresidents.