And while her store has been fairly successful, Jaquerano says her daughter's attempt to open a bakery down the street was thwarted because she is from El Salvador.

"So many people complained for no reason," Jaquerano says. She says she knew the family who initiated the complaints about her daughter's bakery and when she sees them on the street they no longer greet her.

"I want to say, 'I don't understand you,' " Jaquerano says, "Why do you complain? Maybe is it because I'm Spanish, or because my daughter is Spanish?"

But D'Onofrio says that this tension is a symptom of the larger problem: People simply do not know each other any more.

Pulling Together

"Our neighborhood has always been a mix, and we've gotten along well," D'Onofrio says. "But now, we have gangs and gang-related graffiti, because the young ones don't know the seniors, members of one [nationality] don't know the other."

"The seniors don't know the kids on the street corner and they're afraid," she adds. "That gap builds fear."

D'Onofrio says she and other members of the East Cambridge Planning Committee are trying to get people to know each other again by planning dances and other neighborhood activities. Otherwise, she fears the human connection that was once so strong in East Cambridge will be lost.