Along with the growth in business has been a huge increase in human traffic, meaning that Kendall is bustling from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p. m. but quiet after 6 p.m. and most of the weekend. And so most restaurants and shops are not open in the evening or on the weekends.

The lack of activity in Kendall is a source of irritation for MIT students and residents, and some say the changes that have happened over the past decade have done little to improve student life.

"The campus itself has a sense of cohesion, but a lot of people only see Kendall as a place to work and get lunch," says Wendy Russell, who lives with her husband in the East Gate, which is MIT housing for students with families.

"The stores don't open on the weekend, and it seems that they're only open for the business community, and not the people who live here," she says.

But many residents were happy to have public transportation easily accessible, to go into more lively destinations.

"On the weekends we take the bus, go across the bridge and into Boston or up Mass Ave. towards Harvard Square, because nothing is going on here at night," says MIT first year Ariya Dararutana.

And while both Harvard and Kendall Squares have an Au Bon Pain, a Bank Boston and their respective Coops, Kendall is noticeably different in its lack of retail stores and small businesses.

Several small businesses do still survive in Kendall, some of which are housed in the renovated Kendall Building, which sits across the street from a newly constructed metal statue of the world.