But Valentine says he sees many benefits of the new Central Square. “Major construction’s going on, good things are coming into Boston,” he says—and he appreciates that, even with the changes, Boston’s historical heritage lives on.

Other locals say they can’t even see what he’s complaining about.

“They’ve revitalized the square—before it was, I don’t want to say dumpy or seedy, but dark. Now it’s more nice,” says John W. Richardson, a 27-year-old who has lived near Central all his life.

Similarly, Sarah Boyer discounts claims about increased commercialization.

“It’s always been a retail area,” she says.

For Boyer, however, the recent changes have brought a decrease in diversity and closeness of community, but she says she is optimistic about the future.

“I would like the neighborhoods back, [and] if we can’t go back to the past we could find new ways of making it a community because it is a community, a strong community,” she says.

“I would like to see people get together to build a better Central Square. I don’t think Central Square should be all fast food restaurants, ethnic restaurants...I want to see more varied goods and services. We seem to get the same retail stores, and they’re not relevant to the various residents of Central Square.”

Pearl Neil, a longtime Cambridge resident, also says she is optimistic about the commercialization process.

“They’re doing a good job. They just need to keep building shops. Everything’s changing—but it’s you young folk who have to deal with it,” Neil says. “It’s a nice little community to shop—lots of people don’t have cars, and they can get here by bus.”

—Staff writer George B. Bradt can be reached at gbradt@fas.harvard.edu.