Cambridge Real Estate

Cambridge sits directly across the Charles River from Boston and was laid out in 1630 as Newtowne, taking its current name in 1638 after the English university town. Harvard has been here since 1636 and MIT moved to the riverfront in 1916. Between the two campuses the city grew as a chain of squares (Harvard, Central, Kendall, Inman, Porter and Lechmere), each ringed by blocks of wood-frame houses, brick apartment buildings and, more recently, glass lab towers.

Massachusetts Avenue ties most of it together, running from Porter through Harvard and Central before crossing the Harvard Bridge into Back Bay, with the Red Line below. Cambridge Common, where Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775, anchors Harvard Square. Fresh Pond Reservation circles the city reservoir, Danehy Park fills a former landfill in North Cambridge, and Memorial Drive follows the river past the boathouses.

One practical point for buyers is that the Cambridge Historical Commission oversees two local historic districts (Old Cambridge and Fort Washington) and four neighborhood conservation districts (Avon Hill, Half Crown-Marsh, Harvard Square and Mid-Cambridge). Exterior changes there go through review, so it helps to know a property's status before planning an addition or new windows.