Life Near HDS

Getting Around

Commuter Choice Program

The Commuter Choice Program site includes information about all kinds of local transportation options including resources for bicyclists. There are discounts at bike shops for Harvard students.

Harvard Shuttle

Major stops are at Memorial Hall, Pound Hall, Currier House, Mather House, Johnston Gate, the Science Center, JFK, and the Business School. Pocket-sized schedules with routes and times are available at the libraries, the Information Center, on the shuttles, and on the Transit & Fleet page of the Harvard Campus Services website. For information call 617.495.0400.

The MBTA

The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) is a great way to get around Cambridge and Boston and to explore neighboring communities. More commonly referred to as the "T," the MBTA offers subway, bus, ferry, and commuter rail systems. For instance, the Red Line subway starts at Alewife in Cambridge and reaches into Dorchester and Quincy. Complete maps of the system are available on their website.

The Office of Student Life offers a discount program to students who opt to buy monthly passes for any of the MBTA services for the fall and spring semesters.

Neighborhoods

These five squares are conveniently located centers of culture, cuisine, and commerce in Cambridge and Somerville. The following information is taken from The Unofficial Guide to Life at Harvard.

Harvard Square

The most "touristy" of the squares, Harvard Square is a handy place to know your way around. See www.harvardsquare.com.

Porter Square

The most commercial of the squares, Porter Square is home to the largest chain grocery store in the area (Shaw's Market), as well as a hardware/housewares shop (Tags) and a bevy of smaller shops arranged strip-mall style. Red Line to Porter, or walk NW on Mass Ave from Harvard Square.

Davis Square

The coolest of the squares, Davis Square is the place to go at night with plenty of bars, restaurants, and nightclubs (think jazz, blues, and folk music, not techno or dance). Red Line to Davis. To walk: cut through the Shaw's parking lot at Porter, go left on Elm and you’re there.

Central Square

The most "city-like" square in the increasingly gentrified Cambridge. Lies between Harvard and MIT. Red Line to Central. See www.centralsquarecambridge.com.

Inman Square

The least explored by Divinity School students, which is too bad because it is inherently cool and quirky. It is the only one of these five without its own T stop. See www.inmansquare.com.