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They tried, they really did, but Allston just can't keep Starbucks out
By adamg on Fri, 03/28/2014 - 10:06am
BostInno reports a Starbucks is coming to Allston. Granted, the LEED-certified, fancy-new-apartments side of Allston, rather than the gritter end where somebody re-opened a closed cafe to keep Starbucks out, but still.
People seeking a Starbucks-free existence will now have to move to Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Hyde Park or Mattapan.
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Comments
Well,
there goes the neighborhood.
That half of the neighborhood
went when those stupid LEED-certified buildings opened, and suddenly the sidewalks were plastered with chihuahua crap and swarmed with Bugaboo strollers.
LEED??
oh come-on... I've worked on section 8 housing projects that are LEED certified. Pretty much all new construction in MA (and especially anything built in a municipality that adopted the stretch code - which includes Boston) meets basic requirements for LEED certification - building owners really just have to fork out a couple thousand (not that much in terms of total construction cost), and maybe put in a couple bike racks or something to get certified - it's not that difficult. It's mostly just marketing.
Marketing it may be, but you know what I meant, right?
Allston consists in large part of pre-war buildings, but the past couple of years have seen construction of brand-spanking new buildings along that stretch of Comm. Ave. Compare with the area around Brighton and Harvard, which features such beauties as the immortal Bacon Arms.
Bacon Chambers!
Whether bacon arms might be kept inside of the Chambers, I don't know.
Also, I would hardly classify Refuge Cafe as "gritty."
Arrgh, my Allston-fu is failing
You're right, of course. Fortunately, Bacon Chambers is even better!
The cafe itself may not be gritty, but the intersection itself?
Strollers, oh my!
Can't have strollers. That would ruin the character of the vomit piles and trash in the street.
P.S. They really are opening a Starbucks up 2 blocks away from another one? Yikes.
i don't think there's a
i don't think there's a starbucks in Charlestown either. Or Roxbury.. Unless you count the one in the medical center which I consider fenway/longwood
You're right
There's no Starbucks in Charlestown. The nearest one might be in Fanueil hall, though they did just open one in Assembly. Surprisingly, the Navy Yard doesn't even have one.
Bygone Starbucks
The space that is now a liquor store inside the Packard's Corner Star Market was originally a Starbucks, back when the supermarket first opened.
Irish coffee
Starbucks recently announced they were going to explore alcohol service at their locations.
I wonder how many liquor licenses they will suck up in Boston.
I have a laugh at the people who say they don't like Starbucks - even though I like locally owned coffee shops (remember the wonderful Curious Liquids at Park and Beacon?) - they have an excellent business model and are refuges all over the world. What's not to like? It's a form of snobbery to be hatin' on Starbucks.
I really wish Hip Hyde Square
I really wish Hip Hyde Square would get a Starbucks. I think the 3 Dunkins on Centre within about a mile of eachother is proof so-called chain stores do not necessarily spell death and doom for a neighborhood.
starbucks in rozzie
would probably not be met with much opposition since there is currently no place you can get a latte or cappuccino - although it would be pretty easy to compete with them since their coffee isn't that good and their food items are no better than hotel continental breakfast. if someone can make a decent scone (and has good other pastries and bagels and stuff), has espresso drinks, and there's space to sit with a laptop or book... they'd do well.
I wish I had the money and good credit and knew enough about coffee and pastries to start this place.
Doesn't feel so new
That neighborhood already has a Starbucks mere blocks away on Harvard St. Even if it's technically across the border into Brookline, I've always thought of that area around the TJ Maxx as Allston.
Come to Union Sq (Somerville) for a non-Starbucks neighborhood
and choose between FOUR local coffee places: Bloc 11, Sherman, Fortissimo, and Cafe Tango.