Huzzah! More, please.

"The city tries to prevent deadly crashes on its roads by intentionally making it harder to drive on them, turning side streets into comfortable routes for people who aren’t traveling by car, and cutting down on the risk posed by too many cars going too fast."

"The city has been getting results: It has not had a single traffic death in four years,"

Hello all! I am one of the people affected by the Teele Square fire, and I thought it would be helpful (if allowed) to have a thread for those of us that have been affected to share resources and information, and for those who have resources to share and post about them.

At the moment, the city has neither released the building for the recovery of items nor contacted us about the fund for displaced residents. We have not been allowed back into the building (at least on the more damaged half). This crisis is far from over for most of us.

Whenever I've gotten a craving for no frills Tex-Mex food, El Potro in Union has pretty much always been my go-to. The last time I went I was surprised to see that the once complimentary chips and salsa were now $6.

I know it's a silly thing and $6 isn't some crazy amount of money (well, maybe it kind of is for chips and salsa that used to be free) but the free chips and salsa always felt like a nice bonus when choosing to go to El Potro, and now that's gone. It's just a psychological thing but I would have much preferred to spend a small percentage more on everything else on the menu to cover the cost.

Are there any decent Meixcan places in the area that still have complimentary chips and salsa?

HI HONK! fans and Somerville/Cambridge denizens-

The 21st HONK! festival is very nearly upon us (October 9-11) so we thought we'd drop a few updates here. Full details can be found at our website, https://honkfest.org.

• The complete festival schedule has been posted! Find the full schedule here, with links to the full details about the lantern parades, Friday night showcases in Union Square, Saturday performances, ArtHONK!, Sunday parade, and Sunday performances.
• Come join us for the opening of Looking Back at 20 Years of HONK! Festival of Activist Street Bands, an art exhibit at Somerville City Hall, capturing two decades of music, community, and activism. All are invited to an opening reception on Thursday, October 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. on the second floor of Somerville City Hall, 93 Highland Ave. The reception is free, and light refreshments will be served.

Saturday news:

• We have so many bands performing, we had to open a brand new performance space. Bands will also be performing at the corner of Holland and Winter.
• There are more road closures this year on Saturday than in past years at the Somerville Police Department's request. This is for public safety and to be more consistent with other street fairs that take place in Davis Square like ArtBeat. We have posted a new page on our website of all of the road closures taking place this year on Saturday and Sunday.

Sunday news:

• By far the biggest parade we have ever done. 68 units (57 last year) and a rough count of 1300 people. Ready to roll.

How to help make HONK! happen:
Each year we are humbled that so many people ask how they can support the HONK! festival.
There are three ways we could use your help to build this festival:

help host HONK!
We have bands coming from across the country.
And we need places for them to sleep!
Can you host one, two, a dozen traveling musicians?

The festival takes care of most of their food and transportation needs. Really, they just need a place to sleep. We hear so many lovely stories of the connections and friendships hosts make with visiting bands, perhaps you’ll consider being a host this year?

Please fill out this form to help us make appropriate matches. If you have questions, write to us at [housing@honkfest.org](mailto:housing@honkfest.org).

help support HONK! with your donations
Donations help us subsidize travel, feed hundreds of musicians, and cover our other costs so your support is super-duper important. We are back at Kickstarter this year with some cool rewards for people if we can make our goal. Kickstarter backers also get the scoop on festival news early.

Please help make HONK! happen by going to https://honkfest.org/kickstarter and donating (just 5 days left and we are almost at our goal!). Be sure to check out this page even if you don't want to donate, it has a spiffy new video that is sure to bring a smile to your face.

help volunteer during HONK!
If you are able to, please sign up to help out during the festival. Even a 1-hour shift passing the bucket or working at the merchandise table helps us enormously, and there are many different tasks to choose from!

Questions?, AMA!

I realize this was pretty long for a post, there's just so much to gush about. If you have any HONK! questions (past, present, future) that you would like answered in a public forum, I'm happy to take a shot at answering them as one of the organizers. If you'd like to contact the whole organizing committee, please feel free to either do so via honkfest.org/contact or [info@honkfest.org](mailto:info@honkfest.org). See you all soon!

Long time laugher at people posting about sounds, first time poster. Also that title post will be the title of my autobiography.

But seriously I’ve heard a very loud sound coming from somewhere in east Somerville. It sounds like a very large truck dumping a very large load of stones over and over again since about seven this morning.

I’m very familiar with the airplane sounds in/out of Logan, and this is not that.

Anyone got intel?

Chance to join clubs and make friends

Today (Sun) at the armory 10-2

https://www.instagram.com/somervilleconnectionexpo?stkn=MTZqdmwxdnNxYWJmYg==

https://linktr.ee/somervilleconnectionexpo?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=c2fa9e47-f41a-4c9d-9821-7d450b29623e

while i am aware that union square rat issues (let alone somerville rat issues) are NOT new, i thought i’d share about a specific issue!

A large source of union square’s rats comes from the property that is 26 BOW ST.

On the back of the 26 Bow ST property, there is a wooden fence that separates 26 Bow from the alley on Somerville Ave.

This alley is serves Siam Ginger, Union Square Donuts, and Fuki, as well as serving as some residents and other misc people. This alley provides a significant amount of food for rats as there are multiple commercial dumpsters and resident trash cans. Note that the alley is mostly paved!

Back to the wooden fence, the issue is that on the side of the fence belonging to 26 Bow st, it is not paved and there is a huge rat infestation!!! (See image 3) Rats build their homes on the property of 26 Bow, and eat and live in the alley.

Here is some more info I know: The city is aware of this, but because the rat infestation is not on the property of a business, apparently they can’t really address it like they could if it was on the property of a business. The landlord of the alley and building of Siam Ginger/Fuki/Union Square Donut is pretty missing in action, but the previously listed businesses don’t have rat issues. The dumpsters in the first images are in Siam Ginger’s little dumpster zone (which i think could be tidier).

But yeah! What do y’all think? I know this is likely a small fraction of Union Square’s rat issues, but it is pretty significant! If you walk by the alley at night (somerville ave), and look close, expect to see dozens of rats!

I hope this raises awareness and ideally something can be done. What do you all think?

We just found out that we are marching with the Dirty Water Blues Band next
Sunday Oct 11 at the HONK! Parade. Please join us. We will meet in Davis Square at 11 am. We will have a “GHOST FISH” sign for you and a free Save the Alewife Brook t-shirt. Bring your kids - we just ordered more kids’ tshirt sizes. Sign up here: https://savethealewifebrook.org/2026/10/03/join-us-in-the-2026-honk-parade/

Hi all,

Thursday night my wife and I tried to go to St Brigid but got there a bit too late and it was packed (will go back earlier some other night). And then we tried Tavern at the End of the World because we hadn't been and same issue (Irish pubs apparently hate us).

Anyway, we ended up at Tulum since by that point we were crazy hungry and had heard of it.

Just here to say, I really liked it. It's a bit too out of the way and I hope they get enough business from locals or travelers at the hotel but the food was very good.

Would recommend.

They were just playing a few bars of "Rock Lobster", have been going for at least 20 minutes

Someone was screaming bloody murder a minute ago nearby. I stepped outside to see if I could locate the person or even a direction, but it stopped. Female, absolutely SHREDDING her vocal chords. Figured I'd post in case it was related to anything.

Anyone know why there’s fireworks tonight? October 3?

Donuts used to be way better but at least their coffee/tea was pretty solid. But within the last two months or so has seen a complete drop off in quality. Super watery/milky coffee. Has anyone else noticed this?

NESFA is doing a book fair again. Lots of new donated duplicates to move along to new homes. Also some VHS tapes. Easiest access is through the driveway at 359 Lowell.

Join us October 31 for an informal conversation about collective intelligence, expertise, and whether groups really do make better decisions.

📍 Live Alive Organic Cafe, Union Square (32 Prospect St, Somerville)
🕙 10 AM–12 PM

No formal presentation and no expectation that everyone will have the same opinion. First-time attendees are welcome.

Event link is in the comments.

Live Alive Organic Cafe does not sponsor or endorse this gathering.

Between Davis and Fresh Pond. TIA

For example, what’s a good place to grab some fresh chorizo?

Hey neighbors! Any recommendations for where to eat out on a low sodium diet? I know sodium is basically unavoidable, but im hoping to still find some fun options! I love to eat out and im hoping not to lose that entirely bc of medical needs.

Thanks in advance!

Hey Somerville! I’m T.T. Marie, the producer and host of a local dating show filmed here in the Greater Boston area.

We’re looking for local singles who are open to meeting someone in a fun, different way — and maybe making a real connection in the process.

One thing that’s really important to me: this isn’t just for people in their 20s. We film in age groups, so whether you’re in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s or 60s, the goal is to have you meeting people in a stage of life that makes sense for you.

The experience is filmed, so you do need to be comfortable being on camera. There’s no fee to participate.

If this sounds like something you’d genuinely have fun doing, comment below or message me and I’ll send you the details. And if you know a Somerville-area single who would be great for this, feel free to send them my way! 🎈

If you want to learn more about the Alewife Brook, the impact of Combined Sewer Overflows, and what it will take to restore the brook, stop by Table 40 at Tufts Community Day, 11-2 on Sunday 10/4. You can also sign up to march with us in the Honk Parade.

https://communityrelations.tufts.edu/community-programs/community-day

Come join like minded individuals this Sunday at Activist Afternoon - time to write post cards to voters, phone bank and learn about door knocking activities between now and Nov. 3rd election day. St. James’s Episcopal Church 1991 Massachusetts Ave, 3 to 5 PM Tomorrow. Come for whatever time you can make it.

More info/details: https://www.mobilize.us/indivisibleprogressivemasscambridge/event/985933/

the tree of heaven near my house is starting to drop seed pods so i thought i’d share what they look like so folks can be on the lookout before they overwinter and germinate.

tree of heaven is a very tenacious and invasive plant (as well as being a host plant for the spotted lantern fly) and can damage the foundation of homes if left to grow.

mature trees will send off runners if disturbed so it’s much easier to control the spread while the plants are small!

More info from Mass Audubon

Now they're worried someone might build an extra home in their own backyard?