I used to live in Somerville and moved to Lowell because the rent is much cheaper. I would be happier and would rather live in Cambridge, JP or Brookline than Lowell. I appreciate your candor, but people I know and don't know would never choose to live in Lowell if they could live in Cambridge, Brookline and JP. There is more public transit, grocery stores that are walking distance, diverse in various ways, residents are civically engaged, Cambridge and Boston have property tax breaks if the unit is owner occupied, you are closer to the airport, amtrak and sports venues. I can go on and on...

Downtown does not look nice. It's okay. City leaders should look at what Salem has done with their downtown and we need to bring in more commercial businesses so property taxes won't be so high.

I also like Owl's and have purchased takeout from there and ate at home.

Has anyone tried the new cafe by the train station? It's called Dragonfly.

I had some avocado toast there and it was good, but haven't tried anything else.

I am in the same boat. It would be good to have a decent conversation.