Porter Square

Cambridge, MA

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Porter Square - Cambridge, MA Area Guide

A wholesome suburb with great shopping and commuter rails

Shopping College Town Suburban Restaurants Public Transit

A commuter-friendly destination in the city of Cambridge, Porter Square is known as a local shopping destination in this welcoming area. The Porter Square Shopping Center is an outdoor complex with well-known retailers, local businesses, and various restaurants such as coffee shops, diners, taverns, and more. Elm Street is a popular place to find all of your dining and shopping options, as well. Longstanding single-family homes make this neighborhood very unique with a family-friendly environment. Lesley University’s Porter Campus gives a youthful vibe to the neighborhood, and great public schools can be found nearby. Harvard University is just a few miles from Porter Square, and if you’re hoping to commute to nearby locations, the Porter Metro Station will take you through Cambridge, past Harvard, through Downtown Boston, and all the way into the suburbs of Quincy!

Getting Around

Very Walkable

Walkability

80 / 100

Exceptional Public Transit

Transit

90 / 100

Fairly Drivable

Drivability

40 / 100

Moderately Bikeable

Bikeability

70 / 100

Daily Essentials

Supermarket Within a 5 Minute Walk

Groceries

90 / 100

Great Restaurant Variety Nearby

Restaurants

80 / 100

Good Café Variety Nearby

Cafes

70 / 100

Good Variety of Shops Nearby

Shopping

70 / 100

Recreation

Exceptional Amount of Park Space Nearby

Parks

100 / 100

Exceptional Wellness Amenity Variety Nearby

Wellness

90 / 100

Local Vibe

Vibrant Atmosphere

Vibrancy

60 / 100

Fair Nightlife Variety Nearby

Nightlife

50 / 100

Extremely Noisy

Quiet Score

10 / 100

Points of Interest

Parks and Recreation

  • Harvard Museum of Natural History
  • Mineralogical and Geological Museum
  • Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
  • Longfellow National Historic Site
  • Mystic River Reservation

Airports

  • General Edward Lawrence Logan International

Top Apartments in Porter Square

Houses for Rent in Porter Square

Property Management Companies

Search Nearby Rentals

Methodology

† Our analysis of utilities, groceries, transportation, healthcare, home prices, and other goods and services is sourced from the Cost of Living Index, a respected benchmark published by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER) that provides a thorough overview of living expenses across different regions.

Rent data is provided by CoStar Group’s Market Trend reports. As the industry leader in commercial real estate information, analytics, and news, CoStar conducts extensive research to produce and maintain a comprehensive database of commercial real estate information. We combine this data with public record to provide the most up-to-date rental information available.

Consumer goods, services, and home prices are sourced from the Cost of Living Index published by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER). The data on this page is updated quarterly. It was last published in February 2026.

Demographic information comes from Neustar and combines detailed address data with U.S. Census and American Community Survey statistics to produce reliable local estimates.