The Davis Square Community

If you are talking about the one at the intersection of Somerville Ave and Elm Street, next to the Starbucks and the Subway....

It is the opposite of posh.

I had a broken washing machine and subsequent flood and I needed to go somewhere I could park near the door since my clothes were all wet and dirty and heavy. I went there. You can't use coins. You have to pay a deposit on a plastic card..something like $3. You can get your $3 back at the end of the night if you can manage to track down someone who works there before you leave. Then you have to put money in a machine but you can't put in the amount of money you need, you have to put in more because it only takes whole bills, no coins. Then you use the cards in the washing machines which do not cost whole dollars, but that doesn't matter because the amount you put on the card is not refundable, only the $3 deposit is refundable.

All the washers are different sizes and they do have a wide variety of sizes and rather newish machines, price varies by size. So say you pick the size that costs $7.25. Well you might just as well pick the bigger machine that costs $7.95 because you are going to have to pay them $8 to use either one of those washing machines anyway because remember you can only pay in whole dollars and they don't refund the remaining cash on your card so you are going to lose that $.75 or $.05 no matter which machine you pick. This wouldn't bother me so much if they just were honest and charged an even $8 for the machine. Let's say you go there and you only have a $20 bill, too bad, you'll end up with an extra $12 left over on your card and they don't refund. You can keep the card and use it again on another visit to try and use up your extra $12, but you'll end up paying more in the long run because you can never use up all the money you put on your card. There will always be some left over. Plus you already invested in the $3 deposit which only gives you the privilege of getting a plastic card to put more money on. Sure the dryers are free, but the washing machines are certainly no bargain.

As for comfort, they have hard plastic chairs, but most of them are not in a convenient location. As for entertainment, well maybe some family will be there and you can watch their kids run around the laundromat, but that is it, because they have no TV, no internet, nothing.

If you are lucky you will get a free dryer, but most people put a small amount of their clothes in each of the many free dryers so that their clothes all dry faster. If they are all busy, you can choose to pay for another dryer that is not free, but I think usually you can get one of the free ones if you are vigilant.

I was so glad when I got my new washer. I felt so bad for people who had to use that laundromat regularly. Years ago there was a different laundromat in that exact same location which was kind of homey and friendly, a place to hang out. It went out and there were big renovations going on for quite a while only to reveal a new very un homey and un friendly laundromat in its place.