For years, if a friend asked where to meet you in Brookline, the answer defaulted to Coolidge Corner. The Coolidge Corner Theatre, the Thursday market behind it, Booksmith, the long walk down Harvard Street. That was the map.
The map changed this year. Cleveland Circle picked up a serious sushi anchor. Washington Square swapped a decade-long French fixture for a Colombian steakhouse. The Commonwealth Avenue strip near the BU line is quietly turning into its own restaurant row. Coolidge Corner is still the front porch, but it is no longer the whole house.
If you already live here, this is a summer to widen your radius. Here is where the new weight is, block by block.
Cleveland Circle finally has a reason to stay put
The Cleveland Circle end of Brookline has always been the place you passed through on the C line, not the place you got off. That is worth re-examining this year.
