After having lived in the Back Bay/South End vicinity for the previous three years, I have now been in Mid-Cambridge, smack in the middle of Central and Inman Squares, for the last 15 months and cannot recommend this neighborhood highly enough. Central and Inman are both short walks, and Harvard and Kendall are not much further. Great proximity to restaurants, bars, highways (Mass Pike, Sturrow, Rte. 2), and public transportation. And it's affordable and has a great neighborhood feel.