Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> it was a real surprise those exist!

There used to be a store like that in Cambridge next to MIT where real estate was essentially free. We used to go to one where you just filed a plastic bag; the bag was weighed and you paid $1/lb. Great for parties and amazing finds.




Oh, I remember doing this - the Garment District? Looks like they are still around.


Oh yeah, that was their real name! I couldn’t remember as we always called it “dollar a pound”


The Garment District is the part upstairs that has cute vintage / upcycled ... Dollar a Pound is below.


No clue how they're handling post-covid but before they were still doing clothes by the pound as usual


One of my friends got jabbed by a used needle in a pair of pants he bought from Dollar a Pound. It was not a fun experience for him...

I liked the clothes I got from there though! I found a cool jacket once.


I used to go there in the 80s so that would have been considered “extra authentic”.

Yes, kids are dumb.


> next to MIT where real estate was essentially free

Is MIT built in/near a dump or something? Or you mean it was but definitely isn’t essentially free now? Or?


Basically yes. The very scungeiness and corruption of East Cambridge leant it charm. It wasn’t like Yale or Columbia, wealthy walled fortresses in poor neighborhoods. Nerds and blue collar folk lived tooth by jowl. And Kendall square was a wasteland of decaying industrial buildings and weed-filled concrete lots.

I went to high school in Boston (the city on other side of the river) which was much more dangerous. At MIT I never felt my life was in danger.


Yeah, that part of Cambridge was originally all industry. It’s been changing slower than you would think.


That was true historically but all of the real estate around MIT is now worth millions


It was literally called Dollar a Pound and it's where I got all my clothes as a teenager.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: