(OK, not really.) If you live and work in Boston proper, or in Cambridge, or really anywhere other than Somerville, the ongoing saga of the development of Assembly Square feels like a distant local squabble. But for Somervillionaires, it's a big, exciting question: Will mayor (and assistant football coach at Somerville High) Joseph Curtatone be able to deliver on one of his major campaign promises and turn Assembly Square from a down-at-the-heels, semi-industrial wasteland to a prosperous, Ikea-having, retail and residential Shangri-La by the tranquil banks of the Mystic River?

Today, the Supreme Judicial Court brought Somerville one big step closer to redevelopment heaven, rejecting an appeal by two industrial landowners who challenged the city's plan to oust them from Assembly Square to make way for commercial and residential uses. Although this ruling does mean that the city could, eventually, take the land in question by eminent domain, it has none of the constitutional sexiness of that Supreme Court case out of Connecticut last year. In fact, although the outcome is significant, the case itself is downright boring, turning on the careful interpretation of redevelopment regulations. Still, for Somerville residents who long for more modern Swedish furniture and more affordable housing (this Bostonist is firmly in the latter camp but only partially in the former), the SJC decision is a big deal.

Photo: The parcel upon which Somerville's hopes and dreams rest, as seen from space.