CCC Overview of 2024 Cambridge Decisions

Cambridge City Council:  photograph by KyleKlein

An overview of 2024, including City Council and School Committee decisions.

2024 

Here are some of the highlights:

2024 CAMBRIDGE AND ISSUES AROUND TRANSIT 

• The city witnessed an unprecedented 3 bicycling fatalities in 2024.  Outside expertise at this point is necessary to address these tragedies and problems relating to bicycling, pedestrian and safety, more generally.
• The percent of city residents who bike to work remains quite low (at around 7-9%) with even fewer during student vacation periods and inclement weather or  winter months. HERE  Despite these issues, Cambridge was named among the best U.S. cities for biking (72 out of a possible 100 cities) in this year's rating: HERE  
• Cambridge continues to suffers from a failed area public transport system (MBTA) and to date the city has not provided any replacement for it: HERE
• A 2023 poll found that 70% of MBTA riders feel unsafe at least once or twice due to the condition of the trains, buses, stations, and other infrastructure. And MBTA's service levels remain below pre-pandemic levels: HERE
• Cambridge streets have become clogged with traffic, and the time needed to reach work and other destinations has increased substantially.
• Resident concerns about the redesign of key streets are rarely addressed. A recent policy order to reverse Garden Street submitted by Councillor Toner did not require city staff to make the needed changes but simply to explore it. Residents living on or near both Brattle and  Broadway are also voicing reservations.

 
2024 CAMBRIDGE AND THE ENVIRONMENT 

• The city hired an inaugural Climate Officer, Julie Wormser, to address our challenging environmental concerns. This is a positive step. It is not clear however how closely the current city manager and Councillors will support policies that reflect our key climate change needs.
• We are facing significant losses in our tree street canopy (most of which are not going to be replaced). And the 44% of our tree canopy on private property will likely face serious losses if the proposed citywide redevelopment plan is approved as now written, leaving only 5’ at the sides and rear of new residences city wide. This plan, if enacted, will likely remove a number of existing mature trees and will make it impossible to add new ones.
• More tree losses are also part of city plans to reframe and redesign Linear Park as well as other plans. 
• Serious problems with sewage and flooding continue to impact  Cambridge and Arlington residents in the Alewife brook area among other parts of the city. 
• The proposed citywide urban renewal or redevelopment up-zoning plan (see below), will likely lead to the demolition of still sustainable homes to make way for new far more expensive luxury homes. A key problem with home demolitions is CO2 emissions. “It takes 10 to 80 years for a new building that is 30 percent more efficient than an average-performing existing building to overcome, through efficient operations, the negative climate change impacts related to the construction process.” HERE
• Demolishing and rebuilding rather than renovating a structure of 3,000 SF structure results in a loss of 126 metric tons of embedded CO2 which is roughly equivalent 44,048 gallons of gasoline emissions being released into the atmosphere. Renovating an older home, rather than demolishing and replacing it, equates to removing 93 cars from the road for an entire year. Architect and former AIA president, Carl Elefante, famously said “The greenest building is the one that already exists.” HERE
• Demolishing and rebuilding also necessitates the use of less high quality wood. Most contemporary buildings use "new growth" trees, which are less dense and have less structural integrity than "old growth" timber long used in older structures. This results in less longevity in newer homes, and the need to repair or replace them more frequently, causing still more environmental harm.

2024 IN CAMBRIDGE FINANCIAL ISSUES

• “Tech Heavy Cambridge Struggles with Office Vacancies” reads an August 5, 2024 Bizjournal article, also noting that “A 20-story office tower now hitting the market 'may be the first to deliver vacant.” HERE  While we are not as bad off as other nearby cities, and the exact number of vacancies fluctuate, commercial taxes remain a key concern for Cambridge since our tax rolls depend on this number.
• City Council is responsible for the city budget, one that has mushroomed to $1 billion this year (larger than some countries). Particularly worrisome, as Councillor Zusy has noted the sizable amounts for debt service. HERE
• In light of this massive budget, City Council voted to raise Residential (Property) taxes significantly: 7.3 percent overall with increases on condos (highest), followed in turn by 1-, 2-, and 3-family homes. The result will be not only hefty increases in apartment rental costs, but also the forcing out of the city of some of our lower- and middle-income families who simply cannot bear the cost of these property tax increases.  See discussion HERE
• City residents are also facing a massive cost increase by Eversource: estimated at 25%-30% in gas fees alone.  HERE
• While our city taxes are lower than many other area cities, the current traffic situation,  pubic transportation issues, the decline in local businesses, and added heat island impacts, are problematic.

 
2024 IN CAMBRIDGE SCHOOLS

• In February, Cambridge launched free preschool to 4-year-olds and some 3-year-olds. Finding school sites and teachers, as well as organizing the acceptance of new students were some of the issues that had to be tackled.
• In July, Interim School Superintendent, David Murphy, was chosen to replace outgoing Superintendent, Victoria Greer. The latter had been asked to resign by a 5-2 vote, in large part as a result declining school-related evaluation.
• In August, the School Committee met for the first time at a joint round table with City Council to address a number of issues – a positive move.
• In December, School Committee members voted to renovate the Kennedy Longfellow School, which will return to classrooms in a format perhaps consistent with some of the more popular school programs.

 
2024 IN CAMBRIDGE HOUSING (SEE ALSO Special Alert on Housing below)

• Finding housing numbers in Cambridge remains a complex process. After a number of months of push back in 2024, the city finally admitted that the number of city residents and affiliates on our affordable housing list (for AHO etc.) was closer to 3,000 than the 20,000-23,000 (a number that many advocates had previously used).
• On housing numbers in Cambridge, we are largely already meeting our city's housing goals (despite COVID) and are on the road to reach our Envision housing goals by 2030. One resident points out that in mid-December 2024, the city (CDD) stated they have miscounted total housing stock for 2023 and also adjusted down the numbers to be added for FY24. However, this statement has been contradicted by a resident posting on the Porter Square listserve who notes that we will have roughly 61,992 of 67,213 new housing units needed to meet our 2030 Envision goals.
• Housing costs continue to climb as they have both locally, nationally, and globally. However, Cambridge has added significant numbers of new housing, particularly in East Cambridge. Because many of the new apartments and condos are owned by outside investors rather than residents (see next bullet point), East Cambridge has become one of the most expensive parts of the city.  Many of us are seeing nearby renovations, demolitions and/or fill-in homes which increase nearby property values and taxes. All too often, the homes or units sit vacant or are not occupied for months of the year, as Cambridge has increasingly become a place simply to invest in land.
• A major part of the Cambridge housing cost problem thus is property investment. Some 40% of our homes are not occupied by their owners, meaning in essence that they are investment properties, which contributes to both higher ownership and renter costs. The biotech boom starting in 2018-2020 was part of this surge, with Blackstone realty (the largest real estate company in the world) purchasing East Cambridge apartment buildings for $325 million in June 2021, (as COVID vaccines were ramping up). BISNOW, who published the news on June 29, 2021, noted that this was "one of Greater Boston's largest investment sales of the year” (more HERE). This helped usher in a housing cost “crisis” in Cambridge, that in turn has led to the current urban renewal plan to remove all guardrails on housing production, with housing investors and developers the key beneficiaries in the kind of “disaster capitalism in housing” that we are finding in several other areas. See HERE
• Another important piece of the housing cost problem is the number of Harvard, MIT and other area Graduate Students and Post Docs and Interns who now are residing in city housing, often receiving increased living allowances that have helped to spike rental housing costs here. Until we get our universities to provide for this housing in the area, prices will continue to escalate on a yearly basis, as yearly leases turn over (rising each time as a result).

 
SPECIAL ALERT ON HOUSING:  The Citywide Upzoning (Redevelopment/ Urban Renewal) Plan: The City Council voted on December 23, 2024 City Council to move forward with the proposal for a citywide redevelopment plan in the form of radical upzoning to add more luxury (market rate) housing. The vote was 8-1 with Councillor Zusy the only vote not supporting this move. Neighborhood group leaders across the city have opposed this move that largely will benefit outside developers and investors. The plan itself was launched in June 2024 by Councillors Azeem, McGovern, Siddiqui, and Simmons.
 

• A new  “compromise” (modestly tweaked) citywide redevelopment plan was put forward by Councillors Azeem, McGovern, Siddiqui and Toner. It retains the removal of  design oversight and legal right to appeal for all new residences from the original plan. It also retains the allowance of  six (6) stories (75’) for projects with 10 plus units (for single or combined properties of 5,000 SF or larger. Nine (9) stories would be allowable for AHO structures  (partially public funding housing) in every neighborhood.* However this version  lowers the base height from 6 to 4 stories for “regular” luxury housing (those without any affordable units). Most of these latter will likely be demolitions of 1-2-3 family homes to create larger luxury single-family homes or two family condows. These all will be without design oversight or legal right to appeal.
• Most City Councillors who voted in favor of the "compromise" appear not to have reviewed and taken into account the Planning Board critique of the plan. Addressing Planning Board responses is a critical part of any zoning ordinance process. More HERE.
• Most of these new structures will be undertaken by outside investors and developers with little if any oversight or means for residents to offer input or appeal.
• Setbacks for new structures will be minimal (5’ at the sides and rear) and represents a major loss for our declining tree canopy as referenced in our city environmental goals in the Envision Plan and climate resistance needs.
• Most of these new investor-driven luxury homes and developments will come via demolitions of existing sustainable structures which tend to promote  evictions and lease terminations. Lower income minority residents will likely be replaced with wealthier, non-minority residents (This conflicts with city goals.)
• This proposal DOES NOT require that developers,  investors, or owners actually increase the number of housing units on their properties, and instead as currently written, this plan encourages the creation of even larger McMansions, shifting from 1-, 2-, and 3-family properties into a much larger and taller single family homes.
• This proposal encourages building demolitions across the city that are devastating to the environment in terms of CO2 emissions. Each new demolition sets us back significantly in terms of reaching out 2050 Carbon Neutrality net zero goals:  HERE   (see more under "environment" above.)
• This proposal DOES NOT safeguard existing solar panels or those planned for the future, in conflict with both city and state environmental goals.
• This proposal counters the Envision plan and established urban design principles by not requiring that larger buildings 5 stories and higher be placed on corridors.
• This proposal will increase heat island impacts  with taller and larger structures that remove both trees and green spaces. Heat island impacts are deeply harmful to infants, seniors, and those suffering other debilitating health issues

*9 story AHO buildings in residential areas would still be allowable in current rules for AHO heights: "Allowable residential height" means  that one does not have to get a special permit, even if there are conditions one must meet. Additionally:  1) In districts where the allowable residential height is no more than 40', AHO projects can have four stories and 45' in height. 2) In districts where the allowable residential height is more than 40' but no more than 65', AHO projects can have nine stories and 100' in height; 3)  A project on an AHO Corridor Lot can have twelve stories and 140' in height; 4) In districts where the allowable residential height is more than 65', AHO projects can have thirteen stories and 150' in height; A project in an AHO Square District can have fifteen stories and 170' in height; 6) There are situations where projects can go even higher.

​IN CONCLUSION:

• CCC and our broader supporters  STRONGLY urge Councillors in their few remaining meetings before the February 10 final vote to agree
  • To require design oversight
  • To maintain current legal rights of abutters to challenge factors like poor design, poor workmanship, in appropriate materials, infrastructure issues, or other problems with the plans.
  • To support the 3+3 plan (for 3 stories normally and 3 more stories for projects with 10+ units) as proposed by Councillor Wilson
  • To require projects 5 stories and higher be located on corridors
  • To require that AHO structures 9 stories (up to 13 stories) be located only on corridors.
• Some Councillors promoting this plan have attacked Cambridge residents who have written in  or spoken about  this plan during Council meetings, claiming opponents are  “misinformed” about what is being considered in this plan.
• We thank Councillor Zusy for opposing this plan, for questioning the city’s housing numbers, and for pointing out how much housing is already being built now, and that PUD housing numbers were left out of the city calculation. 
• The upcoming 2025 election year is an especially significant one to bring far more transparency and far better and more wholistic approaches to problem solving.
• The City Council vote on the 2024/2025 citywide up-zoning (redevelopment/ urban renewal) decision will be a critical issue in the November elections.

         
The  Cambridge Citizens Coalition is proud to have been the first Cambridge civic group to submit a zoning petition to end single family exclusionary zoning in the city, the 2021 Advancing Housing Affordability Petition (also referred to as the Donovan Petition). Read the zoning petition language HERE. The removal of design oversight by the planning Board also led CCC to oppose the AHO (for partially public-funded housing) because the ordinance removed design oversight from our judiciary bodies along with legal rights from citizens. To this date no design guidelines have been submitted and approved by Council for the amended 2021 AHO. 

CCC remains opposed to  the 2024-25 citywide luxury housing up-zoning not only because it lacks design guidelines and oversight, but also because removes legal rights from residents. This citywide redevelopment  plan encourages demolitions, evictions, and lease terminations; it is harmful to the environment; it runs counter to our Envision plan, and; it will primarily benefit outside investors and developers. The local (area, and national) housing crisis around which this proposal has been framed, carries striking  commonalities with situations of disaster capitalism, in which large investment groups  have bought up large amounts of  local housing, thereby increasing housing costs for renters and owners alike. This "crisis" has then been used to pressure local governments to remove long standing zoning guardrails and the legal rights of residents. Read more HERE. 

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In Memoriam: In 2024 CCC  lost two brilliant allies and leaders: City Councillor Joan Pickett and CCC advisory group member, Lisa Dreier. Both women were models of strength, intelligence and humanity and both died way too young. They and their civic contributions will be greatly missed. 

                                                                    Lisa Dreier                                                                                    Joan Pickett