CLICK HERE for More about CCC'sCore policy values on Equity, Housing, the Environment and Good Government

WHAT WE STAND FOR

 Policies that matter on Accountability, Transparency, and Good Government

• We support  a close scrutiny of the City Government around issues of accountability, Transparence and Good Government. 
• We  abhor the recent increase in bullying of residents, members of our adjudication boards, and residents.
• CCC was founded in the shadow of the old Cambridge Civic Association that played a central role in the establishment of Plan E here.
• CCC plans to be involved in present and ongoing discussions as the core tenets of Plan E come under review. 
• CCC maintains that both the City Council and the City Itself needs much more transparency and accountability.
• CCC insists that Cambridge needs a plan. The Envision Process left us with a large number of goals (some of them contradictory). These issues need to be resolved and then we need the Planning Board and Council to formally approve the new plan.

Policies that matter on Housing Affordability, Displacement, and Gentrification

• Employ city-owned land to build more affordable housing
• Create and use land trusts for housing affordable housing
• Continue to employ inclusionary housing models
• Slow and eventually stop gentrification - initially by putting in place a 3 year moratorium on condo conversions)
• Stop the conversion of multi-family homes into single family homes
• Help tenants by requiring 3 moth notification for lease terminations
• Help tenants buy homes through city backed or funded down payment for low-and-middle income tenants
• Require all large Cambridge employers to provide an area housing and transportation plan for  employees and affiliates with a goal of reaching 100% housed by 2040. Set yearly achievable goals accountable through fees if goals are not met.
• End exclusionary zoning (zoning for exclusively single family housing) - the Donovan petition we submitted – is one such avenue.
• Provide non-congregant housing for our unhoused population.
• Add greater density and height for housing specifically on our corridors near transportation and on or near sites where new commercial developments are occurring
• Encourage the creation of an independent renters alliance group to be effective in negotiations with the City and help guide renter-related policy..

Policies that matter on the Environment, Green Issues, and Sustainability

• Address citywide open space and tree needs, water needs
• Address site specific issues around flood zones
• Prevent further loss of our diminishing mature tree canopy
• Take our water issues seriously particularly when considering new developments
• Take seriously issues of environmental equity and justice in open space and tree availability in the denser parts of the city.

Policies that matter on Equity, Justice, Community and Neighborhood Engagement 

• Inclusive processes that bring into play communities most impacted
• Address both organization and process in a way that engages neighborhoods
• We support the goals and processes of the HEART petition.
• We support Universal Pre-K (and are stunned that Cambridge does not yet have it). 
• We support Universal Broadband and urge the City to work with our universities and info-tech companies to make this a reality.
• We support City policies that would encourage Cambridge to become a global arts center (in visual arts, cuisine, music, theatre and other domains).

Policies that matter on Smart Growth, Infrastructure, Planning and Design

• Enact the Envision Plan after defining top priorities and addressing existing conflicts in language
• Open our local squares to more pedestrian engagement by limiting vehicular traffic during key parts of the day and night.
• Balance residential with commercial interests
• Holding  local companies and institutions accountable in providing an area plan to address  housing and transportation needs for employees and other affiliates

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Accountability,
Transparency and
​Good Government 

Democracy all begins with good government and accountability and Cambridge has been lacking in this of late. The residents too often are treated by city as the "enemy" of equity, good citizenship, and progress.  What we are seeing here is a massive push for development without addressing the core issues of sustainability or cost. The city was asked to do a new city plan at the cost of multiple millions of tax payer money. They hired a great firm, the Boston design group, Utile, but instead of asking that this firm create a new city plan for Cambridge, instead the city chose to limit the group's input to ideas gathering. So we are left without the kind of critical plan that Council had funded and our residents very much wanted. 

Environment, Green Issues and Sustainability

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​Cambridge has lost 22% of its tree canopy in the last ten years. The era of massive new developments has been a disaster with respect to our tree canopy and rare open spaces. Cambridge is in the top five of the list of most dense cities in the U.S. with populations over 100,000 people. Key parts of the city are built in a flood zone. We need smart planning to grow the city in a way that will be sustainable.

Affordable Housing Displacement and Gentrification  ​

Cambridge is in the middle of a massive gentrification problem. More and more longtime residents are being forced out. Both renters and home owners are critical to the vitality of the City. Each case is important; each story is different. In the Riverside area, many historic African American and Hispanic families are hard hit and many more are losing their homes:   https://vimeo.com/334075355/d08c28a45a  This is an ongoing problem in Cambridge. Seniors also are getting hit and are being forced to leave the city with the large scale conversion of rental properties into condos.

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SmartGrowth, Infra-structure, Transit,  Design

Growth requires smart planning and a city willing to  invest in critical infrastructure remediation and changes. Already in 2013 Eversource notified the city that we are circa 93% capacity of electricity generation. Nothing was done. The current plan, to build a 150' generator in East Cambridge next to a primary school is untenable. In December 2018 a Civil War era water main broke in West Cambridge causing millions of dollars in damage to local residents. The city has taken no responsibility for this. Boston (and Cambridge) are now seen to have the worst traffic problems in the country, yet there are no plans for traffic mediation. This can't hold. We need a city that is willing to do the kind of planning that is needed to make Cambridge a livable and sustainable city into the future.

Community, Equity & Neighborhood Engagement 

Cambridge is a wonderfully diverse city, one of the most diverse in the state, if not the country, but far too often the city has chosen to try to pit groups and neighborhoods against each other rather than addressing our shared concerns. 






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Universal Pre-K, Arts & Education  

How is it that a city as wealthy and as highly educated as Cambridge has no public pre-school possibilities? We know that early education is critical to advancement and success in life. Why are we not doing this here? There are other important concerns as well including smart vocational training, and enhanced learning and work experiences for our Seniors. ​

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Cambridge Citizens Coalition in the News

Harvard Crimson on the 2019 CCC Candidates Forum (Oct. 6, 2019)
www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/10/7/city-council-candidate-affordable-housing-debate/

“We are the middle. There are already many multi-family free-standing homes that pepper the
neighborhood. Missing Middle will displace current residents like us so investors and private contractors can tear down our homes, eradicate our small green space and make money rebuilding, at a great cost they will pass on to our replacements, as we join the missing. That’s a construction jobs program and private developers’ boondoggle. That is not a solution to a housing crisis."

- Phil Wellons, Riverside Resident -  Consultant