What $200,000 buys you in Cambridge: A pied-à-terre micro-unit in Porter Square
No need to look into the future to see how those trendy micro-units will work once they’re built in Cambridge. The micro-unit is already here – and in a basement.
Basketball court tiff and ‘pumpkin Jell-O’ don’t stop MLK School project approval
A new Martin Luther King Jr. School got its special permit Tuesday in a unanimous vote from a Planning Board whose main concern seemed to be the color proposed for the two-school campus. Residents also had a very specific concern: whether the school should have a full or half basketball court.
Ethanol train forum rolls on tonight without state presentation on study
People concerned about a plan to bring trains carrying ethanol through Cambridge and Somerville will get a shorter meeting tonight with no presentation by state Department of Transportation officials.
‘Better Future’ is one in which MIT renews grad-student housing policy, forum says
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology took a relentless drubbing at a Thursday forum on “A Better Future for a Better Cambridge,” and the City Council didn’t get off much more lightly – for a Kendall Square rezoning with little housing and weaker than hoped approach to sustainability.
Councillor vanBeuzekom explains her ‘no’ vote on MIT’s Kendall Square petition
Seven councillors voted to approve the petition. One councilor abstained from voting. I voted against it because I feel that together Cambridge and MIT can do more. Three areas in which this petition needed improvement are housing, net-zero energy standards and noise levels.
East Cambridge sees vision for loathed courthouse: Just as tall, not as bad
East Cambridge hates that tower – but feels a bit better in general about plans for the former Edward J. Sullivan Courthouse.
Officials slam ethanol train plan, announce forum for residents Tuesday
The plan to take millions of gallons of ethanol through Cambridge, Somerville and other cities by train is getting a hearing Tuesday hosted by Cambridge’s legislative delegation.
Group’s letter to governor warns of hard process for courthouse
The East Cambridge Planning Team, city staff and elected officials in Cambridge and prospective bidders have been repeatedly assured by officials that the hulking, ugly mass of the courthouse “grandfathers in” a variety of future uses. Even a cursory consultation would have shown that is not the case.
MIT gets its zoning to remake Kendall Square (updated)
The City Council approved zoning 7 to 2 on Monday that had been requested by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to remake 26 acres in Kendall Square, including about 1 million square feet of commercial space, 800,000 square feet of academic space, 65,000 square feet of retail and more than 300 units of housing.
Expect more from MIT in Kendall Square, sustainability expert says
Requiring new Massachusetts Institute of Technology buildings in Kendall Square to simply achieve LEED Gold is not aspirational and does not guarantee deep reductions in energy consumption, efficient use of spaces or material use.
