Entering Fresh Pond Reservation, you are immersed in a forest. Walking inside, leaving traffic noise behind, jaws unclench, shoulders loosen, ears perk to songbirds and there are glimpses of chipmunks scurrying past, hooded merganser ducks floating on the water – and, if you’re lucky, a sighting of a red-tailed hawk. In a time of climate and social crisis, nature can be a source of meditation for beauty, wonder, belonging and refuge.

Is this public good shared equally and accessible for all in our communities?

As you walk the 2.5-mile loop, it becomes obvious that not many black and brown people frequent this space. This is not a surprise for us; as longtime residents who grew up in Cambridge on Rindge Avenue, we were unaware of this park’s existence until adulthood. Based on the parkgoers, it appears little has changed. This is not a coincidence, but a systemic failing that has intentionally segregated and isolated communities of color. Structural racism is nuanced, but at its core it is a simple mindset built on the foundations of communities fearing the impact of immigrants and poor families in their neighborhoods and schools beginning in the 1930s.

In a progressive city such as Cambridge, many would argue that diversity is not only important, it is one of our greatest assets. Studies have demonstrated the tangible benefits of diversity in workplaces that nurtures problem-solvers and innovative thinkers. Are we willing to break down walls and barriers to make way for a true paradigm shift that cultivates genuine diversity and inclusion in our neighborhoods, open spaces and schools?

Leaving Fresh Pond Reservation for a mile journey to reach North Cambridge, pedestrians go 20 minutes through car exhaust fumes and an unending flow of traffic. The congestion is contributed by cars accessing the Fresh Pond Mall, using the rotary and driving on Alewife Brook Parkway and Rindge Avenue, which function as on-ramps to some of the state’s most congested highways: routes 3, 16 and 2.

On this side of the neighborhood, unknown to many who pass through Rindge Avenue, is another pond.

Unlike Fresh Pond, Jerry’s Pond has been neglected for more than 60 years. In the 1890s, when Cambridge decided to build water pipelines, the lines were not extended to North Cambridge, forcing mostly Irish and French Canadian immigrants to retrieve buckets of water from Jerry’s Pond for use. Passage of the Clean Water Act of 1972 made water a human right, but the Flint, Michigan, water crisis of 2014 is clear evidence that we are not as progressive or humane in how we treat particular populations. In Cambridge, we’ve simply swapped access to water with access to natural green spaces. Yet in light of the events of the Covid pandemic, many cities have recognized how crucial access to green space is for an individual and community well-being.

“In a part of North Cambridge not supplied with city water service the women are obliged to cut holes in the ice of ’Jerry’s Pond’ and carry water to their homes,” according to the Boston Post of Feb. 7, 1897. (Image: Cambridge Historical Commission)

The stark contrast between Fresh Pond and Jerry’s Pond demands attention. It raises questions about who and what we prioritize in our city.

Jerry’s Pond serves as the front lawn to the three 22-story Rindge Towers, Jefferson Park public housing complex and two limited-equity condominiums. On Rindge Avenue, these two blocks consist of approximately 4,000 residents, with more coming! It is the largest concentration of affordable housing in all of Cambridge – our largest environmental justice community, and the only one that fits all three census criteria of low-income, English-isolation and minority.

Unlike other revitalized neighborhoods that often experience a spike in housing costs, in this stretch of Rindge Avenue the community will preserve its existing stock of affordable housing for generations to come. An investment in Jerry’s Pond will continue to reap benefits for future Cambridge residents who, without that housing, cannot afford to remain in this city.

The complete revitalization of Jerry’s Pond presents an unusual and perhaps one-time opportunity for placemaking and neighborhood identity for the Rindge community. Genuine placemaking is a community-driven, bottom-up approach that allows members of the community to play key roles in its identity, creation and maintenance.

In the summer of 2020, life-science developer IQHQ bought Jerry’s Pond as part of a larger 27-acre site. In meetings with IQHQ, community groups Alewife Study Group and Friends of Jerry’s Pond and environmental organizations such as Green Cambridge and Mass Audubon have on repeated occasions praised IQHQ’s willingness to engage with the community – and to make iterative changes to implement community ideas including more seating areas, a Mass Audubon educational center and a community garden. The conversations the past two years have focused largely on the north side of IQHQ’s property, where three-quarters of a million square feet of labs are under construction. On the south side, which includes Jerry’s Pond along Rindge Avenue, conversations have been more sporadic.

The city has been completely absent in these discussions, other than supplying a misleading report. It seems the city is happy to sit on the sidelines even after two Neighborhood & Long-Term Planning committee meetings with presentations from Arup, an engineering firm that discusses the severe impact of climate change – principally heat discomfort and air pollution – on residents where there is a lack of tree canopy; and from a wetland scientist on the feasibility of a restoration of the pond.

We ask, are we proud of the Cambridge that we live in? Are we okay casting off thousands of residents into the margins of society, denying them a new greenway here? Have we determined that their life is worth less because of particular circumstances?

A policy order presented Monday by councillors Ayesha Wilson and Sumbul Siddiqui, who both grew up in the Rindge Avenue community, and co-sponsored by vice mayor Marc McGovern and councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, requested that the city support enhancements to IQHQ’s plan that would add more tree canopy, green infrastructure, safer and healthier pedestrian and bicycle paths, restoration of the shoreline ecology and other improvements to the current plans for the Rindge Avenue public edge along Jerry’s Pond and to investigate funding sources for such plans, including the city’s capacity.

The order did not pass, with five votes against from Mayor E. Denise Simmons and councillors Burhan Azeem, Patty Nolan, Joan Pickett and Toner and four votes in favor from the policymakers. The discussions were rooted in misinformation and demonstrated the lack of understanding by some of the councillors of the nuances of the proposal.

The intention of a policy order is for the City Council to determine, based on information as presented during the committee hearings, whether the city manager should devote city resources to understand the benefits of the project to the community.

An opposing councillor redirected the question to a deputy city manager and Department of Public Work commissioner to explain their stance, which left out potential health, climate, environment and complete-streets improvements and raised unfounded fears.

The deputy city manager brought up concerns about trucking contaminated soil to a rural community – one raised in 2021 during community discussions with IQHQ, and their response has been: “Contaminated soil will be disposed of at facilities that are permitted to accept the soils based on testing data.” If this is a genuine concern, how can IQHQ justify removing around 100,000 tons of contaminated soil to build commercial labs on the other side of the pond, but not a fraction of that amount to create a green space for a densely populated community?

An opposing councillor mentioned the roughly 100 meetings IQHQ and community groups have hosted. Unfortunately, the discussions regarding the Rindge Avenue side have been at most sporadic – no more than a small percentage of the meetings. It’s also important to acknowledge that of the organized community groups, only Friends of Jerry’s Pond includes representation from the Rindge Avenue community.

Other opposing councillors said the Rindge Avenue community needs special attention but voted against the order. The tie-breaker vote was from an opposing councillor that did not provide an explanation, but simply voted no.

The vote was a disappointment. The city of Cambridge has decided to leave implementation of its stated environmental justice goals to private developers rather than working with them and members of adjacent communities to make Rindge Avenue the best it can be. While strides have been made, the current IQHQ plan falls well short of what is possible here: It adds few trees, cuts down seven mature trees along Rindge Avenue and leaves behind much blacktop and cement that hinders the development of high quality soil, limits tree growth and ignores the benefits of green infrastructure in stormwater runoff absorption.

The revitalization of Jerry’s Pond seeks to alleviate flooding, heat and air pollution, creating a healthier neighborhood for kids and families along Rindge Avenue and the broader North Cambridge community. A recent New York Times article, “A New Era in Global Heat,” highlights why we desperately need more trees in our communities and the importance of innovative and forward-thinking city leaders.

We urge residents to write and speak with the councillors, city manager, Community Development and Public Works on why they are disappointed with the policy order decision.

The developer presents to the Conservation Commission at 7 p.m. Jan. 22. Please consider participating in public comment to show your support.

Councillors Ayesha Wilson and Sumbul Siddiqui; Benadette Manning; and Pasang Lhamo

Councillor Ayesha Wilson is a Jamaican-American social worker who has served on the Cambridge School Committee and is newly appointed to the City Council. She was raised in Jefferson Park public housing in North Cambridge by a single mother and attended Cambridge Public Schools.

Councillor Sumbul Siddiqui is a Pakistani-American Muslim lawyer and politician who served as the 77th mayor of Cambridge. She was raised in affordable housing at the Rindge Towers in North Cambridge and attended Cambridge Public Schools.

Benadette Manning is a African-American retired Boston Public Schools teacher who raised four kids as a single mother in North Cambridge. She serves on the Friends of Jerry’s Pond leadership team and Alewife Condominium Association board, a limited-equity affordable-housing cooperative in North Cambridge.

Pasang Lhamo is a Tibetan-American community organizer and graduate of Cambridge Public Schools. She serves on the Friends of Jerry’s Pond leadership team and on the Alewife Condominium Association board. She serves on the city’s Cambridge Climate Committee.