Cambridge Day does not endorse candidates or positions. Views expressed in this column are those of the writer.
Although the Fair Housing Act of 1968 was seen as outlawing residential discrimination and segregation, we are still far from that goal in practice. Push-back against the civil rights movement stalled enforcement of that law nationally, and set the stage for the devastating housing shortage we face today.
Local historian Amy Dain has dug deep into state and local records, revealing the racist attitudes behind the “Big Downzone” of the 1970s – a screw-tightening on housing production in Greater Boston that gave us soaring rents and home prices, among the highest in the nation.
I’m proud that our city has faced the resulting housing crisis realistically, and with an eye to equity and sustainability. Cambridge started with the 100% Affordable Housing Overlay, which has opened new opportunities for lower-cost housing, with over 800 homes in the pipeline.
This year, Cambridge passed a Multi-family Zoning Ordinance – a landmark law that received national attention as it created possibilities for multi-family housing citywide. Among the results of the lowered barriers in this law:
- a 4-unit lot in mid-Cambridge will become home for 30 households;
- a one-story retail building with three stores near Porter, fixed at that size and use since 1894, can now become three stores plus 71 homes;
- a deteriorating historic structure near Harvard Sq. is on track to be restored and maintained because it can share its large lot with housing and a small hotel.
Cambridge accomplished all this with planning, deliberation and resident involvement, although not everyone’s policy preferences could be adopted. I expect there will be much more to come as we work our way out of the long-term housing shortage.
This is what some Council candidates want to repeal. We’ve seen what happens when conservatives try to take their country back. Some of our local conservatives have announced their intention to take our city back – to the exclusionary policies from the last century.
To keep Cambridge on an equitable and inclusionary path, I’m voting for the slate endorsed by A Better Cambridge: Burhan Azeem, Dana Bullister, Mark McGovern, Ned Melanson, Sumbul Siddiqui, Denise Simmons, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, and Ayesha Wilson. For Cambridge’s sake, I hope you will, too.
The writer is a member of A Better Cambridge’s Steering Committee.
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James Zall’s commitment to confronting the legacy of exclusionary housing policies and advancing equity in Cambridge is deeply inspiring. It’s heartening to see real action, thoughtful planning, and persistent advocacy producing meaningful progress for local families and building a more inclusive future.
The measure of a community is how well we protect the most vulnerable members. It is not catering to wealthy homeowners who watched their property values soar by blocking needed housing.
This is really great James thank you for writing it.
Once again Mr Zall gets his facts wrong with his assertions that our zoning is racist and the reason that our housing prices are do high.
The article he credits names Cambridge specifically once, noting the flight of people from cities like ours in the 1970’s.
The article correctly notes the 1926 Euclid Zoning Case which was used by the suburbs to enact restrictive zoning and the practice of down zoning in the 1970’s. However as Cambridge Historian Sullivan has repeatedly pointed out Cambridge was mostly built by 1926, even more by the 1970’s, which included our many multifamily and triple deckers.
The recently enacted multi family zoning change will raise property values here making housing more expensive for everyone. It will price out the AHO developers, reducing more true affordable housing.
Mr Zall does have good intentions, but he should direct them at the communities specifically called out in the article.
@kdolan an average condo in Cambridge is $1.1mil while an average single family home costs $2.5mil (source https://sandrinedeschaux.com/blog/2025-cambridge-housing-market-home-price-trends-and-what-to-expect) Unless my math is wrong, 1.1 is less than 2.5. Please don’t try to scare us. Yes, a plot of land value is going up (they don’t make land no more), but multi family housing lets you build more units on the same plot, each unit being cheaper. Cheers.
@kdolan I wouldn’t say that Cambridge being mostly built up by the time zoning was enacted really helps your point here. The argument is that zoning has prevented the construction of more housing. The fact that most of our housing stock predates the zoning reinforces that argument, not disputes it. If construction had instead continued at higher rates, it would show that zoning was not a barrier to the construction of homes.
Cambridge absolutely does have a racist zoning history. Redlining maps from 1930 for Cambridge are readily available, and the parallels between it and our historical zoning maps are clear.