Better sidewalks, safer streets, and increased access to transportation won the most votes in Cambridge’s latest round of participatory budgeting. The program, begun in 2014, lets residents pitch, develop and vote on public projects that are funded through a pool of $1 million. More than 10,000 residents voted this year.
This year’s participatory budget options ranged from environmental enhancements, recreation opportunities, and support for area artists. Projects were pitched in the fall and then volunteers developed them into final proposals that appeared on the ballot. All Cambridge residents over the age of 12 were eligible to vote for up to five of the 20 final proposals. Results were released March 18, with voters funding nine projects before the $1 million cap was hit.
The top vote getter was “Fixing Sidewalks, Saving Trees,” a $100,000 project that will replace damaged pavement around trees with flexible pavement options that won’t interrupt their root systems. Rounding out the top three were a project to improve crosswalk safety, and free transportation for low-income or unhoused residents on their way to important appointments.
“Right now if you’re a senior, you have access to The Ride, and that’s great. But a lot of folks who are low income and unhoused don’t have that type of assistance, and so this will help with that kind of essential transportation,” Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui told Cambridge Day. “I’m really excited that that’s being funded.”
Other projects that received funding will provide cold and wet weather kits for unhoused residents, stock libraries with free school supplies, aim to rats and give the city’s basketball courts a much-needed makeover.
Updating the courts was an option in last year’s participatory budget and was the highest vote-earning project to miss the cutoff for funding. This year, the just-missed project proposed providing free bikes to low-income residents, falling short by 60 votes.
Mayor Siddiqui reflected on the positive impact the program has had on Cambridge over the years.
“Some of these are things I think the city could be doing anyway, right? But it’s nice to know that some of this, it’s coming from the community, and that’s the whole point. People are voting and telling us what they want.”
Participatory budgeting was first implemented in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 1989. According to the City of Cambridge, it has been implemented in over 7,500 cities across the world.
See below for the list of all programs eligible for funding in this year’s participatory budget:
| Project | Votes | Costs | Cumulative costs |
| Fixing Sidewalks, Saving Trees | 5,057 | $100,000 | $100,00 |
More Complete Streets | 4,355 | $200,000 | $300,000 |
Transportation Assistance Services | 3,868 | $50,000 | $350,000 |
| Cold and Wet Weather Kits | 3,757 | $60,000 | $410,000 |
| Rain and Pollinator Gardens | 3,621 | $100,000 | $510,000 |
| Supporting Continuous Access to School Supplies | 3,394 | $12,000 | $522,000 |
| Residential Rat Control | 3,335 | $110,000 | $632,000 |
| Concrete Barriers for Bike Lanes | 3,275 | $150,000 | $782,000 |
| Basketball Court Upgrades | 2,525 | $250,000 | $1,032,000 |
| Free Bikes for Low-Income Residents | 2,467 | $150,000 | |
| Winter Indoor Recreation Open Hours | 2,339 | $30,000 | |
| Support Spaces for Artists | 1,928 | $120,000 | |
| Planters for Sidewalk Trees | 1,711 | $75,000 | |
| Outdoor Exercise Equipment | 1,566 | $150,000 | |
| Dog Park Improvements | 1,146 | $100,000 | |
| Pool Dryers and Equipment | 1,079 | $20,000 | |
| Outdoor Tools for Loan | 955 | $15,000 | |
| Improve Riverside Press Park Community Garden | 934 | $275,000 | |
| Bike Counters | 931 | $209,000 | |
| My Future, My Vote | 916 | $5,000 |
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Great to see street safety as a priority for Cambridge residents. Making crosswalks safer with curb extensions and raised crosswalks and adding concrete barriers to bike lanes will improve safety for everyone.