A Better Cambridge looks forward to action on platform enabled by slate of councillors
What a victory for an affordable, diverse and green Cambridge! Housing concerns and tenant protections won big last night. At the A Better Cambridge Action Fund, we are delighted that six of our nine endorsed candidates will join the City Council, based on preliminary results.
Our candidates supported a platform with the goal of seeing Cambridge make equity and inclusion a priority, and act as a climate leader. Our candidates believe in more density in areas well-served by public transit, in increasing spending on affordable housing, in strengthening tenant protections and in making it easier to build affordable housing throughout the city.
Cambridge should be delighted that Mayor Marc McGovern, former two-time mayor E. Denise Simmons, councillors Alanna Mallon, Sumbul Siddiqui (the top vote getter!) and Tim Toomey, as well as challenger Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler have won seats on the council. In addition, Burhan Azeem, Adriane Musgrave and Risa Mednick were exceptional candidates. They ran dynamic, meaningful campaigns that make us proud to have supported them.
We are excited about the next City Council term, and eager to work productively with all the elected councillors for a Cambridge that is truly welcoming, and that does everything in its power to be a regional, national and global leader on reducing climate change.
The A Better Cambridge Action Fund leadership
“more density in areas well-served by public transit”….
So nowhere then?
This is the fly in the soup that the “build baby, build” crowd fails to acknowledge.
Please name ONE area with public transit that does not already suffer from congestion, over-crowding, frequent delays, and maintenance issues.
But hey, I look forward to the new housing developments which are certain to soon be breaking ground in Avon Hill and West Cambridge. You know, since those are areas well-served by public transit.
And life-long residents should “be delighted” that transient residents, in the city for a couple of years only to leave again, can hold sway over policies that will resonate for decades to come? Slow clap.
We did it ABC! Democratic elections in action
I am hoping that with the addition of two new personalities and experiences to council the dynamics will also change in deliberations. Hopefully, this will NOT be business as usual, but an opportunity to find compromise and listen to the different neighborhoods and long time residents who struggled and sacrificed to purchase their houses decades ago. There is room for expansion there. Let’s also hope that the new deliberations roll back some of the most contentious details and figure out how to agree on most of the things we agree on already. Re-zone single family areas for multi-family, really decide what tenant protections mean and do they include information on who is actually buying properties and for whom, be realistic about where public transportation is available, include grocery stores in new projects, maybe even revisit the .4 parking spaces per unit for those elders, young families and people working outside of Cambridge (even night shifts). And figure out new programming for communal housing and pathways to home ownership which will stabilize the community.
figure out what we have and start incrementally to see what works and what doesn’t. A one-size-fits all without crucial information will be a problem and studies (infrastructure, traffic, green space etc) have to continue. and “open space” should be more than private roof decks, balconies and bike storage. Strong-arming will only create animosity.
So let’s not get too cocky but rather look for humility and reality while looking forward. We need each other for a more sustainable Cambridge.