I decided that if I really wanted to look at myself in the mirror and say that I wanted more affordable housing, I would have to shed certain thoughts.

Affordable Housing Overlay zoning amendments, however well intended, were created with little operational experience or impact analysis and essentially no implementation planning. The new council should work to turn it into a net positive for our city.

With all that divides us, I hope we can agree that voting and civic participation is crucial. More than a few current candidates have spotty records on both fronts.

We urge everyone in our community to spread love, not hate, to treat each other with empathy and support, to acknowledge all the suffering that is happening overseas and locally and to lean on our shared humanity and desire for peace.

My being able to live independently in Cambridge is due to the commitment and perseverance of Dan Totten, who solved a complex problem others did not take on.

Please don’t let the passage of Affordable Housing Overlay zoning changes end the conversation. If the city truly has affordable housing as one of its top priorities, it deserves much more thoughtful attention.

The Affordable Housing Overlay 2.0, zoning that is being voted Monday, may get good marks on the density front, but fails on diversity and design fronts.

This is a terribly fraught, painful time; we urge all members of the Cambridge community to move forward with empathy, understanding and grace toward one another.

Researchers at Texas A&M University studied our own Cambridge as well as San Francisco and Seattle; Denver and Austin, Texas were included as well.

Voters have a clear choice between City Council candidates schooled in practices that have sown division and distrust, and other candidates with experience in business, academia, civic institutions and government and who are committed to building trust, a shared sense of purpose and progress on our major challenges.