Welcome to Catbridge
Good afternoon! It’s reporter Nathan Metcalf, taking you from City Hall to a cat walk in today’s newsletter.
What makes a city a good place to live? Affordable housing? Safe streets and parks? Neighbors who know each other? Cambridge spent the week engaging with those questions in particular.
At City Hall, councillors considered whether Cambridge’s ambitious affordable housing requirements may be squeezing developers for more than the juice is worth. So suggested a city-commissioned consultant’s report, which offered options that could make it more palatable for developers to reserve 20% of residential floor area for affordable units. Councillors unanimously referred the report to the Ordinance Committee for further discussion. As Jane Petersen’s story made clear, there’s plenty of questions to talk about.
Down the road at MIT, I covered professors taking rhinestone- and googly eyes to the Infinite Corridor, bedazzling some of the 500-plus new AI-capable cameras the university has installed around campus. MIT argues the move makes campus safer, but this playful protest reminds us that cameras can also make crackdowns easier.
On a less contentious note, hundreds of Cambridge residents found common ground last weekend over their shared love of humankind’s best feline friend. The final event of Meet Your Neighbor Month was also the city’s first-ever Cat Tour. It brought crowds to the streets of Cambridgeport to admire their neighbors’ furry companions perched in windows, loafing on porches and riding in strollers. The procession ended at Dana Park, where attendees gathered for Meowfest, a feline-themed “after-purrty” featuring a cat fashion show, crafts and free food. Read Isabel Rodriguez’s full story for more adorable details.
Top stories
Inclusionary zoning report sent to ordinance committee
They vow to move quickly to address ways to spark more residential development.
Community, developers have mixed response to new inclusionary options
Some housing advocates and builders panned the report entirely, while others found merit in some of its options.
MIT professors bedazzle cameras to protest expanding surveillance network
Tenured faculty are using rhinestones and googly eyes to demonstrate against 500-plus new cameras.
More stories
Cat tour draws hundreds of ‘CATabridgians’
The walk brought together Cambridge’s community of feline fans.
Meeting their neighbors
The Cat Tour was part of Meet Your Neighbor Month, which drew thousands to more than 30 events across the city.
Cambridge teen graduates from lemonade stands to startups
Why CRLS senior Kavi Kumar-Warikoo aims to be a successful entrepreneur.
Volleyball team’s vibe carries it to new heights
In a turnaround from last season, the team is 7-3 and ranked in the top 20 in Division 1.
Out and about (and underfoot)
As the sweet smell of decaying leaves outside attests, fall is well and truly upon us now. With fall foliage comes a different scenic attraction, blockbuster films at the Independent Film Festival Boston, kicking off tonight at the Brattle Theatre. From intimate international dramas to biting black comedies, you can catch some of the year’s most highly anticipated releases during five days of screenings through Tuesday, Oct. 13. Oscar Goff has the rundown on what’s worth seeing.
Looking for something a little more hands(or feet)-on? Take a stroll around Cambridge and do your civic duty by squashing a spotted lanternfly. The invasive inch-long pests, recognizable by their tan, black-spotted wings and flashes of brilliant red when they take flight, have spread to 150 Massachusetts communities, including Cambridge and Somerville, where they feed on tree sap, weakening plants and leaving behind a sticky substance that encourages the growth of sunlight-blocking mold. Jeanine Farley explains how to recognize these unwelcome visitors, why they’re such a menace and what to do when you spot one. (Hint: It involves your shoe.)
That’s all from me this week. Whether you’re admiring the foliage, catching a movie or doing battle with a spotted lanternfly, I hope you find something to enjoy about Cambridge this weekend. For more events, check out our interactive calendar.
If you go to something, submit a photo to Community View.
And have a great Cambridge week!
Nathan Metcalf
nmetcalf@cambridgeday.com
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