We could be left with many critical jobs vacant, and if there is one thing Covid taught us, it is that America’s best livable city cannot be without essential workers.

A controversial update to Cambridge’s Affordable Housing Overlay zoning goes to the City Council with no recommendation from the Planning Board.

I wish I could say that the Cambridge Development Department’s inclusionary housing program has made changes in the past year. If they have, I haven’t seen it.

Public meetings and gathering this week includes a household hazardous waste collection day and a Planning Board meeting that takes on Affordable Housing Overlay zoning changes and a rebalancing of Kendall parking spaces.

A Planning Board hearing on Affordable Housing Overlay zoning changes has been continued, but a City Council committee advanced it on a 6-3 vote.

The successes of Affordable Housing Overlay zoning described in an annual report pleased city councillors, but there were concerns about properties that had rejected development offers or were “under continued review.”

Cambridge affordable-housing developers have built or renovated hundreds of units for low-income tenants in recent years. But the pace is slowing, delaying improvements for many occupants of buildings that need work.

Cambridge Housing Justice Coalition urges the entire City Council to vote in favor of the proposal for revised Affordable Housing Overlay zoning. 

Public meetings this week include the City Council’s special summer meeting, encompassing everything from naming officers in use-of-force incidents and Danehy Park improvements to changing cannabis laws and keeping backyard chickens. There’s much more, too.

Public meetings this week look at proposed amendments to the city’s Affordable Housing Overlay zoning, adding two green ordinances to the city code, changes to Massachusetts Avenue and two demolitions in East Cambridge.