Cambridge City Council
Councillors send inclusionary zoning report to ordinance committee
During Monday night’s city council meeting, councillors signalled that they planned to act quickly on policy proposals from the Community Development Department (CDD) to spur residential development along major corridors. Read more Storm sent 1.5 million gallons of wastewater into Mystic River At issue is whether the city’s inclusionary zoning requirement is too large and […]
City council recap: Policy orders on bike lanes, sex work return next week; MFHO amendments take baby step
In addition to passing a tax rate increase and declining to intercede in school-related contract negotiations, Cambridge City Council on Monday also saw policy orders recommending the decriminalization of sex work and a pause on Huron Street bike lanes charter righted, delaying a vote for a week. City staff also got the go-ahead to begin […]
Cambridge educators rally for better pay, city council defers to school committee
A well-attended rally in front of city hall and dozens of public commenters speaking in support of higher wages for certain Cambridge Public Schools staff resulted in little actual policy change during Monday night’s city council meeting. Read more MIT Future Fest opens Wednesday The Cambridge Education Association organized the action amidst its ongoing negotiation […]
Council approves tax increase, warns of difficult budget season ahead
During Monday night’s city council hearing, councillors voted unanimously in favor of the proposal put forward by City Manager Yi-An Huang to raise property tax rates by 6.9 percent for fiscal year 2027. The new rate is a smaller increase than in previous years, but with net combined property values decreasing for the second year […]
Council votes for MIT graduate student union
Around 50 MIT graduate students marched from MIT’s campus to Cambridge City Council on Monday to speak in support of their demands for a fair contract from MIT. While the council cannot force MIT to act, it has in the past issued policy orders (including in 2020, 2021 and 2022) in support of the MIT […]
City Council ties Mass Ave, Cambridge Street building heights to ground floor uses
In the end, a vote restricting residential development height seemed almost perfunctory, as Cambridge city councillors voted unanimously and without debate at Monday night’s meeting to allow maximum heights along two city corridors only for buildings with “active use” spaces on ground floors. Read more Cambridge police cite low ICE activity in report “Given the […]
Cambridge launches first civic assembly to weigh ShotSpotter, surveillance technology
Cambridge will ask 40 randomly selected residents to weigh the future of ShotSpotter and other surveillance technology this fall, launching the city’s first civic assembly and one of the first ever municipal efforts of its kind in New England. Read more Futures in flux at MIT and Harvard documentary film centers as founding leaders step […]
Civic assemblies, common in Europe, have helped build trust
Cambridge is applying a civic assembly, an idea little-used in the United States, to assess the thorny problem of adopting the surveillance technology ShotSpotter. Experts say such assemblies can build trust in government decisions. Read more Tampopo’s may be closed, but it’s still feeding us ShotSpotter, an acoustic detection system deployed to improve public safety […]
Planning Board supports short-term rental regulation, with an asterisk
A 90-day annual limit on short-term rentals drew concern from Planning Board members and rental operators alike at Tuesday’s board meeting. The cap is part of a City Council zoning petition meant to prevent abuse of existing regulations by some owners of Airbnb-style properties. Read more Murphy says eighth grade algebra report not correct The […]
Cambridge City Council asks city to advocate for later alcohol service
When the city of Cambridge’s licensing commission loosened –then proposed tightening– its alcohol service policies earlier this summer, it faced criticism over the mixed messages it was sending to the public. Was Cambridge a fun and thriving place to go out with friends? Or was it a strict and overbearing nanny state, not just for […]