Honored to be one of two challengers on this eight-candidate slate.
In February, Cambridge City Council passed maybe the most significant local zoning changes in the country when it ended Exclusionary Zoning and allowed by-right construction of multi-family housing. That big step followed a decade of advocacy from A Better Cambridge, a nonprofit dedicated to housing affordability.
Cambridge has the most expensive rent in Massachusetts. IYRYK--If You Rent, You Know. The Greater Boston area's housing is more expensive, by some metrics, than San Francisco's (!). And the bad news? We're just not building very much more of it, for several reasons.
Zoning is kind of having a moment. Just this weekend, the Boston Globe published this editorial:
The fact of the matter is that Cambridge and the surrounding area has a long, kind of dark zoning history. About 100 years ago, Cambridge mostly banned its iconic triple-deckers after "too many" sprang up across the city (and maybe the wrong sort of people moved in?). Combined with a restrictive regulatory regime that ratcheted up throughout the 20th century to strangle housing production, there is no fast path out of this mess. Ending Exclusionary Zoning in the City has resulted in over 150 inquiries to the Historical Commission, but only ~five projects. So, we need more housing, but undoing that 100 year legacy will take time.
Know the Difference
Every candidate will say they are in favor of affordable housing. It's like asking them if they are pro- or anti-puppies. So, it takes a little inspection to find out who will be a real voice for more housing on the City Council and who will be impeding construction and keeping the status quo of high rents and high leverage for landlords.
Endorsements from groups like A Better Cambridge (ABC) are a great place to start. They vet candidates based on past votes, public statements, campaign platforms, and questionnaire and forum responses. I'm proud to be one of eight candidates on their slate this year, and especially excited to be one of two non-incumbents (shout-out Dana Bullister!).
Another thing to look for is how candidates talk about housing. Are they clear and firm in their stances that they will advocate for more housing of all kinds, including affordable, social, and market-rate homes? Or do they couch their support in a list of qualifiers that seems to grow every day? E.g.: "Yes, I want more homes! But only if they're deeply affordable, will not reduce green space, will not be too tall, will not cast shadows, will not increase traffic, will not crowd the schools with more students, will not offend my aesthetic tastes, will not result in noisey construction, will not increase crime, will not affect the history or character of the neighborhood..."
Add enough qualifiers, and the pool of potential projects drains empty pretty fast. It takes courage to stand up and say, "We are going to build more housing. There will be drawbacks and disruptions, but if we don't do this, there will be higher costs of living, more displacement, and more homelessness." That's what I'm doing, alongside the great candidates on the ABC slate.
At the Forum
At the ABC Candidate Forum on September 10th, I had a lot to say:
From the Cambridge Day article:
Social housing, a form of public housing with market elements, was discussed by several candidates. First-time candidate Ned Melanson pointed to Chicago’s green social housing ordinance as a model for Cambridge. Chicago’s city council in May approved a $135 million bond issue to invest in affordable, mixed-income and sustainable housing. Melanson said Cambridge could tie such housing to more sustainable transit than automobiles. He acknowledged that social housing was only part of the answer for creating affordable housing in Cambridge. “At the end of the day, it’s just another tool in the tool kit,” he said.
Some might argue that the homes built by the Affordable Housing Overlay and Inclusionary Zoning could be called "Social Housing" in another country. Above, I'm referring to a net-new system to help fund more of that sort of construction.
From a regulatory perspective, I think the AHO (also championed by A Better Cambridge, which has built or begun construction on hundreds of homes in Cambridge in just the past five years) is a great example of the City using the levers of zoning to, in this case, enable Affordable Housing construction.
We need to keep an "All of the Above" approach to this on the Council. Ending Exclusionary Zoning was one of those steps--upzoning in Squares and Corridors, so we can build tall on our T stations, is currently before the Council and will likely continue into the next session. And we cannot forget a dedication to tenant protections, another core tenet of A Better Cambridge's philosophy. That part is very important to me.
That's what I communicated in my ABC questionnaire, and that's why I'm excited to accept this endorsement.
Yep. That's me. You're probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.
Thank You, Helpers!
We've got no fewer than three living room meet-and-greets coming up in the next few weeks. Thank you to everyone who has offered, and there is still time! Let me know if you are interested. Also, thank you to the volunteers out there knocking doors. Whether you join me or do so on your own, it makes a huge difference. Drop me a line if you want to join me in getting a ton of steps, see the city, and meet some neighbors:
Picking Up the Pace That pedal power bike was going nowhere fast, but you can't say the same for me. We're less than a month from Election Day, and I'm still knocking hundreds of doors every week, sometimes with help from special volunteers: I've been to living room meet-and-greets, park potlucks, and meet-your-neighbor events. Ken invited me after I met him at a Streetwise talk. Cindy responded to a cold email I sent her back in early July(!) to ask about urban tree canopy. A knocked door...
Bike Champion Endorsement Thank you Cambridge Bicycle Safety for your endorsement! The Cycling Safety Ordinance was passed in 2019-2020 with the vision to create a comprehensive system of protected bicycling infrastructure. It was brave and bold. The effects of connecting these networks takes time, and we are definitely seeing the results. Walk into any bicycle store in Cambridge--they're slammed. Look at the open data portal--up and to the right. Bikes counted in annual survey But timelines...
Endorsed and On Strike! Thanks to SEIU Local 888 not only for their endorsement of my campaign, but for their leadership on the ongoing Public Defender labor action. If you haven't heard, Massachusetts' Public Defenders are (still) on strike. Massachusetts, like many states, relies heavily on private attorneys (i.e., lawyers with their own law firms) to handle the majority of public criminal defense cases (where the defendant cannot afford an attorney and is appointed one by the state). These...
