A Deeper Look at Key City Initiatives for FY25

Affordable Housing

The Housing Department, through a reorganization of the Community Development Department, will become a separate City department in FY25 to fully recognize the significant investments and growth in work related to affordable housing, as prioritized by the City Council. The Department coordinates efforts to meet the housing needs of low, moderate, and middle-income residents through initiatives that create and preserve affordable housing, especially for families with children. It also offers access to affordable housing. The Housing Department oversees the range of the City’s affordable housing programs including affordable housing development and preservation, housing planning, homeownership programs, and inclusionary rental housing.

In FY25 construction work will continue on several developments creating new affordable units. This is highlighted by the anticipated completion of the first development created under the Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) at 116 Norfolk Street, where 62 new units for households with experience being unhoused are now under construction through a partnership with the Cambridge Housing Authority and the Department of Human Service Programs (DHSP). Housing staff will monitor construction at four sites where new housing is being built and work with affordable housing builders to move several other new developments forward in FY25. The Department will also continue to work with housing providers to assess and pursue opportunities to add to the City’s stock of affordable housing. This will include acquisition of development sites where new housing will be proposed through the AHO in FY25 as well as purchase of existing buildings for conversion to affordable housing. With affordable housing continuing to be a top priority for the City, a total of $47 million was allocated in the FY25 budget.

Environmental Initiatives

The Office of Sustainability (OOS) was created in FY25 in response to the growing importance and cross-functional nature of the City’s environmental initiatives. This new structure reflects both the success of Cambridge’s sustainability work in recent years, and the need for a dedicated department and staff to address the urgency and scale of the work ahead.

OOS works to improve community and environmental health through strategies, policies, and programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors and lead to carbon neutrality by 2050 or sooner, facilitate and ensure a just energy transition, help the City prepare for and improve its resilience to climate change including increased heat and flooding, and reduce the use of materials that threaten personal and environmental health.

The OOS is one of several strategies implemented by the City to combat climate change and improve resilience.

Early Childhood

Planning for implementation of the Cambridge Preschool Program (CPP) has been a major effort across the City and Cambridge Public Schools, as enrollment in preschool programs will begin in the Fall of 2024. A long-standing goal of the City Council, CPP is a publicly funded program that is overseen by the Cambridge Office of Early Childhood (OEC) and will provide free school-day, school-year preschool to every 4-year-old and prioritized 3-year-olds living in Cambridge. Extended day and summer programs are available at an additional cost for most families.

As a mixed-delivery system, CPP offers a variety of preschool programs for families to choose from, including CPS, City of Cambridge Department of Human Service Programs (DHSP), and community-based programs. It includes building a strong workforce pipeline and developing systems and support for program quality across all our classrooms and with our community partners.

The Cambridge Preschool Program represents one of the largest financial investments across the City’s FY25 Budget. Following a robust community engagement effort by OEC, the City, and CPS, the CPP application process launched in December 2023, with nearly 1,200 Cambridge families applying within the 6-week application window. While preschool placements are ongoing at the time of this publication, more than 720 children received preschool placements across 62 community preschool programs, 12 CPS preschool sites, and 7 DHSP preschool sites for the 2024-2025 school year. Approximately 40% of children enrolled in CPP’s community programs are from low-income households.

Research shows that children who participate in such a program are more prepared in early math, reading, and social and emotional development. These programs especially benefit lower-income families and have a long-term impact on the achievement gap.

The City looks forward to welcoming the first Cambridge preschoolers participating in CPP to their classrooms in September 2024. This is a major milestone in closing opportunity gaps in early education and preparing Cambridge children for academic success.

Vision Zero and Traffic Safety

Vision Zero, the City’s initiative to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries, continues to guide the Department's work to make Cambridge a safer city. As part of this initiative, the City continues to make regular investments in our Complete Streets program, which is designed to make it safe and easy for everyone to travel between work, school, shops, and other destinations, whether they choose to walk, bicycle, drive, or take public transit. Investments in our urban infrastructure include: repairing damaged roads, improving accessibility, addressing dangerous intersections, and implementing the Cycling Safety Ordinance, a City Council mandate to install a full network of separated bicycle lanes across the city.

The Cycling Safety Ordinance informs several ongoing projects, which will create floating bus stops with separated bike lanes and other pedestrian improvements, improve accessibility on sidewalks, increase plantings, and upgrade utilities. Design is underway for Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square between Plympton Street and Garden Street, and Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square between Sidney Street and Bigelow Street. Construction is expected to begin on Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square in 2024 and in Central Square by December 2025.

To date, the City has installed or has construction planned for separated bike lanes along the length of Massachusetts Avenue from Alewife Brook Parkway to Memorial Drive. Quick-build separated bike lanes have been installed on Hampshire Street from Inman Square to Broadway and Brattle Street from Sparks Street to Fresh Pond Parkway, among other locations. Planning and outreach are underway for installations on Main Street from Massachusetts Avenue to Portland Street and Cambridge Street from Prospect Street to Second Street.

Construction on River Street continues and includes improvements on River Street between Memorial Drive and Carl Barron Plaza. Project improvements include utilities (sewer, drain and water), roadway reconstruction, new sidewalks, new pedestrian scale streetlights, new street trees, a separated bike lane, and a redesigned Carl Barron Plaza with high-quality bus shelters. Construction also continues on Huron Avenue between Fresh Pond Parkway and Aberdeen Avenue. The improvements include a porous asphalt sidewalk along Fresh Pond Reservation, additional crosswalks, and separated bike lanes.

Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion Training and Programs

The City has increased funding for anti-racism, equity, and inclusion programs in FY25. The newly formed Office of Equity and Inclusion has made significant investments in employee engagement, improved processes for investigating and addressing complaints, developed clearer formal policies, and established more inclusive governance over the City’s work. In addition, close collaboration will occur across the senior leadership team and the Human Resources department as they seek to integrate the City’s values into organizational culture and performance.

The strengthened Office of Equity and Inclusion includes the existing anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion responsibilities as well as a supervisory role for the Human Rights Commission (HRC), the Commission on Immigrant Rights and Citizenship (CIRC), the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Plus (LGBTQ+) Commission, Language Justice, the Women’s Commission, and the Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Prevention Initiative.

Focused anti-racism and equity work is being led across other departments as well.

In FY25, the Community Development Department (CDD) will continue to focus on a range of efforts to better support women-and-minority-owned businesses, in collaboration with the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) Business Advisory Committee. Based on recommendations of the 2023 disparity study related to City of Cambridge procurement of goods and services, CDD will focus on supplier diversity in FY25 and further identify ways to catalyze opportunities for minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses to do business, or contract, with the City. Department-wide, CDD will move forward with a focus on equity and inclusion, ensuring that all voices are respectfully heard, that diverse needs are recognized, and that benefits and amenities are broadly accessible.

Furthermore, the City has announced the Digital Navigator Pilot Program (DNP), a collaborative effort between the City of Cambridge Information Technology Department, the Cambridge Public Library, the Cambridge Public School Department, Just A Start, and Cambridge Community Television (CCTV). This initiative is designed to support residents’ digital needs. Navigators will connect residents with a wide array of social services, ensuring that both the digital and analog (nondigital) needs of families are met. A primary focus will be providing a menu of supports and services to low-income residents, including identifying and assessing individuals' digital needs, assisting residents in signing up with low-cost Internet providers, troubleshooting connectivity issues, and connecting residents to free or low-cost computers, hot spots, or related equipment. They will also help residents to set up computers, tablets, or other devices for home use, while tracking individuals' progress and types of requests and maintaining accurate and timely records.