Vote on Participatory Budgeting Projects Dec. 1-8, 2019. How Would You Spend $1 Million to Improve Cambridge?

Participatory Budgeting (PB) is back. Cambridge residents age 12 or older (including all 6th graders), can vote from December 1-8, 2019 to decide how to spend $1 million on projects to improve the city. This process is open to everyone in our community, including non-U.S. citizens and university students.

In June and July 2019, community members submitted over 1,600 ideas about how to spend $1 million of the City’s Fiscal Year 2021 Capital Budget, beginning July 1, 2020. From August to November, over 40 volunteer Budget Delegates worked on five committees to research and evaluate those ideas and develop final proposals for the ballot.

Thanks to our dedicated Budget Delegates, there are 20 exciting projects on the 2019 PB ballot. Residents can vote for up to five of the following projects:

• Better Bike Parking for Students and Families ($155,000)
• Canine Comforts ($100,000)
• Keeping Cambridge Clean ($100,000)
• Because Benches Make Life A Little Easier ($150,000)
• Public Bathroom ($350,000)
• Laundry Access in Public Schools ($50,000)
• Water Bottle Filling Stations for the Major Squares ($150,000)
• Extend Outdoor WiFi ($50,000)
• More Bluebike Stations Near Affordable Housing ($180,000)
• Traffic Calming via Speedometer Signs ($150,000)
• Close the Canopy ($200,000)
• Lift & Lounge in the Park ($90,000)
• Pedestrian-Controlled Crosswalk Lights ($150,000)
• My Court – basketball court upgrades ($250,000)
• Open our Doors ($175,000)
• Public Art: Commemorating Local Cambridge Activism ($125,000)
• Private space for nursing parents ($60,000)
• Make the City Bloom with a Habitat Corridor ($75,000)
• Greener City Fleet ($80,000)
• Upgrade the Moses Youth Center ($95,000)

Residents can vote online Dec. 1-8, 2019. Online voting will be text message authenticated. When voters enter their cell phone number on the PB website, they will receive a code via text to enter online for a one-time access to the ballot. The online ballot will be available in English, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, and Spanish. If residents wish to vote online but do not have a cell phone, they can contact the City’s Budget Office to receive a code, at 617-349-4270 during office hours (Monday 8:30 a.m. - 8 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Friday 8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.) or by email, pb@cambridgema.gov.

Residents can also vote in person at one of the following PB voting events:

• Main Library (449 Broadway): Sunday, Dec. 1, 2-5 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
• North Cambridge Senior Center (2050 Mass. Ave.): Monday, Dec. 2, 12-2 p.m.
• City Hall (795 Mass. Ave.): Monday, Dec. 2, 4-8 p.m.; Wednesday Dec. 4, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 6, 9 a.m.- 12 p.m.
• O’Connell Library (48 Sixth St): Monday, Dec. 2, 5-7 p.m.
• O’Neill Library: (70 Rindge Ave.)Monday, Dec. 2, 3-6 p.m.
• Boudreau Library (245 Concord Ave.): Tuesday, Dec. 3, 4-7 p.m.
• Central Square Library (45 Pearl St.): Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2-5 p.m.
• Valente Library (826 Cambridge St.): Wednesday, Dec. 4, 4-7 p.m.
• Citywide Senior Center (806 Mass. Ave.): Thursday, Dec. 5, 12-2 p.m.
• Collins Library (64 Aberdeen Ave.): Thursday, Dec. 5, 4-7 p.m.
Paper ballots at voting events will be available in English, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Find out which projects win funding. The PB Results Party will be held on Tuesday, December 10, 6-7 p.m., at the Citywide Senior Center, 806 Mass. Ave., Central Square, Cambridge.

Past winning PB projects include critical resource kits for the homeless, musical instruments for students, tree planting, water bottle fill stations, and many others.

For more information, including a full list of in-person PB voting events, or to vote online Dec. 1-8, 2019, visit pb.cambridgema.gov or contact the City of Cambridge Budget Office at pb@cambridgema.gov or 617-349-4270