2023 City of Cambridge Department Highlights

We invite you to take a look at some of the biggest accomplishments across various City departments over the past year. 

Cambridge Arts
Cambridge Arts’ Inaugural Artist Residency: Cambridge Arts held its inaugural Artist Residency with Nailah Randall-Bellinger and RootsUprising, who produced a choreographic, multimedia workshop and live dance performance. Held at St. Augustine African Orthodox Christian Church Jose Mateo Ballet Theater on June 4 and at the Multicultural Arts Center on Aug. 12, the project focused on citizenship, belonging, identity, and joy here in the Cambridge through dance, movement, poetry, spoken word, music, and film.

Boston, Cambridge and Somerville Launch Regional Effort to Protect Arts Spaces. 'Making Space for Art' is supported by $140,000 Grant from MAPC. The cities of Cambridge, Boston and Somerville joined together with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) throughout 2023 to better protect existing arts and cultural spaces and to identify opportunities and partnerships that lead to the creation of new ones. Music venues, artists’ studios, rehearsal halls and other creative workspaces across the region have been closing at concerning rates due to rising rental and real estate prices — losses that only worsened amidst the health and financial problems of the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, Cambridge (represented by Cambridge Arts), Boston, and Somerville have been working to better help artists and organizations stay in their existing venues or find new, affordable ones. The three cities’ joint effort, conducted in partnership with MAPC, is surveying and interviewing artists, operators of arts spaces, and audiences to identify their most pressing needs and challenges.

Pemberton Street Mural Blossoms With Participatory Budgeting And Community Collaboration. Funded through the City of Cambridge’s Participatory Budgeting Process, three artists—Whitney Van Praagh, Alex Adamo and Kit Collins—created a new, community-inspired mural this fall on the retaining wall at Rindge Field along Pemberton Street between Haskell Street and Yerxa Road. Work began during Labor Day weekend, with support from Cambridge Arts. Local schools, libraries, youth centers, after-school programs, and area residents helped paint the swirling green and blue composition. The effort concluded with a community celebration at the mural on Oct. 19.

Community Development Department

AHO Amendments: In the fall of 2023, the City Council adopted amendments to the City’s 100% Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) zoning. The amendments (Section 11.207 of the Affordable Housing Overlay) permit taller heights for AHO projects in the City’s major commercial corridors and squares and its higher-intensity residential and mixed-use districts, as well as reducing setbacks for all AHO projects citywide.  The new “AHO 2.0” helps to further carve out a competitive edge for AHO development, which will result in the creation of new affordable and inclusionary housing units throughout the City. Affordable and inclusionary housing helps reduce poverty and improve economic mobility, which impact a number of health and wellness outcomes. Additionally, providing for a full range of housing choices throughout the City for households of all incomes, helps to meet the City's goal of preserving diversity. 

Alewife AOD-Q Amendments: These zoning amendments will help to implement a number of Envision Alewife plan recommendations as well as priorities from the stakeholders who helped lead the Alewife Working Group process. The amendments support development of new housing (including affordable housing), several new parks and open spaces, and a bridge connection from the Quadrangle to the Alewife MBTA station. The new zoning will help to establish the Quad as a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood that is bicycle and pedestrian-friendly, with improved access to public transportation. Additionally, the zoning amendments address area-specific environmental concerns by promoting resilience to future flooding, reducing urban heat island effects, and managing stormwater with a focus on green infrastructure and mitigating impacts on public sewage and drainage systems.

BEUDO Amendments: The Cambridge Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO), initially enacted by Cambridge City Council in 2014, is a key step in the City’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Prior to June 2023, BEUDO required owners of larger buildings to track and report annual energy use to the City, as well as to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions on a schedule determined by the size and type of their building. Amendments to the Ordinance, passed in 2023, will lead to high-impact, near-term changes by introducing GHG emissions-reduction requirements and intermediate targets for BEUDO properties. Large nonresidential buildings are now required to reach Net Zero Emissions by 2035, and small commercial buildings must reach net zero by 2050. Buildings can meet the emissions requirements by improving energy efficiency, purchasing renewable electricity that meets quality criteria, and switching from fossil fuel systems to all-electric systems. Buildings on a 2035 trajectory can also use a limited amount of verified carbon credits as an interim measure. The buildings subject to BEUDO make up almost 60% of Cambridge’s greenhouse gas emissions, so regulating these emissions is a critical part of achieving the City’s climate goals. 

Climate Resilience Zoning: In February of 2023, the Council adopted its new Climate Resilience Zoning after a multi-year task force process. The new zoning establishes flood and site resilience performance standards for new development that aim to protect vulnerable people and spaces from flood impacts based on the City’s climate projections, as well as encourage new development to incorporate heat mitigation in site and building design. More information on this new zoning can be found by clicking here.

Human Service Programs
The Department of Human Service Programs’ Planning and Development Division and Multi-Service Center continued to work closely with City departments, the Cambridge Department of Public Health, Cambridge Police, and community agencies to provide supportive services to Cambridge’s unhoused population. In partnership with the Department of Public Health, DHSP has worked to stabilize emergency shelter capacity, expand permanent supportive housing, enhance supportive services, and reduce overdoses. On a per capita basis, Cambridge provides more adult emergency shelter beds to homeless individuals than any city or town across the state. In particular, DHSP staff worked with City leadership to preserve 40 beds at the Salvation Army Emergency Shelter by providing $1.3 million in Fiscal Year 23 and 24, after state funding ended. The City also preserved 58 beds at the Spaulding Transition Wellness Center by extending its lease to June 2025, and DHSP has increased funding to nonprofit partners for services that support stable tenancies at the YMCA, YWCA, and St. Paul’s shelters. The City has committed significant funds toward the Cambridge Housing Authority’s redevelopment and expansion of 116 Norfolk St. DHSP has participated in planning and will be the referral source for identifying individuals exiting chronic homelessness for placement at the property.

During summer 2023, staff in the Department of Human Service Programs (DHSP) engaged with thousands of children, youth, and families. Highlights included: 32,000+ visits to Gold Star Pool this summer during open swim hours; 900+ teen participants in the Mayor's Summer Youth Employment Program across 118 job sites in Cambridge and surrounding communities; 782 children in Kindergarten through 8th grades attended Community Schools Summer Camps; 384 participants, ages 8-19, in Recreation Summer Basketball Leagues; 276 pre-teens and middle schoolers participated in CYP summer programs at Youth Centers; and 24 children with disabilities who attended Camp Rainbow. DHSP also manages the annual Cambridge Summer Food Program, which served nearly 61,000 breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals to Cambridge children ages 18 and under. At any of the program’s 9 public food sites, located at parks across the city, children could play games and activities with Recreation staff. The program also provided free lunches to 41 local camps.

The Cambridge Community Learning Center (CLC) offers a variety of programs to help adult students learn English; prepare for college; improve their reading and math skills; and become U.S. citizens. CLC also partners with other departments and agencies, including the Cambridge Office of Early Childhood, DHSP’s Office of Workforce Development, and Laboure College in Milton, to offer job training programs that serve as pipelines for fulfilling careers. In 2023, more than 800 adult students were served in classes across CLC’s eight programs and more than 70 classes. 

Applications to the Cambridge Preschool Program (CPP) launched on December 1, 2023. As of December 7, CPP has received 242 completed applications. The publicly-funded initiative, overseen by the Cambridge Office of Early Childhood, is a joint partnership of the City of Cambridge and Cambridge Public Schools. CPP will provide free school-day, school-year preschool to every 4-year-old and some 3-year-olds living in Cambridge. As a mixed-delivery system, CPP’s single application will offer a variety of high-quality preschool programs for families to choose from, including CPS, City of Cambridge Department of Human Service Programs (DHSP), and community-based programs. The CPP model centers equity in access and prioritizes early educator support. 

Fire Department
In January 2023, 22 recruit firefighters (18 from Cambridge and 4 from Brookline) graduated from the Cambridge Fire Academy Recruit Training program. This successful and very intense, 11-week recruit training program was the first Cambridge Academy recruit class since the 1980s. Training was both classroom and hands-on, and included hose handling, pump operation, water supply, ground & aerial ladder operations, tying & hauling of equipment, use of SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus), TIC (thermal imaging camera), search & rescue, firefighting, hi-rise operations, vehicle extrication, water rescue, emergency medical care, hazardous materials operations, and much, much more. Graduates were nationally certified as Firefighter I/II. Obviously, this was a demanding (personnel, resources, and equipment) but very successful initiative.

Among the several major fires during the year, in April (Easter Sunday), firefighters fought the 6-alarm fire which sadly devastated the Faith Lutheran Church on Broadway. Although the church was destroyed, firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading throughout the neighborhood. In October, during a 3-alarm fire in a residential building on Garden Street, firefighters, in a coordinated effort, successfully rescued a trapped occupant from a 3^rd floor window via ground ladders. (This was the second time in 18 months that firefighters, working as a coordinated team, successfully rescued trapped occupants, in smoke & fire conditions, via ground ladders.)

In June 2023, three electric vehicles were added to the Fire Department fleet. Two all-electric, Ford F150 Lightnings were assigned for Special Operations, Technical Rescue, and HazMat response and one Ford Escape hybrid was assigned for Fire Prevention duties.

As part of the ongoing commitment to provide the best training opportunities for our firefighters and fire officers, Cambridge Fire has transitioned to a new learning management system. This standardized training regimen will complement our in-house training as well as provide training documentation for all members. Cambridge Fire’s long-standing commitment to training of all types, and the documentation of this training is a factor in our National Class 1 Fire Protection Rating.

Police Department
ICAT Enhanced Training: In October, the entire Cambridge Police Department and its leadership team completed the enhanced ICAT training to supplement its original ICAT training in 2018. ICAT (Integrating Communications, Assessment and tactics) is a training program that provides first responding police officers with the tools, skills, and options they need to successfully and safely defuse a range of critical incidents. The program was developed by PERF (Police Executive Research Forum).

Procedural Justice Dashboard Launch: In August, the Cambridge Police Department launched a new publicly-accessible arrest, summons, citation, and use of force Procedural Justice Dashboard. Now available at www.cambridgepolice.org/dashboard and on the Cambridge Police Transparency Portal, this comprehensive dashboard is designed to better serve the community by increasing the department’s transparency and providing the public with deeper insights into Cambridge Police officer interactions with the public.  CPD has also partnered with CPE (Center for Policing Equity, a nationally recognized non-profit organization that gathers and analyzes data on behaviors within public safety systems and uses that data to help communities achieve safer policing outcomes. Through its smart data collection and analysis, CPE will help facilitate a community-centered process to identify potential drivers and risks for policing inequities and look to reimagine the delivery of the City of Cambridge’s public safety services. They will help the department identify or address any potential vulnerabilities or disparities from the data featured in the dashboard and develop harm reduction strategies.

Electric Vehicles Added to Fleet: In February, the Cambridge Police Department added its first all-electric vehicles to its service fleet in support of the City’s Clean Fleet Initiative and Climate Action. The Mustang Mach-E was selected after a thorough review of electric vehicle options.

Body Worn Camera Initiative: The procurement process is underway for BWC (Body-worn Cameras) at the Cambridge Police Department. In December, the police department submitted a SIRT (Surveillance Technology Impact Report) to the City Council. This work began in 2020, but Commissioner Christine Elow has made this a high priority.

Public Health
Training Employees and Residents to Protect Health in Cambridge: The Cambridge Public Health Department (CPHD), in collaboration with Cambridge Fire, provided basic first aid training to 118 city employees representing 11 different city departments. The training covered use of the AEDs and Narcan kits installed in city buildings as well as CPR training and how to stop traumatic bleeding. In its ongoing work to prevent overdose deaths, CPHD also trained over 350 community members how to administer Narcan if they witness an overdose.

Health, Arts and Culture: The Cambridge Public Health Department (CPHD) branched out into arts and culture this year via collaborations with other city departments. Working with the Community Development Department and Cambridge Arts, CPHD promoted block parties to combat isolation and helped choose the artists who would create sculptures to provide shade in areas of the city that most need it. We even partnered with the Cambridge Public Library to distribute COVID rapid tests throughout the city. 

Lifting of the Public Health Emergency: On May 11, 2023 the COVID-19 public health emergency declarations at the federal and state levels expired. CPHD joined City officials to mark the solemn occasion with an event at the COVID-19 memorial at the Cambridge Cemetery. While the lifting of the public health emergency was a symbolic marker, the pandemic is not over. CPHD continues to track and respond to COVID-19 to keep the Cambridge community informed and protected. With our partners from Cambridge Fire, our clinical team administered over 1,900 COVID-19 vaccines in 2023.

Public Library

In 2023, the Library produced an excellent array of programming and services at the Main Library and branch locations in support and of our strategic priorities, which include welcome and inclusion, arts and ideas, learning and literacy, and community and democracy.

A snapshot of numbers of Library programs and services in 2023 highlight:

• 1,658 programs for adults and older adults, for which we had 23,542 participants
• 1,477 children and teen programs, which brought in 36,808 participants

• 1,750,051 total item check-outs and renewals. This number includes 8,575 museum pass reservations
• 443,482 wi-fi sessions provided
• 8,304 attendees at 920 STEAM programs, including internships and career development programs. 

We’re also proud of our 2023 Summer Reading Program, which saw:

• 7,002 participants of all ages 

• 2,824 Summer Reading Adventure submissions
• 2,359 new library cards made
• 106 special Summer Reading events
• 11,711 program attendees 

Author Talks, Musical Performances, Cambridge Cooks and STEAM Programming: The Library welcomed diverse authors such as Dr. Annette Gordon-Reed, the author of On Juneteenth; Eleanor Catton, a screenwriter and author of Birnam Wood; Ilyon Woo, the New York Times best-selling author of Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey From Slavery to Freedom; Jenny Odell, the author of the New York Times bestseller Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock; Isabella Hammad, the award-winning author of Enter Ghost; Gish Jen, Claire Messud, and Laura Zigman for a conversation on Cambridge women authors past and present, moderated by Virgina Pye; and Amanda Peters, author of The Berry Pickers, which won the 2023 Barnes and Noble Discover Prize and has been shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction.  

The Library also hosted musical performances such as four sold-out performances by the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet; a performance from the Afghanistan Freeharmonic Orchestra; and several outdoor concerts in our Park Sounds series. In 2023, the Library also launched its Cambridge Cooks series, which offers free cooking demonstrations and tastings for patrons. Cambridge Cooks invites local chefs and restauranteurs to teach attendees basic cooking skills, nutrition, and safety. The Library hosted chefs such as Anthony Haley from the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, Jennifer Park from Forge Baking Co., and Ploy Khunisorn from Ploy’s Kitchen, and will continue offering a diverse array of classes.  

Our STEAM initiative continues to grow, with our makerspace, The Hive, expanding to offer 70 classes a month, new digital equity programs, and drop-in equipment and studio times for all ages. In 2023, STEAM staff supported over 530 engagement or outreach visits, in addition to STEAM-focused visits led by professional library staff. STEAM programs for all age groups include a Cookbook Book Club, workshops on multimedia production and digital storytelling, the Nerd Alert! Speaker Series, monthly Family STEAM Night, immersive courses for middle and high school students, and various fiber arts circles across our branches. This year, in collaboration with the STEAM department, the Library launched CPL Nature Club, which provide nature-oriented programs for all ages, from story times to nature walks to author talks. The CPL Nature Club has held 16 programs in its first 3 months. 

In 2023, the Library continued its commitment to providing programming for patrons of all ages. The Library provided a wide range of programs for children and teens, including Cambridge Young Authors’ Squad meetings, weekly sing-alongs and story times, family STEAM nights, arts and crafts, and more. The Library also expanded its Creative Aging programming, which seeks to combat isolation among seniors by offering the opportunity to commune with peers and participate in workshops including poetry, wellness, and navigating life solo.

Digital Equity: In 2023, the Library redoubled its efforts to close the digital divide and ensure equitable access to the information and communication technologies necessary for full and effective participation in our society, democracy, and economy by hiring a Digital Equity Manager. With the support of professional librarians at the Main Library and branch locations, the Digital Equity Manager works to improve participants’ technology skills by offering tech classes at the Main Library and branch locations. These basic tech classes teach patrons how to use email, the internet, Google Drive, Zoom, and the Library’s e-resources. The Digital Equity Manager also launched the One-on-One Tech Help program, which offers personalized tech support by appointment at the Main Library and branch locations. The Digital Equity Manager has also helped connect patrons to affordable internet options by holding information and sign-up sessions for the Affordable Connectivity Program. The Library’s Digital Equity initiative continues to expand and will offer new tech classes each month.

Branch Hours Expansion: In an effort to increase accessibility across all branches, the Library expanded hours of service at the branch locations by 65 hours per week. As of June 2023, all branch libraries offer weekend and evening hours. We now have four libraries open on Saturdays and one open throughout the year on Sundays. These expanded hours have increased weekend and evening access for students and patrons who may have school or work during the day. Expanded hours also provide additional opportunities to coordinate community events. 

The expansion of Library hours, which began in 2022 with the expansion of Library hours of service at the Boudreau, Collins, and Valente Branch locations, culminated with the expansion of service hours at the Central Square Branch in 2023. The Central Square Branch now offers evening service hours on Wednesdays. The Central Square branch Children’s Room expanded service hours to include Tuesdays and Thursdays. The branch expansion helps us ensure that everyone has a chance to visit the Library and benefit from its resources.