
Despite Green Light, Cambridge Housing Proceeds with Caution
Affordable developers have been treading carefully despite theoretical zoning permission to build tall, including shrinking buildings to placate neighbors.
Affordable developers have been treading carefully despite theoretical zoning permission to build tall, including shrinking buildings to placate neighbors.
A $10.5 million real estate deal with Lesley University creates an opportunity for a major affordable housing development in Cambridge’s Porter Square.
The first housing permitted under the city of Cambridge’s affordable housing density bonus program celebrated its groundbreaking last week next to North Cambridge’s Danehy Park.
The city sought to remove barriers to affordable housing construction by cutting permitting times and costs. And while funding shortfalls will hurt its full potential, it already appears to be working.
Beneath a facade of inclusivity and progressivism lies an ugly truth: Cambridge is not open to everyone. But the City Council should not settle for a surface-level fix.
A group of Cambridge city councilors wants to build on the success of the city’s affordable housing zoning overlay by giving affordable developments big density bonuses in Cambridge’s busiest squares and corridors.