What's New & Exciting

• For upcoming community meetings and classes go to the Community Calendar.
• A design presentation “Open House” for the Alexander W. Kemp Playground Renovation at Cambridge Common will be held in the playground on Monday, September 8, from 4:30 P. M. to 6:30 P. M.
• First time homebuyer workshopshave been scheduled for October. The dates are October 1, 15, 22 and 29. Space is limited. Registration must occur in advance. Please contact us at 617/347-4622 for more information.
• The Economic Development Division has a number of workshops, including the following three. Cambridge Business Assistance Programs introduces resources available to assist entrepreneurs and small business owners. Commercial Lending and Current Trends in Bank Financing offers presentations by several local banks about current commercial lending services and an network with the bank representatives about ways to sustain and grow your business. Sell it on Ebay will teach you how to start your own home based on-line business or diversify your existing storefront business. Click here for more workshops.
• The City's GIS staff recently released an interactive Parks Viewer, which allows you to locate parks throughout the City of Cambridge and learn about park facilities, hours of operation and maintenance.
• Test your soil for lead and learn what you can do to make your soil safer. Lead-Safe Cambridge's Safer Soil Program offers information and expertise.
• Learn about homeowner foreclosure prevention resources.
• Attention Cambridge Tenants and Landlords! You may qualify for home improvement services through the Lead-Safe Cambridge Program!
• A variety of resources about biotechnology are available through the Economic Development Division, including the brochure Cambridge Biotech: The Brains of Biotech The Heart of Innovation, a listing of Cambridge's life science companies. In addition, a map of biotechnology company locations throughout the City is available.
• Our detailed map of Cambridge, the only map of the City showing the direction of one way streets, is now available for viewing on line. View the Getting Around in Cambridge Map. Paper copies of the map are available at the Community Development Department office and at City Hall. For a copy of the map as well as bulk orders, contact Rosalie Anders at 617/349-4604.
• Currently, the Cambridge Housing Authority is seeking senior applicants 62 years and older, for studio units available at several locations and is also seeking applicants for the Family Public Housing Program three bedroom First Available waiting list.
• The City of Cambridge and the Henry P. Kendall Foundation have launched a major new energy initiative called the Cambridge Energy Alliance. The initiative will operate as a non-profit organization and will provide services and financing to dramatically increase energy efficiency in Cambridge buildings of all types. In addition, the initiative will assist installations of renewable energy systems and combined heat and power systems where appropriate. Residents, businesses, and others can register their interest on the Cambridge Energy Alliance web site.
• Did you know that the City Hall Annex at 344 Broadway, the location of the Department's office, is a green building? Learn More. This file is in PDF format and requires use of the free Adobe Acrobat viewer.
• Cambridge was recently ranked one of the best places to live and launch a business by Fortune Small Business. Out of 100 towns that feed and nurture a business, Cambridge ranked 35th. Rankings were based on percentages of new businesses, the area's business friendliness and lifestyle offerings to include arts venues and parks. Federal, state and city statistics and costs were also used to choose the towns that best blended business and pleasure.
• Cambridge is the best walking city in America, with more residents walking to work and more parks per square mile than any other city evaluated, according to a just-released study by Prevention magazine in its April 2008 issue and the American Podiatric Medical Association

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