Community Development > Mass Ave Planning Study - Cambridge Common to Alewife Brook Parkway

Mass Ave Planning Study - Cambridge Common to Alewife Brook Parkway

From Winter 2024 to Spring 2025, the Mass Ave Planning Study (MAPS), spearheaded by the Cambridge Community Development Department, created a vision plan for what Massachusetts Avenue will look like in 2040 between Alewife Brook Parkway and Cambridge Common.

This plan is part of the implementation of Envision Cambridge, the City's comprehensive plan. It studied various aspects such as land use, zoning, urban design, housing, climate resiliency, small business support, mobility, and public space.

The team worked with the community to develop a shared vision to shape future development types and scales, and led an engagement process to capture all the voices that call this part of Mass Ave home.

Latest Updates

Mass Ave Zoning Petition - Upcoming Meetings

Ordinance Committee Meeting December 2

There will be a City Council Ordinance Committee Meeting on Tuesday, December 2, 2025 to discuss the rezoning petitions for Mass Ave and Cambridge Street. This is a continuation of the Ordinance Committee meeting from 11/13 to allow for additional public comment and council discussion.

To attend the meeting in-person or virtually please see the links below.

City Calendar: https://www.cambridgema.gov/citycalendar/view.aspx?guid=3b57a0ccc55d4374b7250e3b6c694ee2

Zoom link: https://cambridgema.zoom.us/s/97895847144

If you're unable to join, the meeting recording will be made available online after the meeting at the meeting recording page on the Open Meeting Portal.

To read the zoning petitions and additional meeting materials please visit https://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=4815.

To view the 10/30 Ordinance Committee Zoning petition presentations, use the following links:

Mass Ave
https://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=4&ID=27130&MeetingID=4815

Cambridge Street
https://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=4&ID=27129&MeetingID=4815

Read the plan!

Community Engagement

Recent Meetings

MAPS Community Meeting - Final Planning Study Recommendations

On April 10, we hosted a community gathering to share the final recommendations of the Mass Ave Planning Study at the Lunder Arts Center at Lesley University.

After many Working Group and community meetings, focus groups, business interviews, thousands of survey responses and countless conversations with community members, we were thrilled to share the work.

This meeting presented the suite of recommendations developed with the community over the course of the sixteen-month planning process. The Community Development department will be shared ideas that will help to:

Make Mass Ave more beautiful
Produce more housing
Provide more neighborhood amenities
Support small businesses
Improve sidewalks and walkability

To view the materials from the meeting, please visit the Meeting Materials section of the website.

Project Materials

Working Group Meetings

MAPS Working Group - Meeting 9 (MAPS Zoning Recommendations) 03/13/25 presentation
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 9 (MAPS Zoning Recommendations) 03/13/25 video
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 8 (North Mass Ave + Porter Square Final Recommendations) 02/26/24 presentation
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 8 (North Mass Ave + Porter Square Final Recommendations) 02/26/24 video
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 7 (Zoning - NMA and South of Porter) 12/11/24 presentation
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 7 (Zoning - NMA and South of Porter) 12/11/24 video
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 6 (North Mass Ave) 10/30/24 presentation
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 6 (North Mass Ave) 10/30/24 video
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 5 (North Mass Ave) 10/11/24 presentation and meeting minutes
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 4 (South of Porter) 06/27/24 presentation
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 4 (South of Porter) 06/27/24 video
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 3 (South of Porter) 04/24/24 presentation
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 2 (South of Porter) 03/14/24 video
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 2 (South of Porter) 03/14/24 presentation
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 1 02/08/24 video
MAPS Working Group - Meeting 1 02/08/24 presentation

Community Meetings

MAPS Community Meeting 8 (Plan Recommendations) 04/10/25 meeting boards and newspaper
MAPS Community Meeting 7 (Porter Square) 01/30/25 presentation
MAPS Community Meeting 7 (Porter Square) 01/30/25 video
MAPS Community Meeting 6 (North Mass Ave) 11/14/24 online open house feedback form and boards
MAPS Community Meeting 5 (North Mass Ave) 09/26/24 presentation
MAPS Community Meeting 5 (North Mass Ave) 09/26/24 video and chat
MAPS Community Meeting 4 (South of Porter) 07/25/24 presentation
MAPS Community Meeting 4 (South of Porter) 07/25/24 video
MAPS Community Meeting 3 (South of Porter) 05/29/24 meeting boards
MAPS Community Meeting 2 (South of Porter) 03/27/24 presentation
MAPS Community Meeting 1 02/29/24 video and transcript
MAPS Community Meeting 1 02/29/24 presentation

MAPS Report

Working Project Schedule

Study Area

The Study Area for the Mass Ave Planning Study stretches from the Cambridge Common to Alewife Brook Parkway, two miles of Mass Ave.

map with streets and colored lines

Key Resources

Local and Area Plans

Citywide Plans

Envision Cambridge (2019)
Resilient Cambridge Plan (2021)
Urban Forest Master Plan (2020)
Five-year Sidewalk and Street Reconstruction Plans (ongoing)
Ten-year Infrastructure Plans (ongoing)
Cambridge Bicycle Plan (2020)

Links to Neighborhood Planning

Mass Ave Planning Study Working Group

For a more complete description of the working group and its members please reference the City Council packet from January 22, 2024 (page 88)