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Photograph of a residential street showing a row of multicolored houses

Housing

The need for affordable housing, and more housing in general, was consistently raised as a high priority in the Envision Cambridge process. The city’s strong job market and high quality of life have made demand for housing in Cambridge particularly high, driving up costs for renters and new homeowners alike. Additional actions to accelerate the construction of more affordable housing, provide housing for all stages of life, and leverage institutional partnerships to create more housing are critical to meeting the housing goals set for Envision Cambridge.

Envision indicators are updated as new data becomes available, which varies by indicator, but no more often than annually.

View the Housing Plan

Key Actions

Modify and streamline the development approval process for 100% affordable housing projects.

StrategyEncourage affordable housing production for low, moderate, and middle income households through regulatory and zoning incentives.
Core Values
  • Community Health & Wellbeing
  • Equity & Diversity
  • Livability
  • Sustainability & Resilience
Action TypeZoning Changes
Lead DepartmentCDD
StatusCompleted

Make it easier and faster to build affordable housing through bonuses and relief from certain regulations for developers.

StrategyEncourage affordable housing production for low, moderate, and middle income households through regulatory and zoning incentives.
Core Values
  • Community Health & Wellbeing
  • Equity & Diversity
  • Livability
  • Sustainability & Resilience
Action TypeZoning Changes
Lead DepartmentCDD
StatusCompleted

Change zoning to allow more affordable housing to be built along major streets, squares, and in other areas that are well-served by transit.

StrategyIncrease overall housing production.
Core Values
  • Community Health & Wellbeing
  • Equity & Diversity
  • Livability
  • Sustainability & Resilience
Action TypeZoning Changes
Lead DepartmentCDD
StatusIn Progress
Project PhaseOngoing

Advocate for more affordable housing throughout the region and state and help develop strategies for zoning reform.

StrategyDevelop a broader coalition of public and private entities and residents to support housing production, especially affordable housing, in Cambridge and the region.
Core Values
  • Equity & Diversity
  • Sustainability & Resilience
Action TypeAdvocacy
Lead DepartmentCDD
StatusIn Progress
Project PhaseOngoing

Increase funding for affordable housing.

StrategyExpand resources for affordable housing production and preservation.
Core Values
  • Community Health & Wellbeing
  • Equity & Diversity
Action TypeCapital investments
Lead DepartmentCity Manager Office
StatusIn Progress
Project PhaseOngoing

Expand homelessness prevention services. (Emergency resources, housing search, counseling & education).

StrategyExpand tools and resources to prevent displacement and housing insecurity and address homelessness.
Core Values
  • Community Health & Wellbeing
  • Equity & Diversity
  • Livability
Action TypePrograms and operations
Lead DepartmentDHSP
StatusIn Progress
Project PhaseOngoing

View All Actions

Indicators

Total housing units

Meeting target

The community set a goal to increase housing supply in order to mitigate cost increases driven by demand. Though Cambridge cannot tackle the region’s under-supply of housing on its own, this indicator will track Cambridge’s contribution to the regional effort.

The chart shows the total number of housing units in the City over time.

Source: CDD annual housing inventory
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Share of new housing produced in Cambridge that is dedicated as affordable

Meeting target

The development of dedicated affordable housing measures the City’s progress in ensuring the long-term availability of homes for the city’s diverse population. (Homes that are subject to rent or sales price limits and occupant income restrictions).

Source: CDD Housing Division Affordable Housing Inventory
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Number of new affordable housing units produced

Improving

The development of dedicated affordable housing measures the City’s progress in ensuring the long-term availability of homes for the city’s diverse population. (Homes that are subject to rent or sales price limits and occupant income restrictions).

Source: CDD Housing Division Affordable Housing Inventory
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Annual operating funds investment in affordable housing initiatives from City sources

Exceeding target

As costs continue to rise and funding for housing from federal and other sources becomes increasingly constrained, Cambridge must increase its support for affordable housing. This indicator tracks the City’s financial commitment to preserving and growing its affordable housing stock. The appropriations shown reflect figures for the corresponding fiscal year.

Note that the FY 2020 figure includes a special one time appropriation for the preservation of Fresh Pond Apartments.

Source: Housing Division
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Percentage of Cambridge households with children under the age of 18

Meeting target

Families are an integral part of the Cambridge community, yet their housing needs are not always adequately met by the housing market. This indicator will track overall success in retaining families in the city and allowing new families to live here.

The chart shows the share of households with children under 18 over time.

Source: One Year American Community Survey
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Share of Low- to Middle-Income Households

Falling behind

Cambridge has historically been a mixed-income city, but today that diversity is increasingly threatened. This indicator tracks success in maintaining Cambridge as a place for everyone, regardless of economic background or circumstance.

The chart shows the share of households from two income groups:

  • Those making less than 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI)
  • Those making between 50%-100% of the Area Median Income (AMI)

Source: CHAS data set from HUDUser.gov
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Change of racial/ethnic composition over time

Meeting target

For several decades, Cambridge has become increasingly racially and ethnically diverse. However, growth in the proportion of people of color in Cambridge has slowed in recent years, and the proportional size of the Black community shows indications of decreasing. This indicator measures diversity in the City's population using a statistic commonly used in ecology for measuring biodiversity, the Gini-Simpson Index. As used here, the Gini-Simpson Index is the probability that any two Cambridge residents selected at random will be members of two comparison groups.

In the chart, the three lines show the Gini-Simpson Index value for three sets of comparison groups:

  • Black people and all others
  • Any two different racial groups from the four categories of Asian, Black, White, and all others
  • Non-Hispanic White people and all others.

Source: ACS 1-Year Table DP05, except for Decennial Census years, in which case data comes from table P9.
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