City of Cambridge Announces Winning Projects for 11th Participatory Budgeting Cycle

The City of Cambridge today announced the results for the 11th Participatory Budget (PB) Process. Seven projects in total were selected after a record number of ideas were submitted and more than 10,000 Cambridge residents age 12 and older voted how to spend $1 million on capital and operating projects to improve the community.

In order of ranked votes, the following seven projects won $1,060,000 in fiscal year 2026 funding:

1. Improve Parks with Shade Structures and Seating ($250,000)
2. Build a Pollinator Garden in a City Park ($75,000)
3. Funding for High School Clubs ($150,000)
4. Slower Speeds for Safer Streets ($250,000)
5. Mobile Center for Hard-to-Recycle Items ($75,000)
6. Welcome Baby Boxes for New Parents ($60,000)
7. Electric Vehicle Chargers ($200,000)

“We are once again thrilled to have incredible participation and engagement with the Participatory Budgeting process,” said Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang. “The winning projects selected by our community reflect many of the top priorities of Cambridge residents, whether it’s improved infrastructure, a more sustainable Cambridge, enhanced health and safety, or broader programming options for families and our youth. We were pleased to add an additional $60,000 in order to accommodate all seven of these projects, which will have a positive long-term impact in our City.”

Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process where community members can vote to decide how to spend part of a public budget. The goal of Participatory Budgeting is to directly involve residents in City budgeting, encourage civic engagement, foster community spirit, and help ensure that the City of Cambridge capital and operating plans reflect the priorities of Cambridge residents.

In order to make the process more accessible to all community members, language justice continued to be prioritized. Participatory Budgeting materials were translated and accessible in nine languages other than English, the most ever in a PB process in Cambridge, including Arabic, Amharic, Bangla, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Haitian Creole, Hindi, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Expanded on-the-ground outreach was led this year by the Budget Office in collaboration with the Community Engagement Teams at the Community Development Department and the Department of Human Service Programs, the Cambridge Public Schools, volunteers, and community partners. Over 1,000 students in grades 6-12 voted across Cambridge during designated voting, providing a learning experience simulating real election day procedures. Nearly every upper school 6-8 grader cast their vote during designated voting days.

Cambridge residents cast their votes and learned about PB in person at designated PB voting sites provided at various housing communities, community events, and public library branches. Community partners also encouraged participation with neighborhood associations, business associations, non-profit organizations and service providers, affordable housing communities, and others supporting this effort. Further promotion of voting was conducted online through e-newsletters, print and digital flyers, social media, news media, website listings, and citywide print mailings.

The 11th Participatory Budgeting process began back in August 2024. Between August through October 2024, more than 1,300 ideas for consideration in-person, online, via email, by mail, and over the phone. Between October 2024 and February 2025, more than 70 volunteer PB Delegates researched and developed the submitted ideas into formal project proposals, including a Youth Committee consisting exclusively of Cambridge high school students to focus on youth-related ideas.

During the proposal development process, PB delegates worked in committees and met with city staff to evaluate each projects relative need, impact, and feasibility, including cost estimates, and consolidated the idea list down to the final project proposals that were on the March PB ballot. From March 6-16, 2025, voting was made accessible online, as well as offered over the telephone and in-person at various community locations, including public library branches, housing communities, and community events.

Since the inaugural process in 2014, the City of Cambridge has collected over 10,000 ideas and committed $10.6 million to 79 Participatory Budgeting projects across 11 PB cycles.

To learn more, please visit https://pb.cambridgema.gov.