Our Vision

Triple Decker Homes

We are focused on electing City Councillors who put our values into practice. Pledge your #1 vote for an ABC-endorsed candidate, then vote for the other ABC candidates in the order of your preference.

A Better Cambridge is an all-volunteer advocacy group fighting for a more affordable, inclusive, and vibrant city. We have endorsed candidates who ran on and passed the 100% Affordable Housing Overlay - a transformative policy that is already creating hundreds of affordable homes across the city - and are proud that these candidates are working to improve this policy to create even more housing for all. The ABC coalition has consistently advocated for more funding for affordable housing. We hope the next Council develops innovative solutions for both capital and long-term investment in affordable, mixed-income, and mixed-use development. Our coalition turns Cambridge’s shared values into actionable policies, and they’ve got a lot more work to do.

In the 2023 election, we need to protect and expand the pro-housing majority by electing a council that will keep fighting for these values. Your vote for the ABC slate is a vote for:

  • Housing Abundance

  • Housing Affordability

  • Housing Stability

  • Environmental sustainability

Triple Deckers
Housing for all

HOUSING ABUNDANCE

Cambridge should have enough homes for everyone who wants to live here. Our housing shortage has caused massive displacement and undermines our inclusivity. We must legalize multifamily housing in every neighborhood and add more housing along transportation corridors.

Strategies for housing abundance

  • End exclusionary zoning citywide

  • Democratize land use boards

  • Increase both capital and operating funding for affordable and mixed-income housing development

Rents climbing ever higher
FROST TERRACE AFFORDABLE HOUSING

HOUSING AFFORDABILITY

Every resident should be able to find a home in Cambridge that they can afford. In addition to pushing market costs down, we must create and preserve deed-restricted affordable and mixed-income housing, and we must defend and expand public subsidy programs like rental vouchers and homeownership assistance. The City has an opportunity to encourage affordable and mixed-income development through creative policies and local funding.

Strategies for housing affordability

  • Build a pipeline of dense, transit-oriented development - through zoning reform, city-led planning, and site-specific development initiatives.

  • Update inclusionary zoning and other City policies to more effectively address housing needs for more people, particularly households who have been or are at risk of displacement.

Tenant Protections

HOUSING STABILITY

Tenants should not be at the mercy of their landlords. Cambridge needs to strengthen and protect tenants’ rights, both inside and outside of eviction proceedings. Many tenant protections require state approval, but we have the power to create a universal right to counsel in Cambridge right now while we join other cities and towns in advocating for state-level reforms.

Strategies for housing stability

  • Pursue rent stabilization policies that may help prevent displacement, both immediately and for the long-term

  • Coordinate with state legislators and our neighbors to develop broader solutions to extreme and sustained housing cost increases throughout the Commonwealth

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

The single best way Cambridge can reduce carbon emissions is to build housing near transit, allowing more people to live more sustainably. 

  • Now that the City has ended mandatory parking minimums and will adopt a new stretch code to deepen and expand sustainable building standards, ABC will work with the Council and key community stakeholders to lower the carbon footprint of our built environment.

  • ABC’s first three pillars on housing represent a more environmentally sustainable approach to development and key actions towards mitigating climate change.

  • The City’s adoption of the new stretch code will create a new baseline for sustainable development in Cambridge. We think this is an important, exciting new stage for our built environment. 

Strategies for environmental sustainability

  • Increase funding available to meet these aggressive sustainability goals without hindering housing production.

  • When new development opportunities come up in key transit-oriented locations, we should prioritize mixed-income development with low/no carbon footprint, particularly as capital funding and/or utility rebates allow.

  • Our work to increase housing supply in Cambridge is rooted in connecting all types of people with safe, car-free transportation. We prioritize walkable, livable spaces and investment in community health and well-being over the status quo.

A greener more sustainable city

CIVIC STANDARDS

Although ABC primarily focuses on housing advocacy, we hold zero tolerance for bigotry, racism, or harassment of any kind and we expect our members and endorsees to meet basic standards of decency. In the context of some city council candidates having posted offensive content, or sharing or liking posts from bigoted and racist accounts, ABC reaffirms its commitment to Cambridge as an inclusive city. We may disagree on housing and other issues, but none of us should tolerate expression that demeans, harasses, or ostracizes any of us.