Cambridge City Council advanced a zoning amendment for the Alewife neighborhood to the next round of consideration and received yet another update on the Covid-19 vaccine rollout at Monday s meeting.
The Council passed a motion 6-3 to bring the zoning petition to a second reading, awaiting a final vote on March 15. The petition proposes the development of 490 units of affordable housing and $17 million in funding toward a new bridge with an accompanying shuttle service for the area.
Petition sponsor Councilor Marc C. McGovern said current zoning laws in Alewife should be changed to accommodate new housing and neighborhood improvements.
âA lot of the things that we are talking about are community benefits: housing, the bridge, additional open space, reduction in parking, retail â none of those things are required under current zoning,â McGovern said. âAt the end of the day, I have to decide and we have to decide what we think is the better outcome for the city a
Cambridge City Councilors passed a proposal to rent non-congregate housing for the cityâs unhoused population and received an update on the Covid-19 vaccine rollout during a Wednesday meeting.
The council plans to rent space from the New England School of English as non-congregate housing during the pandemic. Non-congregate shelters provide private, single rooms for each guest, whereas congregate shelters house guests in one common space. An executive order from the Biden administration promises states 100 percent reimbursement for the opening and operation of non-congregate shelters and other spaces through September 2021.
Last weekend, housing advocates distributed flyers to more than 1,200 Cambridge households in a campaign to raise awareness and rally support for the policy.
UPDATED: Jan. 20, 2021 at 5:40 p.m.
During a tumultuous four years under the administration of Donald Trump, local leaders have dealt with the fallout of how its policies trickled down into the lives of Cambridge residents. While Covid-19 and economic fallout raged nationally, the cityâs top issues â small business erosion, food insecurity, and homelessness â have all been exacerbated.
Now, as President-elect Joe Biden is set to take office, he has proposed lengthy plans to tackle the nationâs crises. Looking ahead, Cambridge leaders said they have both hopes and demands for renewed local support under a Biden administration.
Under Trump, the Cambridge Community Foundation, a public charity that funds nonprofits around the city, transitioned to devoting its funding to combat the effects of the administrationâs âregressive policies,â according to its president, Geeta K. Pradhan.