Monday’s City Council meeting will decide the future of affordable housing in Cambridge for the coming years.  With your help, we can ensure that our local non-profit affordable homebuilders can acquire new sites and that the funding for them to build on these sites is available.

The need for the amendment expanding the 100% Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO) and for additional funds in next year’s city budget is clear.  Time is of the essence.  This is about families who need housing NOW.

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE 100% AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVERLAY AMENDMENT

Last week, the four Councillors who introduced the AHO amendments proposed a policy order to expand the Affordable Housing Overlay, which will remove zoning barriers for the production of affordable housing. See our explainer for details. The vote on the policy order was delayed until this Monday, and three Councillors proposed that CDD do a study instead of passing this order.

To each of you who wrote or spoke in support of the 100% Affordable Housing Overlay amendment already, many thanks! We need your voice at the City Council meeting again this coming Monday, May 8 at 5:30 pm.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

COMMENT in support on Monday, May 8th at 5:30 pm and/or EMAIL the Council to urge them to: 

• Vote YES on the AHO amendment policy order
• Vote NO to a study which would further delay opportunities to build more affordable housing
• Sign up to give public comment here (for the topic, you can just put Support for AHO Amendments or Charter Right #1)
• Email the Council and Clerk ([email protected], [email protected], BCC [email protected])

ADVOCATE FOR ADEQUATE FUNDING FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN FY’24

The City Manager has released his budget for the coming year, and there is NO increase in affordable housing funding from this year’s funding level.  That amounts to a cut in funding as it doesn’t allow for the increased costs of land and building labor and supplies, which have risen sharply due to inflation.  This effective budget cut, at a time when we need to significantly increase spending on affordable housing, will severely limit the amount of new housing that can be built.

Please write to your Cambridge City Councillors and the City Manager ([email protected], [email protected], bcc to [email protected]) to tell them that this funding is totally inadequate. All of our Councillors have expressed their support for affordable housing.  This is their opportunity to demonstrate that support.  Let them know that we need an additional $20 million in the budget for the coming year.

The original AHO passed because we all spoke out.  With your help, we can pass this expansion, increase the budget, and make a big difference for families desperately in need of affordable housing.

Many thanks for all of your efforts!