Damian Bero
Housing, more walkability, limiting car traffic.

I live in Cambridge

I urge the city council to pick a city manager who’s interested in making Cambridge better for not just those most vocally involved in local meetings, but for the most vulnerable in Cambridge. And for the people who want to live in Cambridge but cannot because of the housing crisis.

Opportunities: the severity of the housing crisis nationwide and especially in Cambridge provides an opportunity to make decisions that may have been politically harder before, as the consequences of housing scarcity are being more acutely felt now. It wouldn’t have been my first choice as the motivating factor for finally tackling the housing crisis in Cambridge, but the city manager can make the best out of the current situation. Challenges: it’s much easier to see the harms (real and perceived) caused by new housing development than the benefits. Less parking on a given block, construction noise affecting the immediate neighbors, etc. are all tangible immediate effects of new housing. While the benefits of increasing housing development are large, the effect is broad (each development incrementally shifts the market price for housing down) and takes years to come to full fruition (construction time, time for residents to move in, etc).

Housing supply. This is by far the biggest issue in Cambridge, the one that exacerbates almost all others. Racial inequities, climate change, healthcare outcomes, homelessness, and much more are all heavily exacerbated by the soaring costs of living in Cambridge. We need a city manager who recognizes the severity of the crisis and is willing to take action to resolve it, especially when it’s unpopular with a very vocal minority of Cambridge who would prefer this city become even more unaffordable.

The next city manager needs to be willing to address the housing crisis by removing barriers to housing development, both affordable and market-rate. They should have whatever personal characteristics are most conducive to that goal.