Cambridge Citizens Coalition

                                    
           OUR MISSION (BELOW) DEPENDS ON YOUR SUPPORT
HOW TO HELP:


        Support Cambridge Citywide   Coalition (CCC)

Cambridge Citizens Coalition (CCC) is a grassroots, volunteer-led organization dedicated to strengthening civic engagement and promoting thoughtful, community-centered public policy in Cambridge. We work to inform residents, encourage public participation, and advocate for decisions that support a vibrant, livable, and sustainable city.
CHECKS :
Checks can be made to the Cambridge Citywide Coalition.
​Mail checks  to CCC at P.O. Box 410083, Cambridge MA 02141. 
                                                                     
Because CCC is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, contributions are not tax-deductible. Every dollar donated goes directly toward our civic education, outreach, research, and advocacy efforts. Importantly, all of our work is performed by volunteers, ensuring that contributions have a direct impact on advancing our mission rather than supporting paid staff.

Your support helps us:
  • Keep residents informed about important local issues.
  • Promote transparency and accountability in city government.
  • Encourage broad community participation in public decision-making.
  • Advocate for policies that enhance the quality of life for all Cambridge residents.

​Our Mission: To empower Cambridge residents through civic engagement, informed advocacy, and community action that promotes responsible planning, transparent government, and a thriving, inclusive city.
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Together, we can help ensure that Cambridge remains a place where residents have a meaningful voice in shaping the future of their community.

                                                              Participate in  CCC! 

​CCC: Everyone interested in participating with CCC is welcome!   How do you sign-up? Click the   button   to "Join" and receive our  newsletters. These newsletters are information rich, and few in number) that address key issues before the city.   We also welcome   volunteers! 

                                                                                   Basic CCC Support $$
Support: CCC has   no membership dues or requirements, but we urge basic level CCC affiliates to donate . 


                                                                                                                                Who/What  is CCC? 

What is CCC:  Cambridge Citizens Coalition is a group of residents & neighborhood group leaders dedicated to smart development, sustainability, housing affordability, and the preservation of our trees, green spaces, and historic architecture. 

                                                                    Who Leads CCC?
​CCC Leadership Organization:   CCC is run by a volunteer group of civic leaders from across the city (see "Who We Are" at the Home Page Tab). Our steering committee (a mix of Board Members and Advisors who wish to be active meet regularly and often are in email or phone contact discussion key city issues. 

                                                                                              CCC's MISSION
​CCC Mission:   To create a better, more livable Cambridge. Cambridge Citizens Coalition is a group of local residents dedicated to smart development, sustainability, affordable housing, and the preservation of our trees, green spaces, and historic architecture. We support realistic and common sense approaches to city finances, housing affordability, climate change, sustainability, transportation, public services, and social policy.  

Contact us at CCCoalition1 at gmail dot com. or by mail at   P.O. Box 410291, Cambridge, MA 02141.   

MISSION: SPECIFICS ON WHAT WE STAND FOR

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Accountability,
Transparency and
​Good Government 

Democracy all begins with good government and accountability and Cambridge has been lacking in this of late. The residents too often are treated by city as the "enemy" of equity, good citizenship, and progress.  What we are seeing here is a massive push for development without addressing the core issues of sustainability or cost. The city was asked to do a new city plan at the cost of multiple millions of tax payer money. They hired a great firm, the Boston design group, Utile, but instead of asking that this firm create a new city plan for Cambridge, the city chose to limit the group's input to ideas gathering. So we are left without the kind of critical plan that Council had funded and our residents very much wanted. 

Environment, Green Issues and Sustainability

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​Cambridge has lost 22% of its tree canopy in the last ten years. The era of massive new developments has been a disaster with respect to our tree canopy and rare open spaces. Cambridge is in the top five of the list of most dense cities in the U.S. with populations over 100,000 people. Key parts of the city are built in a flood zone. We need smart planning to grow the city in a way that will be sustainable.

Affordable Housing Displacement and Gentrification  ​

Cambridge is in the middle of a massive gentrification problem. More and more longtime residents are being forced out. Both renters and home owners are critical to the vitality of the City. Each case is important; each story is different. In the Riverside area, many historic African American and Hispanic families are hard hit and many more are losing their homes:   https://vimeo.com/334075355/d08c28a45a  This is an ongoing problem in Cambridge. Seniors are getting hit and are being forced to leave the city with the large scale conversion of rental properties into condos.

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SmartGrowth, Infra-structure, Transit,  Design

Growth requires smart planning and a city willing to  invest in critical infrastructure remediation and changes. Already in 2013 Eversource notified the city that we are circa 93% capacity of electricity generation. Nothing was done. The current plan, to build a 150' generator in East Cambridge next to a primary school is untenable. In December 2018 a Civil War era water main broke in West Cambridge causing millions of dollars in damage to local residents. The city has taken no responsibility for this. Boston (and Cambridge) are now seen to have the worst traffic problems in the country, yet there are no plans for traffic mediation. This can't hold. We need a city that is willing to do the kind of planning that is needed to make Cambridge a livable and sustainable city into the future.

Community, Equity & Neighborhood Engagement 

Cambridge is a wonderfully diverse city, one of the most diverse in the state, if not the country, but far too often the city has chosen to try to pit groups and neighborhoods against each other rather than addressing our shared concerns. 






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Universal Pre-K, Arts & Education  

How is it that a city as wealthy and as highly educated as Cambridge has no public pre-school possibilities? We know that early education is critical to advancement and success in life. Why are we not doing this here? There are other important concerns as well, including smart vocational training, and enhanced learning and work experiences for our Seniors. ​
What is  Happening in Cambridge?
Real estate development has been running our city. For many years, commercial developers have been given free rein from Alewife to West Cambridge to North Point and East Cambridge, encouraged by our own City government. It is time to take a hard look at what we, as residents and tax payers, want for the future of Cambridge.

 Our mission is to put the interests of residents over the interests of developers, to foster common sense over nonsense in City Hal, and to ensure that future development sustains the health of the entire community rather than just lining the pockets of developers and driving even more of our neighbors away.

Cambridge needs and deserves a City Council that is professional not blindly ideological; that represents the city of Cambridge not just those with money and advantage; that brings all of us together in common cause instead of dividing us for narrow political ends. Above all we need a City Council that tells us the truth.

We need to respect all that is best about Cambridge: the welcoming atmosphere for diverse communities, the human scale, the spirit of innovation, and unique qualities of every neighborhood. The Cambridge Citizens Coalition welcomes all Cambridge residents of every ethnicity, gender identity, and income, whether renter or homeowner, whether old or young, whether worker or student, what every type of family you have, however long you've been here.

Meetings at City Hall

                                  Cambridge Citizens Coalition in the News

Harvard Crimson on the 2019 CCC Candidates Forum (Oct. 6, 2019)
www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/10/7/city-council-candidate-affordable-housing-debate/