Founded in December 1630 during thecolonial era, Cambridge was one among the first cities established in theThirteen Colonies, and it went on to play a historic role during theAmerican Revolution. In May 1775, approximately 16,000American patriots assembled inCambridge Common to begin organizing a military retaliation againstBritish troops following theBattles of Lexington and Concord. On July 2, 1775, two weeks after theSecond Continental Congress inPhiladelphia formally established theContinental Army and appointedGeorge Washington commander of it, Washington arrived at Cambridge Common to take command of the Patriot soldiers camped there. Many of these soldiers played a role in supporting Washington's successfulsiege of Boston, which trapped garrisoned British troops from moving by land, forcing the British to ultimately abandon Boston. Cambridge Common is thus celebrated as the birthplace of the Continental Army.[7][8]
Kendall Square, near MIT in the eastern part of Cambridge, has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet" due to the high concentration ofstartup companies that have emerged there since 2010.[10] In 2022, Cambridge was home to over 250 biotech companies, with more than 120 located within the Kendall Square zipcode.[11]
George Washington takes command of theContinental Army in Cambridge Square on July 3, 1775; Cambridge is considered the birthplace of the Continental Army, which went on to secure American independence by defeating theBritish in theAmerican Revolutionary War.An 1873 map ofHarvard SquareAn 1873 map of CambridgeAn 1852 map ofGreater Boston highlighting the regional rail lines and course ofMiddlesex Canal; Cambridge is near the bottom of the map highlighted in yellow, and West Cambridge, which is present-dayArlington, Massachusetts, highlighted in pink
TheMassachusett inhabited the area that is now called Cambridge for thousands of years prior toEuropean colonization of the Americas, most recently under the nameAnmoughcawgen, which means 'fishing weir' or 'beaver dam' inNatick.[12] At the time of European contact, the area was inhabited byNaumkeag orPawtucket to the north andMassachusett to the south, and may have been inhabited by other groups such as the Totant, not well described in later European narratives.[13] The contact period introduced a number of European infectious diseases which would decimate native populations invirgin soil epidemics, leaving the area uncontested upon the arrival of large groups of English settlers in 1630.
The first settlement of theMassachusetts Bay Colony was established inSalem, in June of 1630. That December, the site of present-day Cambridge was chosen for development because it was safely upriver fromBoston Harbor, making it easily defensible from attacks by enemy ships. The city was founded byThomas Dudley, his daughterAnne Bradstreet, and his son-in-lawSimon Bradstreet. The first houses were built in the spring of 1631. The settlement was initially referred to as "the newe towne".[14][15] Official Massachusetts records show the name rendered asNewe Towne by 1632, and asNewtowne by 1638.[15][16]
Located at the first convenientCharles River crossing west ofBoston, Newtowne was one of several towns, including Boston,Dorchester,Watertown, andWeymouth, founded by the 700 originalPuritan colonists of the Bay Colony under GovernorJohn Winthrop. Its first preacher wasThomas Hooker, who led many of its original inhabitants west in 1636 to foundHartford and theConnecticut Colony; before leaving, they sold their plots to more recent immigrants from England.[14] The original village site is now withinHarvard Square. Themarketplace where farmers sold crops from surrounding towns at the edge of a salt marsh (since filled) remains within a small park at the corner of John F. Kennedy and Winthrop Streets.
In 1639, the Great and General Court purchased the land that became present-day Cambridge from the NaumkeagSquaw Sachem of Mistick.[19][20]
The town comprised a much larger area than the present city,[14] with various outlying parts becoming independent towns over the years: Cambridge Village (later Newtown and nowNewton) in 1688,[21] Cambridge Farms (nowLexington) in 1712[14] or 1713,[22] and Little or South Cambridge (nowBrighton)[a] and Menotomy or West Cambridge (nowArlington) in 1807.[14][23][b] In the late 19th century, various schemes for annexing Cambridge to Boston were pursued and rejected.[24]
Newtowne's ministers, Hooker and Shepard, the college'sfirst president, the college's major benefactor, and the first schoolmasterNathaniel Eaton were all Cambridge alumni, as was the colony's governor John Winthrop. In 1629, Winthrop had led the signing of the founding document of the city of Boston, which was known as theCambridge Agreement, after the university.[25] In 1650, Governor Thomas Dudley signed the charter creating the corporation that still governs Harvard College.[26]
Cambridge grew slowly as an agricultural village eight miles (13 km) by road from Boston, thecolony's capital. By theAmerican Revolution, most residents lived near theCommon and Harvard College, with most of the town comprising farms and estates. Most inhabitants were descendants of the original Puritan colonists, but there was also a small elite ofAnglican "worthies" who were not involved in village life, made their livings from estates, investments, and trade, and lived in mansions along "the Road to Watertown", present-dayBrattle Street, which is still known asTory Row.
Between 1790 and 1840, Cambridge grew rapidly with the construction ofWest Boston Bridge in 1792 connecting Cambridge directly toBoston, making it no longer necessary to travel eight miles (13 km) through theBoston Neck,Roxbury, andBrookline to cross theCharles River. A second bridge, the Canal Bridge, opened in 1809 alongside the newMiddlesex Canal. The new bridges and roads made what were formerly estates and marshland into prime industrial and residential districts.
In the mid-19th century, Cambridge was the center of a literary revolution. It was home to some of the famousFireside poets, named because their poems would often be read aloud by families in front of their evening fires. The Fireside poets, includingHenry Wadsworth Longfellow,James Russell Lowell, andOliver Wendell Holmes, were highly popular and influential in this era.
Cambridge was incorporated as a city in 1846.[14] The city's commercial center began to shift from Harvard Square to Central Square, which became the city's downtown around that time.
Between 1850 and 1900, Cambridge took on much of its present character, featuringstreetcar suburban development along the turnpikes andworking class and industrial neighborhoods focused on East Cambridge, comfortable middle-class housing on the old Cambridgeport, and Mid-Cambridge estates and upper-class enclaves near Harvard University and on the minor hills. The arrival of the railroad in North Cambridge and Northwest Cambridge led to three changes: the development of massive brickyards and brickworks betweenMassachusetts Avenue,Concord Avenue, andAlewife Brook; the ice-cutting industry launched byFrederic Tudor onFresh Pond; and the carving up of the last estates into residential subdivisions to house the thousands of immigrants who arrived to work in the new industries.
For much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the city's largest employer was theNew England Glass Company, founded in 1818. By the middle of the 19th century, it was the world's largest and most modern glassworks. In 1888,Edward Drummond Libbey moved all production toToledo, Ohio, where it continues today under the nameOwens-Illinois. The company's flint glassware with heavy lead content is prized by antique glass collectors, and theToledo Museum of Art has a large collection. TheMuseum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Sandwich Glass Museum onCape Cod also house several pieces.
By 1920, Cambridge was one ofNew England's main industrial cities, with nearly 120,000 residents. Among the largest businesses in Cambridge during the period of industrialization wasCarter's Ink Company, whose neon sign long adorned the Charles River and which was for many years the world's largest ink manufacturer. Next door was the Athenaeum Press. Confectionery and snack manufacturers in the Cambridgeport-Area 4-Kendall corridor included Kennedy Biscuit Factory, later part ofNabisco and originator of theFig Newton,[28]Necco,Squirrel Brands,[29] George Close Company (1861–1930s),[30]Page & Shaw, Daggett Chocolate (1892–1960s, recipes bought by Necco),[31] Fox Cross Company (1920–1980, originator of theCharleston Chew, and now part ofTootsie Roll Industries),[32] Kendall Confectionery Company, and James O. Welch (1927–1963, originator ofJunior Mints,Sugar Daddies,Sugar Mamas, andSugar Babies, now part of Tootsie Roll Industries).[33] Main Street was nicknamed "Confectioner's Row".[34]
In 1935, the Cambridge Housing Authority and thePublic Works Administration demolished anintegrated low-incometenement neighborhood with African Americans and European immigrants. In its place, it built the whites-only "Newtowne Court"public housing development and the adjoining, blacks-only "Washington Elms" project in 1940; the city required segregation in its other public housing projects as well.[35][36][37]
As industry inNew England began to decline during theGreat Depression and afterWorld War II, Cambridge lost much of its industrial base. It also began to become an intellectual, rather than an industrial, center.Harvard University, which had always been important as both a landowner and an institution, began to play a more dominant role in the city's life and culture. When Radcliffe College was established in 1879, the town became a mecca for some of the nation's most academically talented female students.MIT's move fromBoston to Cambridge in 1916 reinforced Cambridge's status as an intellectual center of the United States.
After the 1950s, the city's population began to decline slowly as families tended to be replaced by single people and young couples. In Cambridge Highlands, the technology companyBolt, Beranek, & Newman producedthe first network router in 1969 and hosted the invention of computer-to-computer email in 1971. The 1980s brought a wave of high technology startups. Those selling advancedminicomputers were overtaken by themicrocomputer.[citation needed][38] Cambridge-basedVisiCorp made the firstspreadsheet software for personal computers,VisiCalc, and helped propel theApple II to consumer success. It was overtaken and purchased by Cambridge-basedLotus Development, maker ofLotus 1-2-3 (which was, in turn, replaced in byMicrosoft Excel).
The city continues to be home to many startups. Kendall Square was a software hub through thedot-com boom and today hosts offices of such technology companies as Google,Microsoft, andAmazon. The Square also now houses the headquarters ofAkamai.[39]
In 1976, Harvard's plans to start experiments withrecombinant DNA led to a three-month moratorium and a citizen review panel. In the end, Cambridge decided to allow such experiments but passed safety regulations in 1977. This led to regulatory certainty and acceptance whenBiogen opened a lab in 1982, in contrast to the hostility that caused the Genetic Institute, a Harvard spinoff, to abandonSomerville and Boston for Cambridge.[40] The biotech and pharmaceutical industries have since thrived in Cambridge, which now includes headquarters for Biogen andGenzyme; laboratories forNovartis,Teva,Takeda,Alnylam,Ironwood, Catabasis,Moderna Therapeutics,Editas Medicine; support companies such asCytel; and many smaller companies.
During the era ofrent control in Massachusetts, at least 20 percent of all rent-controlled apartments in Cambridge housed the rich.[41] The vast majority housed middle- and high-income earners.[41] In an independent study conducted of 2/3 of the rent-controlled apartments in Cambridge in 1988, 246 were households headed by doctors, 298 by lawyers, 265 by architects, 259 by professors, and 220 by engineers. There were 2,650 with students, including 1,503 with graduate students.[41]
Those who lived in rent-controlled apartments included
Kenneth Reeves, the mayor of Cambridge at the time rent control was repealed in Massachusetts, was living in the same rent-controlled apartment he lived in as a Harvard student in 1973.[41]
The end of rent control in 1994 hadnumerous effects on the city. Within four years of repealing the law, Cambridge, where "the city's form of rent control was unusually strict," saw new housing and construction increase by 50%, and the tax revenue from construction permits tripled.[42] Property values in Cambridge increased by about $7.8 billion in the decade following the repeal.[43] Roughly a quarter of this increase, $1.8 billion ($3 billion in 2024 dollars), was due to the repeal of rent control.[43]
Close to 40% of all Cambridge properties were under rent control when it was repealed.[43] Their property values appreciated faster than non-rent-controlled properties, as did the properties around them.[44] By the end of the 20th century, Cambridge had one of the most costly housing markets in theNortheastern United States.[45]
Cambridge's mix of amenities and proximity toBoston kept housing prices relatively stable despite the bursting of theUnited States housing bubble in 2008 and 2009.[46] Cambridge has been asanctuary city since 1985 and reaffirmed its status as such in 2006.[47]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, Cambridge has a total area of 7.1 square miles (18 km2), 6.4 square miles (17 km2) of which is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km2) (9.82%) of which is water.
The border between Cambridge and the neighboring city of Somerville passes through densely populated neighborhoods, which are connected by theMBTA Red Line. Some of the main squares,Inman, Porter, and to a lesser extent, Harvard andLechmere, are very close to the city line, as are Somerville'sUnion andDavis Squares.
Through the City of Cambridge's exclusive municipal water system, the city further controls twoexclave areas, one being Payson Park Reservoir and Gatehouse, a2009 listed American Water Landmark located roughly one mile west of Fresh Pond and surrounded by the town of Belmont. The second area is the larger Hobbs Brook andStony Brook watersheds, which share borders with neighboring towns and cities including Lexington,Lincoln,Waltham andWeston.
Cambridge has been called the "City of Squares",[48] as most of its commercial districts are major street intersections known assquares. Each square acts as a neighborhood center.
Kendall Square, formed by the junction of Broadway, Main Street, and Third Street, has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet", owing to its high concentration ofentrepreneurialstart-ups and quality of innovation which have emerged in the vicinity of the square since 2010.[10][49]Technology Square is an office and laboratory building cluster in this neighborhood. Just over theLongfellow Bridge from Boston, at the eastern end of the MIT campus, it is served by theKendall/MIT station on theMBTA Red Line subway. Most of Cambridge's large office towers are located in the Square.Kendall Square houses some of the biggest technological companies of the world, includingGoogle,Microsoft,Amazon,Meta, andApple. Abiotech industry has developed in this area. TheCambridge Innovation Center, a large co-working space, is in Kendall Square at 1 Broadway. The Cambridge Center office complex is in Kendall Square, and not at the actual center of Cambridge. The "One Kendall Square" complex is nearby, but not actually in Kendall Square.
Central Square is formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street, and Western Avenue.[50]: 1 Containing a variety of ethnic restaurants, it was economically depressed as recently as the late 1990s; it underwentgentrification in recent years (in conjunction with the development of the nearbyUniversity Park at MIT), and continues to grow more costly.[51] It is served by theCentral Station stop on the MBTA Red Line subway.[50]: 1–2 Lafayette Square, formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street, Sidney Street, and Main Street, is considered part of the Central Square area.Cambridgeport is south of Central Square, and bordered by MIT, the Charles River, Massachusetts Avenue, and River Street.[52]
Harvard Square is formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, Dunster Street, and JFK Street.[53] This is the primary site of Harvard University and a major Cambridge shopping area.[53] It is served by aRed Line station.[54] Harvard Square was originally the Red Line's northwestern terminus and a major transfer point to streetcars that also operated in a shorttunnel—which is still a major bus terminal, although the area under the Square was reconfigured dramatically in the 1980s when the Red Line was extended.[55] A short distance away from the square lies the Cambridge Common, while the neighborhood north of Harvard and east of Massachusetts Avenue is known as Baldwin, in honor of the first Black principal of Cambridge public schools, Maria L. Baldwin. It was renamed "Baldwin" in 2021, and so some know the area better by its former name, Agassiz, after the famed scientistLouis Agassiz.[56][57][58]
Porter Square is about a mile north on Massachusetts Avenue from Harvard Square, at the junction of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenues.[59] It includes part of the city of Somerville[60] and is served by thePorter Square Station, a complex housing a Red Line stop and aFitchburg Linecommuter rail stop.[61] Lesley University's University Hall and Porter campus are in Porter Square.[60]
Inman Square is at the junction of Cambridge and Hampshire streets in mid-Cambridge.[62] It is home to restaurants, bars, music venues, and boutiques.[62]Victorian streetlights, benches, and bus stops were added to the streets in the 2000s, and a new city park was installed.[citation needed]
Lechmere Square is at the junction of Cambridge and First streets, adjacent to the CambridgeSide Galleria shopping mall. It is served byLechmere station on the MBTAGreen Line.[63]
The City of Cambridge officially recognizes 13 neighborhoods, which are as follows:
East Cambridge (Area 1) is bordered on the north by Somerville, on the east by the Charles River, on the south by Broadway and Main Street, and on the west by theGrand Junction Railroad tracks. It includes theNorthPoint development.
MIT Campus (Area 2) is bordered on the north by Broadway, on the south and east by the Charles River, and on the west by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks.
Wellington-Harrington (Area 3) is bordered on the north by Somerville, on the south and west by Hampshire Street, and on the east by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks.
The Port, formerly known as Area 4, is bordered on the north by Hampshire Street, on the south by Massachusetts Avenue, on the west by Prospect Street, and on the east by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks. Residents of Area 4 often simply call their neighborhood "The Port" and the area of Cambridgeport and Riverside "The Coast". In October 2015, the Cambridge City Council officially renamed Area 4 "The Port", formalizing the longtime nickname, largely on the initiative of neighborhood native and then-Vice Mayor Dennis Benzan. The port is usually the busier part of the city.[64]
Cambridgeport (Area 5) is bordered on the north by Massachusetts Avenue, on the south by the Charles River, on the west by River Street, and on the east by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks.
Mid-Cambridge (Area 6) is bordered on the north by Kirkland and Hampshire Streets and Somerville, on the south by Massachusetts Avenue, on the west by Peabody Street, and on the east by Prospect Street.
Riverside (Area 7), an area sometimes called "The Coast", is bordered on the north by Massachusetts Avenue, on the south by the Charles River, on the west by JFK Street, and on the east by River Street.
Baldwin (Area 8) is bordered on the north by Somerville, on the south and east by Kirkland Street, and on the west by Massachusetts Avenue.
Neighborhood Nine or Radcliffe (formerly called Peabody, until the recent relocation of a neighborhood school by that name) is bordered on the north by railroad tracks, on the south by Concord Avenue, on the west by railroad tracks, and on the east by Massachusetts Avenue.
The Avon Hill sub-neighborhood consists of the higher elevations within the area bounded by Upland Road, Raymond Street, Linnaean Street and Massachusetts Avenue.
Brattle area/West Cambridge (Area 10) is bordered on the north by Concord Avenue and Garden Street, on the south by the Charles River and Watertown, on the west by Fresh Pond and the Collins Branch Library, and on the east by JFK Street. It includes the sub-neighborhoods of Brattle Street (formerly known as Tory Row) and Huron Village.
North Cambridge (Area 11) is bordered on the north by Arlington and Somerville, on the south by railroad tracks, on the west by Belmont, and on the east by Somerville.
Cambridge Highlands (Area 12) is bordered on the north and east by railroad tracks, on the south by Fresh Pond, and on the west by Belmont.
Strawberry Hill (Area 13) is bordered on the north by Fresh Pond, on the south by Watertown, on the west by Belmont, and on the east by theWatertown-Cambridge Greenway (formerly railroad tracks).
In theKöppen-Geiger classification, Cambridge has ahot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) with hot summers and cold winters, that can appear in the southern end of New England's interior. Abundant rain falls on the city (and in the winter often as snow); it has no dry season. The average January temperature is 26.6 °F (−3 °C), making Cambridge part of Group D, independent of the isotherm. There are four well-defined seasons.[65]
Climate data for Cambridge, 1991–2020 simulated normals (16 ft elevation)
Cambridge, Massachusetts – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of the census[89] of 2010, there were 105,162 people, 44,032 households, and 17,420 families residing in the city. The population density was 16,354.9 inhabitants per square mile (6,314.7/km2). There were 47,291 housing units at an average density of 7,354.7 per square mile (2,839.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 66.60%White, 11.70%Black orAfrican American, 0.20%Native American, 15.10%Asian (3.7%Chinese, 1.4%Asian Indian, 1.2%Korean, 1.0%Japanese[90]), 0.01%Pacific Islander, 2.10% from other races, and 4.30% from two or more races. 7.60% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race (1.6%Puerto Rican, 1.4%Mexican, 0.6%Dominican, 0.5%Colombian &Salvadoran, 0.4%Spaniard).Non-Hispanic Whites were 62.1% of the population in 2010,[83] down from 89.7% in 1970.[84] An individual resident of Cambridge is known as aCantabrigian.
In 2010, there were 44,032 households, out of which 16.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 28.9% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 60.4% were non-families. 40.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.00 and the average family size was 2.76.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 13.3% of the population under the age of 18, 21.2% from 18 to 24, 38.6% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.
Themedian income for a household in the city was $47,979, and the median income for a family was $59,423 (these figures had risen to $58,457 and $79,533 respectively as of a 2007 estimate[update][91]). Males had a median income of $43,825 versus $38,489 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,156. About 8.7% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.
Cambridge has been ranked as one of the most liberal cities in America.[92] Locals living in and near the city jokingly refer to it as "The People's Republic of Cambridge".[93] For 2016, the residential property tax rate in Cambridge was $6.99 per $1,000.[94] Cambridge enjoys the highest possiblebond credit rating, AAA, with all three Wall Street rating agencies.[95]
In 2000, 11.0% of city residents were ofIrish ancestry; 7.2% were ofEnglish, 6.9%Italian, 5.5%West Indian and 5.3%German ancestry. 69.4% spoke only English at home, while 6.9% spoke Spanish, 3.2%Chinese or Mandarin, 3.0%Portuguese, 2.9%French Creole, 2.3% French, 1.5%Korean, and 1.0% Italian.
Manufacturing was an important part of Cambridge's economy in the late 19th and early 20th century, but educational institutions are its biggest employers today. Harvard and MIT together employ about 20,000.[97][98] As a cradle of technological innovation, Cambridge was home to technology firmsAnalog Devices,Akamai, Bolt, Beranek, and Newman (BBN Technologies) (now part of Raytheon),General Radio (later GenRad),Lotus Development Corporation (now part ofIBM),Polaroid,Symbolics, andThinking Machines.
In 1996, Polaroid,Arthur D. Little, and Lotus were Cambridge's top employers, with over 1,000 employees, but they faded out a few years later. Health care and biotechnology firms such asGenzyme,Biogen Idec,bluebird bio,Millennium Pharmaceuticals,Sanofi,Pfizer and Novartis[99] have significant presences in the city. Though headquartered in Switzerland, Novartis continues to expand its operations in Cambridge. Other major biotech and pharmaceutical firms expanding their presence in Cambridge includeGlaxoSmithKline,AstraZeneca,Shire, and Pfizer.[100] Most of Cambridge's biotech firms are in Kendall Square and East Cambridge, which decades ago were the city's center of manufacturing. Some others are in University Park at MIT, a new development in another former manufacturing area.[101][102]
None of the high technology firms that once dominated the economy was among the 25 largest employers in 2005, but by 2008 Akamai andITA Software were.[97] Google,[103]IBM Research,Microsoft Research, andPhilips Research[104] maintain offices in Cambridge. In late January 2012—less than a year after acquiringBillerica-based analytic database management company,Vertica—Hewlett-Packard announced it would also be opening its first offices in Cambridge.[105] Also around that time, e-commerce giantsStaples[106] and Amazon.com[107] said they would be opening research and innovation centers in Kendall Square. AndLabCentral provides a shared laboratory facility for approximately 25 emerging biotech companies.[108][109][unreliable source?]
In September 2011, Cambridge launched itsEntrepreneur Walk of Fame initiative, recognizing people who have made contributions to innovation in global business.[110]
In 2021, Cambridge was one of approximately 27 US cities to receive a AAA rating from each of the three major US credit rating agencies,Moody's Investors Service,Standard & Poor's andFitch Ratings. 2021 marked the 22nd consecutive year that Cambridge had retained this distinction.[111] Cambridge's massive tax base has allowed it to keep residential taxes fairly low, and its budget is the second largest in the state despite being the fourth largest in population.[112][113]
Cambridge has a large and varied collection of permanent public art, on both city property, managed by the Cambridge Arts Council,[115]Community Art Center,[116] and the Harvard[117] and MIT[118] campuses. Temporary public artworks are displayed as part of the annual Cambridge River Festival on the banks of theCharles River during winter celebrations inHarvard andCentral Squares and atHarvard University campus sites. Experimental forms of public artistic and cultural expression include the Central Square World's Fair, the annual Somerville-based Honk! Festival,[119] andIf This House Could Talk,[120] a neighborhood art and history event.
Street musicians and other performers entertain tourists and locals in Harvard Square during the warmer months. The performances are coordinated through a public process that has been developed collaboratively by the performers,[121] city administrators, private organizations and business groups.[122] The Cambridge public library contains fourWorks Progress Administration murals completed in 1935 byElizabeth Tracy Montminy:Religion,Fine Arts,History of Books and Paper, andThe Development of the Printing Press.[123]
Despite intensive urbanization during the late 19th century and the 20th century, Cambridge has several historic buildings, including some from the 17th century. The city also has abundant contemporary architecture, largely built by Harvard and MIT.
Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site (1759), former home of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and headquarters of George Washington
Consisting largely of densely built residential space, Cambridge lacks significant tracts of public parkland. Easily accessible open space on the university campuses, includingHarvard Yard, Radcliffe Yard, and MIT's Great Lawn, as well as the considerable open space ofMount Auburn Cemetery andFresh Pond Reservation, partly compensates for this. At Cambridge's western edge, the cemetery is known as a garden cemetery because of its landscaping (the oldest planned landscape in the country) andarboretum. Although known as a Cambridge landmark, much of the cemetery lies within Watertown.[125] It is also anImportant Bird Area (IBA) in the Greater Boston area. Fresh Pond Reservation is the largest open green space in Cambridge with 162 acres (656,000 m2) of land around a 155-acre (627,000 m2)kettle hole lake. This land includes a 2.25-mile walking trail around the reservoir and a public nine-hole golf course.[126]
Cambridge is represented in six districts in theMassachusetts House of Representatives: the 24th Middlesex (which includes parts of Belmont and Arlington), the 25th and 26th Middlesex (the latter of which includes a portion of Somerville), the 29th Middlesex (which includes a small part of Watertown), and the Eighth and Ninth Suffolk (both including parts of the City of Boston).[128] The city is represented in theMassachusetts Senate as a part of the2nd Middlesex,Middlesex and Suffolk, and1st Suffolk and Middlesex districts.[129]
From 1860 to 1880, RepublicansAbraham Lincoln,Ulysses S. Grant,Rutherford B. Hayes, andJames Garfield each won Cambridge, Grant doing so by margins of over 20 points in both of his campaigns. Following that, from 1884 to 1892,Grover Cleveland won Cambridge in all three of his presidential campaigns, by less than ten points each time.
Then from 1896 to 1924, Cambridge became something of a swing city with a slight Republican lean. Republican candidates carried the city in five of the eight presidential elections during that time, with five of the elections resulting in either a plurality or a margin of victory of fewer than ten points. In modern times, however, Cambridge has been a stronghold of the Democratic Party due to the increasingly leftward shift of college towns, and has gained nicknames such as the "People's Republic of Cambridge" or "Berkeley on the Charles." While Cambridge's policies are not uniformly left-wing (for example, it has the lowest property tax in metro Boston), Republicans represent a tiny minority in Cambridge, and Democratic incumbents frequently run either unopposed or opposed by fellow Democrats.[130]
In the last 23 presidential elections, dating back to the nomination ofAl Smith in the1928 presidential election, Democratic presidential candidates have won Cambridge with every Democratic nominee since Massachusetts nativeJohn F. Kennedy in1960 receiving at least 70% of the vote, except forJimmy Carter in 1976 and 1980. Since 1928, the only Republican nominee to come within ten points of carrying Cambridge isDwight Eisenhower in his 1956 reelection bid. At the state level, Cambridge has consistently delivered its vote to the Democratic Party even during overwhelming Republican sweeps, such asBill Weld's1994 re-election (during which Cambridge was the only municipality in all of eastern Massachusetts to vote Democrat) andCharlie Baker's2018 re-election. Cambridge has consistently voted for left-wing causes, such asranked-choice voting,marijuana legalization, andphysician-assisted suicide.
Cambridge has a city government led by amayor and a nine-member city council. There is also a six-member school committee that functions alongside the superintendent of public schools. The councilors and school committee members are elected every two years usingproportional representation.[162]
The mayor is elected by the city councilors from among themselves and serves as the chair of city council meetings. The mayor also sits on the school committee. The mayor is not the city's chief executive. Rather, the city manager, who is appointed by the city council, serves in that capacity.
Under the city's Plan E form of government, the city council does not have the power to appoint or remove city officials who are under the direction of the city manager. The city council and its members are also forbidden from giving orders to any subordinate of the city manager.[163]
Yi-An Huang is the City Manager as of September 6, 2022, succeeding Owen O'Riordan (now the Deputy City Manager) who briefly served as the Acting City Manager after Louis DePasquale resigned on July 5, 2022, after six years in office.[164]
On March 8, 2021, Cambridge City Council voted to recognizepolyamorous domestic partnerships, becoming the second city in the United States following neighboring Somerville, which had done so in 2020.[165]
Cambridge was acounty seat ofMiddlesex County, along with Lowell, until the abolition of executive county government. Though the county government was abolished in 1997, the county still exists as a geographical and political region. The employees of Middlesex County courts, jails, registries, and other county agencies now work directly for the state. The county's registrars ofDeeds and Probate remain in Cambridge, but the Superior Court and District Attorney have had their operations transferred toWoburn. Third District Court has shifted operations toMedford, and the county Sheriff's office awaits near-term relocation.[166]
Cambridge is served by a single online newspaper, Cambridge Day. The last physical newspaper in the city,Cambridge Chronicle, ceased publication in 2022 and today only cross-posts regional stories from other Gannett properties.
Cambridge Community Television (CCTV) has served the city since its inception in 1988. CCTV operates Cambridge's public access television facility and three television channels, 8, 9, and 96, on the XFinity cable system (Comcast). The city has invited tenders from other cable providers, but Comcast remains its only fixed television and broadband utility,[174] though services from American satellite TV providers are available. In October 2014, Cambridge City Manager Richard Rossi appointed a citizen Broadband Task Force to "examine options to increase competition, reduce pricing, and improve speed, reliability and customer service for both residents and businesses."[175]
Landline telecommunications service are provided by Harvard University,[177] Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),[178] and Verizon Communications. All phones in Cambridge are inter-connected to central office locations in the metropolitan area.
Cambridge obtains water fromHobbs Brook (in Lincoln and Waltham) andStony Brook (Waltham and Weston), as well as an emergency connection to theMassachusetts Water Resources Authority.[179] The city owns over 1,200 acres (486 ha) of land in other towns that includes these reservoirs and portions of their watershed.[180] Water from these reservoirs flows by gravity through an aqueduct toFresh Pond in Cambridge. It is then treated in an adjacent plant and pumped uphill to an elevation of 176 feet (54 m)above sea level at the Payson Park Reservoir (Belmont). The water is then redistributed downhill via gravity to individual users in the city.[181] A new water treatment plant opened in 2001.[182]
In October 2016, the city announced that, owing to drought conditions, they would begin buying water from the MWRA.[183] On January 3, 2017, Cambridge announced that "As a result of continued rainfall each month since October 2016, we have been able to significantly reduce the need to use MWRA water. We have not purchased any MWRA water since December 12, 2016 and if 'average' rainfall continues this could continue for several months."[184]
Cambridge is served by several major roads, includingRoute 2,Route 16, and theRoute 28. TheMassachusetts Turnpike does not pass through Cambridge but is accessible by an exit in nearbyAllston. BothU.S. Route 1 andInterstate 93 provide additional access at the eastern end of Cambridge via Leverett Circle in Boston.Route 2A runs the length of the city, chiefly along Massachusetts Avenue. The Charles River forms the southern border of Cambridge and is crossed by 11 bridges connecting Cambridge to Boston, eight of which are open to motorized road traffic, including theLongfellow Bridge and theHarvard Bridge.
Cambridge has an irregular street network because many of the roads date from the colonial era. Contrary to popular belief, the road system did not evolve from longstanding cow-paths. Roads connected various village settlements with each other and nearby towns and were shaped by geographic features, most notably streams, hills, and swampy areas.[185] Today, the major "squares" are typically connected by long, mostly straight roads, such asMassachusetts Avenue betweenHarvard Square andCentral Square or Hampshire Street betweenKendall Square andInman Square.
On October 25, 2022, Cambridge City Council voted 8–1 to eliminateparking minimums from the city code, citing declining car ownership, with the aim of promoting housing construction.[186][187]
The Harvard bus tunnel underHarvard Square connects to the Red Line underground. This tunnel was originally opened for streetcars in 1912 and served trackless trolleys,trolleybuses, and buses as the routes were converted; four lines of theMBTA trolleybus system continued to use it until their conversion to diesel in 2022.[189] The tunnel was partially reconfigured when the Red Line was extended to Alewife in the early 1980s.
Besides the state-owned transit agency, the city is also served by the Charles River Transportation Management Agency (CRTMA) shuttles which are supported by some of the largest companies operating in the city, in addition to the municipal government itself.[190]
Cambridge has severalbike paths, including one along theCharles River,[191] and theLinear Park connecting theMinuteman Bikeway at Alewife with theSomerville Community Path. Aconnection to Watertown opened in 2022. Bike parking is common and there are bike lanes on many streets, although concerns have been expressed regarding the suitability of many of the lanes. On several centralMIT streets, bike lanes transfer onto the sidewalk. Cambridge bans cycling on certain sections of sidewalk where pedestrian traffic is heavy.[192]
Bicycling Magazine in 2006 ratedBoston as one of the worst cities in the nation for bicycling,[193] but it has given Cambridge honorable mention as one of the best[194] and was called "Boston's great hope" by the magazine. Boston has since then followed the example of Cambridge and made considerable efforts to improve bicycling safety and convenience.[195]
Walking is a popular activity in Cambridge. In 2000, among U.S. cities with more than 100,000 residents, Cambridge had thehighest percentage of commuters who walked to work.[196] Cambridge's major historic squares have changed into modern walking neighborhoods, includingtraffic calming features based on the needs of pedestrians rather than of motorists.[197]
The Boston intercity bus and train stations atSouth Station in Boston, andLogan International Airport inEast Boston, both of which are accessible by subway. The Fitchburg Line rail service from Porter Square connects to some western suburbs. Since October 2010, there has also been intercity bus service betweenAlewife Station (Cambridge) and New York City.[198]
In addition to the Cambridge Police Department, the city is patrolled by the Fifth (Brighton) Barracks of Troop H of theMassachusetts State Police.[199] Owing, however, to proximity, the city also practices functional cooperation with the Fourth (Boston) Barracks of Troop H, as well.[200] The campuses of Harvard and MIT are patrolled by theHarvard University Police Department andMIT Police Department, respectively.
The city of Cambridge is protected by the Cambridge Fire Department. Established in 1832, the CFD operates eight engine companies, four ladder companies, one rescue company, and three paramedic squad companies from eight fire stations located throughout the city. The Acting Chief is Thomas F. Cahill Jr.[201]
Further educational services are provided at the Cambridge Public Library. The large modern main building was built in 2009, and connects to the restored 1888 Richardson Romanesque building. It was founded as the private Cambridge Athenaeum in 1849 and was acquired by the city in 1858, and became the Dana Library. The 1888 building was a donation ofFrederick H. Rindge.
^Cambridge Historical Commission."Frequently Asked Questions". City of Cambridge.Archived from the original on September 13, 2016. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2016.
^abAbbott, Rev. Edward (1880)."Cambridge". InDrake, Samuel Adams (ed.).History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Vol. 1. Boston: Estes and Lauriat. pp. 305–16. RetrievedDecember 26, 2008.
^(1)Arthur Gilman, ed. (1896).The Cambridge of Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-six. Cambridge: Committee on the Memorial Volume. p. 8. (2)Harvard News Office (May 2, 2002)."This month in Harvard history".Harvard Gazette. Archived fromthe original on January 18, 2012. RetrievedApril 28, 2012.. (This source gives May 12, 1638, as the date of the name change; others say May 2, 1638, or late 1637.)
^Historic Guide to Cambridge (Second ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Hannah Winthrop Chapter, D.A.R. 1907. pp. 20–21.On October 15, 1637, the Great and General Court passed a vote that: "The college is ordered to bee at Newetowne." In this same year the name of Newetowne was changed to Cambridge, ("It is ordered that Newetowne shall henceforward be called Cambridge") in honor of the university in Cambridge, England, where many of the early settlers were educated.
^Ritter, Priscilla R.; Thelma Fleishman (1982).Newton, Massachusetts 1679–1779: A Biographical Directory. New England Historic Genealogical Society.
^"History",Lexington Chamber of Commerce, 2007, archived fromthe original on March 10, 2007
^William P., Marchione (2011)."A Short History of Allston-Brighton".Brighton-Allston Historical Society. Brighton Board of Trade. Archived fromthe original on February 20, 2012. RetrievedDecember 21, 2011.
^"1950 Census of Population"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. 1952. Section 6, Pages 21-10 and 21-11, Massachusetts Table 6. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1930 to 1950. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1920 Census of Population"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. Number of Inhabitants, by Counties and Minor Civil Divisions. Pages 21-5 through 21-7. Massachusetts Table 2. Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1920, 1910, and 1920. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1890 Census of the Population"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. Pages 179 through 182. Massachusetts Table 5. Population of States and Territories by Minor Civil Divisions: 1880 and 1890. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1870 Census of the Population"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1872. Pages 217 through 220. Table IX. Population of Minor Civil Divisions, &c. Massachusetts. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1860 Census"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1864. Pages 220 through 226. State of Massachusetts Table No. 3. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1850 Census"(PDF). Department of the Interior, Census Office. 1854. Pages 338 through 393. Populations of Cities, Towns, &c. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^"1950 Census of Population"(PDF). Bureau of the Census. 1952. Section 6, Pages 21–7 through 21–09, Massachusetts Table 4. Population of Urban Places of 10,000 or more from Earliest Census to 1920.Archived(PDF) from the original on October 10, 2022. RetrievedJuly 12, 2011.
^(1)"2019 Top 25 Employers".City of Cambridge, MA. City of Cambridge. January 6, 2019.Archived from the original on January 23, 2021. RetrievedDecember 15, 2020.
^Casey Ross; Robert Weisman (October 27, 2010)."Novartis doubles plan for Cambridge".Boston Globe. Archived fromthe original on August 10, 2011. RetrievedApril 12, 2011.Already Cambridge's largest corporate employer, the Swiss firm expects to hire an additional 200 to 300 employees over the next five years, bringing its total workforce in the city to around 2,300. Novartis's global research operations are headquartered in Cambridge, across Massachusetts Avenue from the site of the new four-acre campus.
^Heggemeyer, Amy (2006)."Elizabeth Tracy".WPA Murals. General Services Administration. Archived fromthe original on March 16, 2016. RetrievedApril 28, 2016.
^(1)Moskowitz, Eric (February 14, 2008)."Court move a hassle for commuters".Boston Globe.Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. RetrievedJuly 25, 2009.In a little more than a month, Middlesex Superior Court will open in Woburn after nearly four decades at the Edward J. Sullivan Courthouse in Cambridge. With it, the court will bring the roughly 500 people who pass through its doors each day – the clerical staff, lawyers, judges, jurors, plaintiffs, defendants, and others who use or work in the system. (2)Breitrose, Charlie (July 7, 2009)."Cambridge's Middlesex Jail, courts may be shuttered for good".Wicked Local News: Cambridge. Archived fromthe original on May 13, 2011. RetrievedJuly 25, 2009.The courts moved out of the building to allow workers to remove asbestos. Superior Court moved to Woburn in March 2008, and in February, the Third District Court moved to Medford.
^(1)"Cable Television in the City of Cambridge".Cambridge Consumers' Council. 2013. Archived fromthe original on May 8, 2012. RetrievedApril 3, 2013.Comcast is currently the only cable operator that has sought a license with Cambridge. The City of Cambridge has approached other operators, more than once, about seeking a license to operate a cable TV system in Cambridge, but they have informed us that Cambridge is not part of their business plan; however, City officials stand ready to negotiate with any willing operator. (2)"Cable TV franchise agreements in Massachusetts". Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs & Business Regulation (OCABR).Archived from the original on January 16, 2014. RetrievedJanuary 24, 2014.
^ab"MassUtilities".massgis.maps.arcgis.com. Government of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. MassGIS (Bureau of Geographic Information) (MASSGIS). 2022.Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. RetrievedMay 5, 2022.
Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Mid Cambridge. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge Historical Commission, 1967.ISBN0-262-53012-0.
Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Cambridgeport. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge Historical Commission, 1971.ISBN0-262-53013-9.
Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Old Cambridge. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge Historical Commission, 1973.ISBN0-262-53014-7.
Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Northwest Cambridge. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge Historical Commission, 1977.ISBN0-262-53032-5.
Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: East Cambridge (revised edition). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Cambridge Historical Commission, 1988.ISBN0-262-53078-3
Sinclair, Jill (April 2009).Fresh Pond: The History of a Cambridge Landscape. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.ISBN978-0-262-19591-1.
Core cities are metropolitan core cities of at least a million people. The other areas are urban areas of cities that have an urban area of 150,000+ or of a metropolitan area of at least 250,000+. Satellite cities are in italics.
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