That the City Manager is requested to work with relevant staff to explore options for commissioning a housing needs study through a qualified research institution, to establish a clear evidence-based understanding of existing housing conditions, resident needs, and measurable housing goals to guide future decision-making. 

City of Cambridge POR 2026-82 FIRST IN COUNCIL April 27, 2026 COUNCILLOR ZUSY MAYOR SIDDIQUI COUNCILLOR FLAHERTY WHEREAS: The 2019 Envision Cambridge plan established a goal of building 12,500 new housing units by 2030, based on regional housing need projections developed by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council in 2017; and WHEREAS: In pursuit of that goal, the City of Cambridge and the City Council have looked to zoning as a key municipal tool to shape housing production and affordability; and WHEREAS: In recent years, the Council has passed a series of significant zoning measures including the Affordable Housing Overlay (passed in 2020, amended in 2023), the Multifamily Housing Ordinance (2025), and most recently the Massachusetts Avenue and Cambridge Street zoning petitions; and WHEREAS: These zoning measures are intended to create the conditions under which the market can produce more housing; however, housing production is also significantly shaped by external economic factors beyond the City's direct control; and WHEREAS: Conditions have changed substantially since 2017, including disruptions of a global pandemic, significant increases in construction and financing costs, and economic headwinds affecting our universities, research institutions, and life science sector—all of which have contributed to rental vacancies and slowed the production of rental and ownership housing; and WHEREAS: The City is currently conducting an Inclusionary Housing Study examining inclusionary housing requirements for developers, and an Incentive Zoning Study examining zoning-based tools to encourage housing production—both of which focus on the evaluation of specific policy instruments; and WHEREAS: A Housing Needs Study would serve a distinct and complementary purpose by evaluating current demographic and economic conditions, resident affordability, and shifts in housing demand since prior assessments, and by informing the evaluation and implementation of future housing policy, including those under consideration in the Inclusionary Housing and Incentive Zoning studies; and WHEREAS: Such a study should analyze existing housing stock across tenure type and affordability level (including the short-term rental market), housing currently under production; and unmet housing needs across income levels, age groups, household types, and unit sizes; and WHEREAS: The Town of Provincetown, MA has recently engaged the UMass Donahue Institute to conduct a comprehensive housing needs analysis, which has meaningfully informed the community’s housing policies, resource allocation, and land use regulations; now therefore be it

ORDERED: That, for the avoidance of doubt, this Order is intended to support informed housing policy and shall not be understood as a request or endorsement by the City Council to pause, delay, or revisit the implementation of duly adopted zoning ordinances, including but not limited to the Affordable Housing Overlay, the Multifamily Housing Ordinance, and any recently adopted zoning amendments affecting Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge Street, or other residential districts; and be it further ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to ensure that any review, analysis, or study undertaken pursuant to this Order is conducted in a manner that does not delay the acceptance, review, permitting, approval, funding, advancement, or construction of any pending or future market-rate, mixed-income, inclusionary, or 100 percent affordable housing development in the City of Cambridge, except where otherwise required by applicable law and be it further ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with relevant staff to explore options for commissioning a comparable housing needs study through a qualified research institution, to establish a clear evidence-based understanding of existing housing conditions, resident needs, and measurable housing goals to guide future decision-making; and be it further ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to direct the Community Development Department (CDD) to present pros and cons of options for a housing needs study and to identify key data gaps such a study could address; and be it further ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to report back with a plan for conducting such a study and an assessment of its impact on the City’s current housing work plan by June 2026. In City Council May 4, 2026. Adopted as Amended by a yea and nay vote:- Yeas 9; Nays 0; Absent 0.- Attest:- Paula M. Crane, Interim City Clerk A true copy; ATTEST:- Paula M. Crane Interim City Clerk