Cambridgeport Study Sessions
Focus on the Past, Present & Future
Led by Urban Planner Bob Simha
When? February 7, February 19, March 5
7-9pm (refreshments at 6:30pm)
Where? LBJ Apartments (150 Erie St.)
These workshops are an opportunity to look back to see how the life cycle of families, friends, commercial/industrial activities, and external pressures from the Boston Metro area on Cambridgeport have changed over the last fifty years.
Our goal: to develop a perspective on the present needs of the neighborhood and its emerging development challenges. The study will help us to define next steps to satisfy existing and future needs balancing the impact of future development.
Workshop 1: How did we get here?
Thursday, February 7, 2019
LBJ Apartments
Our first session will:
Present a brief history of the neighborhood reaching back to the early 19th century and going forward to the present.
Kit Rawlins, Asst. Director of the Cambridge Historical commission and resident will provide an overview.
Suzanne Rasmussen, the city’s transportation planner will provide an overview of the transportation planning projects and issues that will have an impact on the neighborhood.
Bob Simha, will provide a perspective on the way the neighborhood has evolved over the last several decades and how it has struggled with development and external public initiatives that have impacted the neighborhood.
We will initiate a conversation about how prior planning studies and special committees that have served the neighborhood, including what worked well and what did not.
We plan to give the attendees materials to take away for study and together with materials on the neighborhood website be prepared to contribute their ideas, reactions, proposals and hopes in the follow on workshop II and III.
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
LBJ Apartments
Our second session will identify the continuing issues that have gone unresolved from earlier planning efforts:
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Public improvements and facilities
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Transportation
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Climate
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Housing
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Education
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Etc.
We will identify new emerging issues that will face the neighborhood in the coming years.
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Flooding and climate related concerns
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Open space
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Transportation
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Commercial land development
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Institutional development
And we will explore mechanisms for addressing these challenges that have been successful in other neighborhoods and communities
Workshop 3: How can we be effective participants in shaping Cambridgeport's future?
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
LBJ Apartments
What kind of neighborhood do we want to have in the future? A family oriented residential neighborhood or a transient housing and commercial neighborhood ?
What land development policies and controls will best serve to fulfill our hopes for the neighborhood?
How can our zoning and taxing tools be used to implement our aspirations for the neighborhood?
How can we marshal our existing and prospective community resources to take proactive and creative steps to guide the development of both public improvements and commercial and institutional development in Cambridgeport?