How a 1940 electoral system reform in Cambridge made its 2025 housing breakthrough possible

 

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Sponsored by The Boston Foundation The Best of CommonWealth Beacon  OPINION Mass. Ave. in Cambridge. (Photo via Creative Commons/Flickr by massmart)

How a 1940 electoral system reform in Cambridge made its 2025 housing breakthrough possible   November 30, 2025 By Andrew Justus and Alex Armlovich

Earlier this year, Cambridge quietly accomplished what few cities have dared: through an ambitious zoning reform, it legalized four-story buildings across nearly every neighborhood. The reform dramatically increases the city’s capacity for new housing, with projections that it could add 3,590 net new units by 2040.

This is more than just a housing “win.” It’s a triumph for Cambridge’s unique brand of representative democracy—one that balances citywide priorities with fair representation for diverse communities.

Why did Cambridge succeed where other cities have failed? The answer lies not just in zoning, but in how Cambridge elects its city council.

When cities shift from all at-large councils to district-based council seats, housing construction falls by 21 percent. This is because district- or ward-based council members are strongly motivated to block new development in their neighborhoods. When every member follows that instinct, the city builds less housing.

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Traditional electoral systems with all at-large seats can so thoroughly suppress minority representation that they violate the Voting Rights Act. Cities then face a dilemma: Either prioritize citywide interests like housing, or ensure fair representation for localized minority groups. Faced with this tradeoff, many housing advocates have steered clear of debates over electoral design altogether.

Cambridge City Councilor Burhan Azeem, first elected in 2021, campaigned – and won –on a citywide pro-housing platform. When we spoke to Azeem, he said, "In a district-based system, there may not be enough renters in any one district to elect a council member." In our conversation, he added, "But in an at-large system, renters from across the city can vote for candidates that reflect their priorities."

This victory was not accidental, but the product of a skilled political entrepreneur and a growing pro-housing movement, empowered by an electoral system that resolves the tradeoff between citywide needs and minority representation.

In a city with district-based representation, the political costs and benefits of development are fundamentally misaligned. The backlash to a new apartment building can be concentrated in a local council member’s district. The benefits are often spread across the entire city or region.

This imbalance creates a legislative norm of deference to the local council member on land-use matters. While the phenomenon has different names in different cities, the outcome is the same: homebuilding stops.

As then-Mayor Ed Koch warned when New York City adopted this model in 1989, it is a recipe for “land use paralysis.” In such systems, only a powerful, independently elected strong mayor can consistently champion citywide interests against the council's localized concerns.

But Cambridge has a city council-city manager form of government, which vests some of the executive power of a strong mayor system with the council, making the council’s electoral system crucial for enabling citywide coalitions.

Since 1940, Cambridge has elected its city council through an at-large ranked-choice system. Candidates win by reaching a vote threshold—just over 10 percent of ballots—ensuring that any political or demographic group with modest support can earn a seat.

That guarantee of minority representation without resorting to geographic wards is what allows Cambridge to pursue citywide goals like housing.

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The Gettysburg Address (revised)  By David E. Stein    Abraham Lincoln speaking at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery on November 19, 1863. (Illustration via Wikimedia/Library of Congress) President Abraham Lincoln delivered his 272-word Gettysburg Address during the Civil War on November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery near where 50,000 soldiers died four months earlier. This 272-word minimalist revision addresses the uncivil war we now face.  Twelve score and nine years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.   Now we are engaged in an uncivil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and dedicated, can long endure. Each day we are met with a new battle in this war. We acknowledge the heavy price paid by generations that this nation might live in freedom. It is altogether fitting and proper that we do this. We cannot rest until the principles of democracy, decency, and the Constitution are restored.   But, in a larger sense, we cannot venerate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow our great institutions while the president desecrates and dismantles them. The brave and wise who came before expected that we would add not detract from their unfinished work. The world may little note, nor long remember the falsehood and cruelties now spoken and texted, but it will never forget the lasting damage being done here.  It is for us the living, who still believe in democracy to be dedicated to advancing this unfinished work. We must take increased devotion to this noble cause for which so many have given their last full measure of devotion. Only by doing so can we be resolved that they did not do so in vain.    Let it be our solemn request that this nation, under God, shall preserve the freedom so dearly won, free from hatred and autocratic ruin; and that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.  David E. Stein is an entrepreneur and activist living in Boston.  CommonWealth Voices is sponsored by The Boston Foundation. The Boston Foundation is deeply committed to civic leadership, and essential to our work is the exchange of informed opinions.  We are proud to partner on a platform that engages such a broad range of demographic and ideological viewpoints. E-bikes are supercharging the Bluebikes system — and that’s a good thing   By Amir Wilson On bail policy, Massachusetts must catch up  By Katy Naples-Mitchell

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IMPORTANT Sunday Message from Meidas Founder

Ben Meiselas and MeidasTouch Network Nov 30

By Ben Meiselas

It’s Ben Meiselas, co-founder of MeidasTouch. For those new to this Substack, my Sunday message is my favorite post of the week. I like it because I can take a deep breath and stop recording for a minute and speak with you about what’s on my mind over a cup of coffee. So get your cup of coffee or whatever beverage you prefer and let’s talk. For those who aren’t subscribers yet, please subscribe now. Your subscriptions to this Substack have allowed us to beat Fox News in views and engagement and beat Joe Rogan in audio downloads. Let’s keep the momentum. Subscribe now.

For those who don’t know, I previously drank English Breakfast tea every morning. Ever since the 2024 election though, it’s been black coffee. Nothing in it. That’s what I am drinking now, in case you were wondering.

This past week we saw the wheels really falling off the Trump regime. Trump got his worst polling yet. Trump was exposed for trying to force Ukraine to accept Putin’s plan for surrender and calling it the American peace plan. Trump mishandled the tragic shooting in DC by blaming Biden, attacking Somalians in Minnesota, calling Governor Walz the “R” word, and calling a female reporter “stupid” for asking him a good question. Additionally, Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth were exposed for giving Navy SEAL Team Six an order to kill the survivors of the fishing boats that were attacked by the U.S. military. All of our former top military lawyers came out with a statement saying that everyone in the chain of command committed war crimes.

Additionally, Trump announced this week he was pardoning the former President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in a United States federal court for being one of the biggest narco-terrorists in history and sentenced to 45 years in federal prison in the United States. Hernández was instrumental in helping the Sinaloa cartel smuggle billions of dollars of cocaine into the United States by using his official position in Honduras.

For the first time, Trump’s actions have caused strong bipartisan statements to be issued from Republicans and Democrats about oversight that will take place. In addition, we saw Republican Indiana state senators publicly reject Trump’s attempt to intimidate them into gerrymandering their state even more, and many of the Republican state senators cited Trump’s personal behavior as the reason they wouldn’t go along with his plans. Lastly, we reported how Republican Congress Members have privately been saying they want to resign immediately before the midterms like Marjorie Taylor Greene did because they loathe Trump and Speaker Johnson. Yesterday, MAGA Republican Troy Nehls of Texas said he was resigning from Congress but would wait until the end of his term.

Also, very tellingly, I should mention that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the reason he will not be involved in any way with Trump’s ballroom is because the bank has lots of stakeholders across the world and he wants to be careful how any actions can be perceived by a future Department of Justice after Trump is out of office. In other words, Dimon realizes that accountability is coming for all those who violate the law in a post-Trump world.

I think this past week, more than ever, people are talking about the post-Trump world in tangible terms like we’ve never seen before in recent history. Even though Trump was out of office by January 2021, the relentless assault by Trump and his propaganda network on all aspects of society truly prevented the conversations about a post-Trump world from happening. Like the invasive species he is, Trump has always been infecting political discourse for most of our recent history and harming this country in the process.

Trump and his regime failed in their mission to shut down the resistance and control all aspects of this country. Those corporate sell-outs, law firm sell-outs, university sell-outs, and others who bent the knee to Trump will be remembered. Now, we see that everyone who stood up to Trump is winning and embarrassing his weak and pathetic regime. Trump failed to control us and suppress us and repress us as he desired. Now he’s backed into a corner. Republicans are fleeing a sinking ship. Military members involved in war crimes and literally sinking ships must contend with being put on war tribunals in a few years. The country is not being fooled by Trump’s cover-up of the Epstein files. The country is paying closer attention to Trump’s deteriorating physical and mental condition.

While Trump has caused a good deal of harm to this country, we have shown we can survive it and we can fight back. We’ve adapted our tactics. Independent media led by MeidasTouch has replaced corporate news. No Kings protests keep getting bigger in size. New international alliances are forming to check Trump’s reckless behavior.

Here we are, on Thanksgiving weekend. We are more confident than ever about a post-Trump future. While he rants and raves like a lunatic, we get stronger and more organized. As I said on Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for you and this movement. You’ve persevered under the most difficult conditions and you’ve built this movement to what it is today. And it’s only going to grow and get bigger and stronger and always together.

Thanks for having this cup of coffee with me. And if you aren’t subscribed, please subscribe today. We need 250 more subscribers today to hit our monthly objective. Your subscriptions are key to the growth of the MeidasTouch Network. So if you are able to subscribe, please do so now, and you can gift subscriptions to others you know as well.

Time for me to record my next video. See you soon.

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Sunday thought: The Bigot in the Oval Office

Like dictators before him, Trump’s road to tyranny is paved with hate

Robert Reich Nov 30

Tim Folzenlogan, “Winter Liberty” (1991)

Friends,

This week’s shooting of two National Guard members by a gunman identified by the authorities as an Afghan national was horrific.

But Trump’s response has been disproportionate and bigoted. He vows to “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries.” He intends to deport legal immigrants born in countries the White House deems “high risk.”

He threatens to strip U.S. citizenship from naturalized migrants “who undermine domestic tranquillity.” He plans to deport foreigners deemed to be “non-compatible with Western Civilization.” He wants to detain even more migrants in jail — in the U.S. or in other countries — without due process.

In addition to the unconstitutionality of such actions, these threats stir up the worst nativist impulses in America — blaming and scapegoating entire groups of people for the act of one gunman.

Apart from Native Americans, we are all immigrants — all descended from “foreigners.” Some of our ancestors came here eagerly; some came because they were no longer safe in their homelands; some came enslaved.

Almost all of us are mongrels — of mixed nationalities, mixed ethnicities, mixed races, mixed creeds. While we maintain our own traditions, we also embrace the ideals of this nation.

Here’s how Ronald Reagan put it in a 1988 speech, in which he explained:

“I received a letter not long ago from a man who said, ‘You can go to Japan to live, but you cannot become Japanese. You can go to France to live and not become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey, and you won’t become a German or a Turk.’ But then he added, ‘Anybody from any corner of the world can come to America to live and become an American.’”

A person becomes an American by adopting America’s principles, especially those principles summarized in the “self-evident truths” of the Declaration of Independence, such as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Carl Friedrich wrote that “To be an American is an ideal, while to be a Frenchman is a fact.”

As an immigrant friend once put it to me: “I was always an American; I was just born in the wrong country.”

I don’t think I’ve ever quoted Reagan before. He was wrong about so many things. Yet Reagan understood something fundamental to this nation that Trump doesn’t have a clue about: America is an idea — a set of aspirations and ideals — more than a nationality.

The only thing Trump knows is that he needs to fuel bigotry. His Straight White Male Christian Nationalism requires prejudice against anyone who’s not.

Like dictators before him, Trump’s road to tyranny is paved with stones hurled at “them.” His entire project depends on hate.

America is better than this.

We won’t buy Trump’s hate. To the contrary, we’ll call out bigots. We won’t tolerate intolerance. We’ll protect hardworking members of our community. We’ll alert them when ICE is lurking.

We will not succumb to the ravings of a venomous president who wants us to hate each other.