On Monday, October 16th, the City Council ordained amendments to the 100% Affordable Housing Overlay by a final vote of 6 to 3, marking a major win for housing affordability in Cambridge. This landmark zoning reform will allow more affordable homes to be built along transit hubs and corridors, which means that more of the 22+ thousand people on the Cambridge Housing Authority’s Can’t Wait List will get to call Cambridge home.

A huge THANK YOU to all of you who emailed and testified in support over the past year. Without you, these amendments might never have passed. And to the 6 councillors who voted for it: Burhan Azeem, Alanna Mallon, Marc McGovern, Denise Simmons, Sumbul Siddiqui, and Quinton Zondervan, THANK YOU for your commitment to making Cambridge a more affordable, inclusive city.

Expanding the AHO, much like the original AHO, is proof that we can make progress in our fight against the housing crisis with a pro-housing majority on the City Council.

• 5 of the councillors who voted “Yes” were endorsed by ABC in 2021, and 4 are seeking reelection on November 7th.

We need to keep this momentum going! This election, make sure to rank the ABC slate in the order of your preference, share our endorsements with your community, and visit the ABC IEPAC website to find out how you can help (canvassers needed!). The deadline to register to vote is Saturday, October 28, but people can already vote by mail, so the time to support ABC’s endorsed candidates is now.

JOIN US FOR AN AHO CELEBRATION AND ABC HAPPY HOUR 

Join us this Wednesday, October 18, for a celebration happy hour at Lily P’s Fried Chicken and Oysters at 50 Binney St. in Kendall between 6 and 8pm. Come out to see new and old faces, celebrate the AHO expansion, and relax after all the hard work that’s gone into passing it. We hope to see you there!