Despite a historically strong anti-development bias in Cambridge, the City Council last week approved a new zoning law that will allow further transformation of the already growing Kendall Square. The new law, passed on April 8, approves plans for a new gateway to MIT facing the Kendall Square MBTA Station, the construction of some 1.1M square feet of new commercial space around the T stop, and hundreds of new housing units. (More details at HarrisCom Blog: http://wp.me/p1Hocg-Wy ).
According to Tim Rowe, president of the Kendall Square Association and a founder of the Cambridge Innovation Center, while, at last week’s meeting, many Cantabridgians questioned the desirability of new buildings that could create traffic noise, “construction hassle and the like”, others emphasized the importance of innovation and entrepreneurship
“They spoke about how these endeavors are critical to our prosperity in these days of intense competition with other regions, how they bring jobs to residents all across the state, and how the fruits of the labors of our innovators and entrepreneurs are solutions to important problems facing the planet,” Rowe said. “What is super exciting to me is that our political leaders, by their vote, accepted these arguments. This is a major win for innovation.”
In a blog posted to clients of the Cambridge Innovation Center–including me–Rowe emphasized that the Kendall Square community concerned about sustainability–as evidenced that “despite millions of square feet of new buildings being built here” during the past decade, traffic in Kendall Square has actually dropped.
Rowe emphasized the need for additional state funding to ensure that the Red Line can keep up with demand in Kendall Square and urged his readers to tell their state senators and representatives to support Governor Deval Patrick’s proposal to invest heavily in updating the Commonwealth’s transportation infrastructure.
Having worked in the Cambridge Innovation Center for nearly three years, I can attest to the vibrancy and vitality of this growing area.
–Anita M. Harris
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, an award-winning public relations and digital marketing agency located in Kendall Square.
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