The numbers:
| Figure | Context | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 190 | Permanently affordable homes in the Multifamily Housing Ordinance pipeline (inclusionary homes in projects proposed under the 2025 rules). | Councillor Zusy's Cambridge Redevelopment Tracker, as of October 16 2026 |
| 20% | Share of floor area that must be permanently affordable in projects of 10 or more homes or more than 10,000 square feet. Six stories are allowed on lots of 5,000 square feet or more only with these homes; four stories are allowed on any lot. | City of Cambridge CDD, Multifamily Housing Ordinance (Feb. 10, 2025); Cambridge Day, June 29, 2026 |
| 10x | Growth in housing the city projects by 2030 compared with the zoning in place before 2025 | Cambridge Day, June 29, 2026, reporting the Community Development Department's projection |
| 30 of 6,515 | Black residents in the neighborhoods given the strictest rules when Cambridge rezoned in 1943 (1940 census) | City of Cambridge, zoning history, 2019 |
| 42% | Share of residentially zoned land where apartments were banned before 2025 (Residence A-1, A-2, B). Another ~30% (Residence C-1) allowed apartments only at low density. Measured from the official March 2024 zoning district polygons. | City of Cambridge GIS, CDD zoning districts |
| 0.29 | West Cambridge's racial diversity index, the lowest in the city; North Cambridge, Area 2/MIT, and The Port score 0.57 to 0.60 | City of Cambridge CDD, Jan 2022, p. 16 (2013 to 2017 ACS) |
| −4 and +1,690 | Net homes permitted since 2018 (through 2025): West Cambridge −4, Mid-Cambridge −23, East Cambridge +1,690, North Cambridge +833. All neighborhoods are on the New homes map. Leaves out one 2025 demolition, 221 Mt Auburn St (−63 homes), which is not tied to housing policy. | A Better Cambridge housing data, built from City of Cambridge housing permit records |
| 1942 quote | "What Cambridge needs are brick and stone mansions, occupied by millionaires who will share our tax burden." State Rep. Arthur F. Blanchard of Cambridge, opposing a 1942 proposal to let single-family homes become two-family homes. | City of Cambridge zoning history (2019), quoting the Cambridge Chronicle, April 2, 1942 |
| 1930 to 2024 map | The homepage map illustrates the bans spreading over time. The 2024 map was the official zoning at the time; earlier years are an approximation of how the bans spread: Cambridge's first zoning (1924) set height districts, the 1943 ordinance created single- and two-family districts across much of the city, and 1962 added more downzoning. | City of Cambridge zoning history (2019); City of Cambridge GIS |
| −46 | Homes lost in West Cambridge between 1996 and 2024 when a building with two or more homes was permitted as a single home. | A Better Cambridge housing data, City of Cambridge building permits: prior homes minus one, for every West Cambridge permit that left one home |
| 12 to 3 | Illustration, not a specific project: a 12-home building cut to three stories and a narrower footprint keeps three homes. Under the current rules, buildings of 10 or more homes must make 20% of their floor area affordable. | Cambridge Day, Sept. 16, 2026, on the proposed setbacks, open space and three-story limit |
| Home value | Typical Cambridge home value, January of each year, 2000 to 2026, in nominal dollars. Zillow Home Value Index for single-family homes and condos, middle price tier (33rd to 67th percentile), smoothed and seasonally adjusted. | Zillow Research, via A Better Cambridge housing data |
| 129,800 | Net loss of Massachusetts residents ages 25 to 44 to other states, 2006 to 2022. People ages 25 to 44 were about three-fifths of net losses by age group in 2022. Typical Massachusetts home prices rose about 20% in 2021 and 33% in 2022. | Boston Indicators, Mass. Migration (April 2024); the total as reported by Patch |
| 64% | Cambridge voters who strongly (37%) or somewhat (27%) support the Multifamily Housing Ordinance; 28% oppose. | Embold Research poll, Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, 2026, 442 Cambridge registered voters, margin of error ±4.9 points |
| 84% | Cambridge voters who say making housing more affordable should be the single top priority (19%) or one of the top priorities (65%) for the City Council. | Embold Research poll, Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, 2026, 442 Cambridge registered voters, margin of error ±4.9 points |
| 86% | Cambridge voters aged 18 to 34 who support the Multifamily Housing Ordinance. | Embold Research poll, Sept. 28 to Oct. 4, 2026, 442 Cambridge registered voters, margin of error ±4.9 points |
The maps
Where apartments were banned before 2025, how diverse each neighborhood is, and where new homes were permitted.
- Apartments banned
- Low density only
- Apartments allowed
- Parks and industrial
- Homes shown in "Illegal to build"
Zoning districts as of March 2024, before the 2025 ordinance. Official boundaries from City of Cambridge GIS.
- 0.29, least diverse
- 0.41 to 0.46
- 0.47 to 0.56
- 0.57 to 0.60, most diverse
Racial diversity index (Gini-Simpson) by neighborhood, redrawn on official neighborhood boundaries. Values from City of Cambridge CDD, Jan 2022, p. 16 (2013 to 2017 American Community Survey). See the original.
- Lost homes (0 or fewer)
- 1 to 100
- 101 to 250
- 251 to 500
- More than 500
Net homes permitted by neighborhood, 2018 to 2025, from City of Cambridge permit records via A Better Cambridge housing data. Leaves out one 2025 demolition at 221 Mt Auburn St (−63 homes).