The residents of Cambridge's model neighborhood are now voting on whether to approve the projects proposed for the first year of work in the Model Cities program.

A neighborhood referendum on 29 separate projects to improve housing, recreation, education, and other services in the neighborhood began Thursday and will end tonight. Each project must receive a majority of the votes cast in order to be included in the formal first-year program which is to be sent to the City Council and then to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Referendum workers reported yesterday that voting in the referendum was running to about 60 per cent of the vote in an earlier referendum which approved the organization of the program. They attributed the smaller turnout primarily to bad weather.

Cambridge is the only one of the 70-odd communities participating in the Model Cities program that gives residents of the model neighborhood--a 268-acre area east of Central Square--control over the board running the program and the right to veto any of the board's proposals in a referendum. It is believed that all 29 proposals will be approved.

"The proposals are really a product of the thinking of the board," Gordon L. Brigham, director of the program, said yesterday, explaining that City staff workers and outside consultants had helped to "put the board's ideas into the form of a formal program."

Brigham said that the exact cost of the proposed projects was not yet certain, although HUD has already earmarked $870,000 to pay for any programs in the area not covered by other Federal funding. Since the Model Cities program tries to funnel Federal money from diverse agencies into one area, the ultimate cost of the first year program--if Washington gives Cambridge all the money it wants--will probably be several times the $870,000 figure, Brigham said.

"It's a big open question of what the attitude of the new administration will be . . . the attitude of the present administration has been very favorable toward the kind of program we're trying to run here in Cambridge," Brigham said. He said that Cambridge was "trying to get some review of our program before all the present administrators have left Washington," to create an HUD commitment to finance the Cambridge program.

Some of the highlights of the proposals for the first-year program are:

Housing--Rehabilitation of public housing units in the area, a study of ways to control real estate speculation, and a Housing Advisory Center to give residents legal and financial advice for buying, selling and improving housing.

Recreation--Improvement of play-grounds, establishment of more teen centers, and institution of an arts program for neighborhood residents.

Social Services--Hot lunch programs and income supplements for the elderly, a multi-service center to give a variety of social services, including psychiatric care and case work, under one roof.

Health--In cooperation with Harvard Medical School, a special health insurance plan for 100 neighborhood residents, training of para-medical workers, and three small neighborhood health centers.

Employment--A Skill Center to provide job information, advice on training, and counselling service for workers with problems affecting their performance on the job.