"I could give you 50 or 60 times that petitions have passed," he says.

A 56-year Cambridge resident, Duehay says he is "very familiar" with the situation on Linnaean Street and that he also opposed the development.

"The developer made $3 or 4 million and spoiled an entire street," he says.

But Duehay, who has been involved in city politics for 36 years, says the occasional failure is inherent in politics.

"Politics is not perfect. There are injustices," he says. "You don't win everything all the time. The good does not always prevail."

"But I'm not going to get out of politics just because of one loss," he says.

Duehay says grassroots organizations remain an important part of city politics.

"There's a great deal of energy in neighborhood associations and grassroots," he says.

Furthermore, Duehay says political activism has not declined in Cambridge."

He points to the November races for state legislature seats, which, he says, featured "vigorous, hard-hitting campaigns" and "a very large voter turnout."

But the voter turnout for the 1997 city council elections was the lowest in more than 50 years. According to municipal voting records, turnout peaked in 1949, with 39,000 Cantabrigians voting. In 1997, fewer than 17,000 voted.

Voter turnout is also declining at a faster rate. From 1941 to 1971 the number of voters dropped by about 5,000. Since that time it has fallen by roughly 14,000. The population of Cambridge has declined since 1950, but over the past two decades it has remained fairly steady at about 100,000, according to City Hall.

City Councillor Michael A. Sullivan points to the low voter turnout as an illustration of political apathy in Cambridge.

He also cites his own experiences as a councillor.

"You used to get 300 to 400 to show up [to council meetings]. Now if there's 12 to 20 we have a crowd," he says.