"The numbers show that middle-income folks are hurting. There's no question about that," Rubenstein said.

Currently, affordable housing is available to people making 80 percent or less of Cambridge's median income of $62,700, Rubenstein said.

Vice-Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio said he also wants to help those above the 80 percent mark.

"I think there's room for us to step in with long-term financial assistance," he said.

"It's that middle ground that we're losing," agreed Councillor Michael A. Sullivan.

City councillors forwarded various suggestions to Healy and his staff. Kenneth E. Reeves '72 asked that the city keep track of the units it is losing, while Henrietta Davis suggested that the city track its progress in its yearly reports.

"The quantitative stuff is just a little bit squishy, and it doesn't have to be that way," Davis said. "Every time we get a report it's under a different time frame."