With 1,400 empty seats, Cambridge public schools are struggling to fill their capacity, and school enrollment has declined 10 percent since 1995.

"The people who are moving in are the people who can afford to send their kids to private schools," says Cambridge Public Schools spokesperson Lois Sullivan, sighing in frustration.

How To Turn the Tide?

Despite a lackluster political climate, city leaders say they are hoping for a civic renewal.

Last week, the city held the first in a series of six meetings to solicit public input into the city's overarching goals. And the City Council recently mailed a survey to all the city's residents asking them to identify important city issues and to say how city services could be improved.

"We're really trying to reach out and engage residents in the civic life of the city," Councillor Kathleen Born says.

And Galluccio says he is optimistic that new voters will get involved in solving local issues that directly affect their quality of life such as new libraries and youth centers.

But while city officials are struggling to mobilize new residents to become involved in local politics and worrying that they might lose their classic Democratic voting base, a Republican conversion in Cambridge seems unlikely.