He added that aggressive action by the Cambridge City Council through zoning regulations requiring affordable housing in new development have added to the city's monetary commitments.

But Galluccio said the city still had a long way to go, and called for a commitment to create affordable housing for residents of all income levels.

"One of our biggest challenges continues to be finding affordable housing for working-class and moderate-income residents who do not qualify for low-income housing," he said.

Adopting a tactic employed by Al Gore '69 during his presidential campaign, Galluccio repeatedly referred to the stories of Cambridge students and residents who were present in the crowd, such as resident Olga Ospina, a working parent who was having trouble finding affordable housing.

"Olga represents the work we have before us," Galluccio said.

While he called on MIT and Harvard to house more of its graduate students in order to ease the pressure on the housing market, he praised Harvard's recent 20/20/2000 initiative, which provided $20 million in loans to Cambridge and Boston for creating affordable housing.

Galluccio said the city also had to protect residents from the overgrowth of the business sector.

While Cambridge's businesses have prospered and grown in recent years, Galluccio warned that the concerns of individual neighborhoods could not be overlooked in the rush to expand.