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Twenty Cambridge residents are running for a spot on Cambridge City Council, each bringing a unique vision for the future of the city. As candidates gear up their campaign efforts, three issues have risen to the top of voters’ minds: affordable housing, transportation, and standing up to the Trump administration.

Housing Affordability

Housing policy is the lifeblood of elections in Cambridge.

A survey from the city asked residents to define the single most important issue for the city to address over the next two years. “Housing” was far and away the most popular, receiving 46 percent of residents’ number one votes.

The second highest answer — “Cost of Living” — got 5 percent.

Cambridge’s urban and political landscape was fundamentally reshaped after the Council ended single-family zoning in February — changing the way candidates define affordable housing policy in the city.

Challenger Ayah Al-Zubi ’23 has proposed the construction of new social housing in Cambridge, an idea garnering support across the field. Social housing is a form of publicly funded development that includes mixed-income units, some affordable and others even reaching market rate.

“What we would need to do to make that happen is leverage our triple A bond rating and create a revolving loan so that our city can invest directly into housing that we know can sustainably remain affordable,” Al-Zubi said.

Councilor Burhan Azeem, a consistently pro-development voice on the Council, said he believes that Cambridge voters have reliably chosen candidates with bold policy proposals for increased zoning.

“I think the voters have shown time and time again that they care more about bringing down housing prices and affordability and cost of living than they do about being resistant to change, and I’m hopeful that that’ll happen again,” Azeem said.

But other candidates prioritize preserving the city’s historical neighborhoods. Councilor Catherine “Cathie” Zusy said she expects to receive support from residents who support her lone vote against the multifamily housing ordinance.

Zusy is endorsed by the Cambridge Citizens Coalition, a super PAC that advocates against Cambridge’s ambitious zoning reforms. She said that the policies recently passed by the Council will not have the impact that advocates argue.

“I believe that if we just build everywhere, and we’re already the fifth densest city for our size in the country, that that isn’t going to result in young people, young families, and our workers being able to live in the city,” Zusy said.

“We can’t rely on market forces to solve the housing problem,” she added.

Challenger John Hanratty, who is also endorsed by the CCC, said his platform is focused on providing a voice to neighborhoods.

“The council is ignoring neighborhoods and citizens about their future and laws that really impact them heavily,” he said.

The Trump Era and Challenger Critiques

Nine months into Donald Trump’s second term, challengers are saying that the Council has not done enough to stand up to administration.

The Council unanimously voted to call on the Harvard Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, to refuse and resist the Trump administration’s demands in April before the University responded. Days later, councilors organized a protest alongside Harvard professors and students to urge the University to defy the administration.

The Council also voted unanimously to strengthen Cambridge’s sanctuary city ordinance to prevent CPD assisting ICE in response to Trump’s increased deportations and detentions.

Stanislav Rivkin, a first time candidate, said he decided to run because he does not believe the Council responded as “urgently” and “strongly” as it could have.

“There’s been a lot of strongly worded resolutions against the Trump administration that are important for us, in terms of commitment to a certain set of values, but as far as actually helping folks that are coming under attack, there’s been very little of that,” he said.

“I want to Trump-proof the City of Cambridge,” challenger Ned S. Melanson said, adding he will specifically focus on “protecting the immigrant community.”

Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine A. Elow said that federal immigration agents have contacted CPD six times this year related to enforcement actions. While the department has refused to cooperate due to its sanctuary city laws, ICE has arrested at least one person in Cambridge this year.

“We have to push back against the Trump administration and support our residents, while also advancing on key issues in our city,” Al-Zubi said. “In our campaign, we believe these two are interconnected.”

Transportation

Candidates also said transportation is a key issue facing the city, after a number of contentious conversations surrounding the city’s bike lane network during the Council’s current term.

“We’ve seen people killed almost every single year, including this term, who are bicycling or walking in Cambridge, and we want to make sure we continue to have a majority for safer streets and transportation in the city,” councilor Jivan G. Sobrinh0-Wheeler said.

Three people have died in bike crashes in Cambridge over the past two years, including John H. Corcoran ’84, Minh-Thi Nguyen, a graduate student at MIT, and a woman killed at the intersection of Dewolfe St. and Mt Auburn in Harvard Square.

One of Cambridge’s super PACs, Cambridge Bicycle Safety, focuses on the expansion of bike lane networks, endorsing candidates who pledge to support the completion of the City’s Cycling Safety Ordinance Network bike lane network by November 2026. The PAC endorsed 12 candidates this cycle.

Candidates widely support the expansion of bike lanes in the city, but they diverge on other transportation issues such as parking and buses.

Sobrinho-Wheeler specifically said he supports fare-free buses and better bus infrastructure.

“There are other street improvements we can continue to make, including more shared streets more pedestrianizing streets, more bus signalization, bus lanes, and fare free buses is something I’ve been advocating for a while,” Sobrinho-Wheeler said. “There are three free bus routes in Boston. We don’t have any in Cambridge.”

For challenger Dana R. Bullister, parking prices were a central issue.

“Appropriately pricing parking, specifically by using dynamic metering, could do a lot both to increase the safety of our streets and to improve local business, and additionally, and very importantly, reducing traffic and reducing emissions,” Bullister said.

Cambridge residents will voice their opinions on these issues on Election Day, November 4. The last day to register to vote in Cambridge is October 25.

— Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Dionise Guerra-Carrillo can be reached at dionise.guerracarrillo@thecrimson.com.

— Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at jack.reardon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.