‘We Didn’t Always Have A Housing Crisis’: Siddiqui, Sobrinho-Wheeler, McGovern Talk Housing at Town Hall

Three City Council members endorsed by the housing advocacy group A Better Cambridge stressed the urgency of tackling housing from all angles in a virtual town hall meeting hosted by ABC on Thursday.

The town hall featured progressive stalwarts Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern and Councilors Sumbul Siddiqui and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, and comes as the Council is currently weighing eliminating single-family zoning entirely — a policy which ABC has championed.

Sobrinho-Wheeler said residents’ attitudes are a barrier to developing more housing across the city.

“In the U.S. we’ve gotten to a point where we think of the right to a public education as a fundamental right that everyone has the right to no matter your income or your background,” Sobrinho-Wheeler said.

“But at this point, now, we’re still thinking of housing as this individual piece that you can have or not have the way you have a car and I think our policies for a long time have promoted that,” he added.

McGovern pointed to poor regional collaboration across the state, citing a number of issues facing the majority of cities in the Greater Boston area.

“We’re all struggling with similar things. We’re all struggling with housing. We’re all struggling with the opioid crisis. We’re struggling with homelessness, with infrastructure, with climate, and with transportation, and yet we don’t do a great job of working together,” McGovern said.

The councilors said a multi-pronged approach, including housing development, zoning changes, and tenant protections, was necessary to effectively address Cambridge’s housing crisis.

“I hear people say, ‘We can’t build our way out of this,’” McGovern said. “Well, I certainly know that not building housing isn’t the answer.”

Sobrinho-Wheeler praised the impact of the Affordable Housing Overlay, which created a streamlined process to expedite the development of affordable housing across Cambridge and has fostered the proposal of more than 700 affordable rental units.

“​​It’s really changed the conversation around affordable housing development in Cambridge, not just in terms of allowing more affordable housing but in looking at what that process looks like,” Sobrinho-Wheeler said.

The Councilors stressed the necessity of protecting tenants, especially low-income tenants, who are facing eviction. Less than 4 percent of tenants statewide had legal representation in eviction cases in 2023, compared to nearly 90 percent of landlords.

Currently, tenants facing eviction are referred to a slew of legal services teams through the city’s Office of the Housing Liaison and Multi-Service Center.

“I’m always in touch with our legal aid services. They’ve said that they feel like the city’s been a good partner, and I think they would ask for more money if they really needed it,” Siddiqui said. “What they have asked us for is just much more around rental assistance and keeping people housed.”

In closing, the councilors urged attendees to vote, stressing the importance of voter engagement in local elections to drive housing work forward.

“I think trying to educate people on how important municipal elections really are, and it’s not the sexiest election. It’s not a presidential election. There’s no commercials, it’s not as fiery and whatever,” McGovern said. “I don’t think people fully understand that the decisions that we make on the Council have a huge impact on their lives.”

—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart or on Threads @laurel.shugart.