Building 6-story apartment houses in single-family neighborhoods in Cambridge

As part of cleaning out my old Harvard Square condo, I learned that the City of Cambridge has embarked on a plan to increase population density, a rare situation in which the people who advocate for open borders also do something about accommodating the new arrivals and their kids and grandkids.

Starting in 2025, the city began allowing developers to build 6-story apartment buildings/condos in neighborhoods that had formerly been restricted to single-family houses:

There is no requirement that the new apartment buildings be anywhere near public transit or that they make any provision for parking (i.e., competition for street parking spaces is about to hit Olympic Team levels, though maybe the Tesla Robotaxi will ameliorate the issue?).

I talked to a lady who lives in West Cambridge, which has a suburban feel. “A developer bought an 1890 Victorian house and is putting up a 54-unit building,” said said. “It’s 1.2 miles from the nearest T stop. There’s hardly any bus service except at rush hour. There won’t be any off-street parking built as part of this.” How do the Biden-Harris voters in the neighborhood feel about living next to people receiving subsidized housing (20 percent of the units must be “inclusionary”, i.e., rented or sold at below-market rates to the fortunate few)? “They’re fighting the project tooth and nail by claiming that the old house is historic and can’t be demolished.”

I remain mystified as to how those who decry “inequality” can support these programs in which a handful of people are selected to pay nothing or almost nothing for housing while the vast majority of others who are equally situated in terms of income, etc., are doomed to pay market rates (i.e., live 45 minutes away from anywhere that is considered nice).

Most of Cambridge is poorly served by public transit. The subway stations are widely separated. The subway itself doesn’t run fast or go most of the places that people need to go. Bus service is slow and infrequent, though the former “Dudley bus” was renamed in 2020 to “Nubian Station bus” (background). Google AI:

Nubian refers to an indigenous ethnic group and the ancient civilization from the Nile valley region spanning southern Egypt and northern Sudan. It describes people, languages, and cultures originating from this area, which is known for a history dating back to 3100 BC. It is also used informally to describe Black culture, people with dark skin, or specific livestock breeds.

Can anyone think of an example of a portion of an American metro area, population 2 million or larger, that has been built up to an average 6-story height, or higher, that doesn’t have horrific traffic jams? The advocates for higher density seem to assume that everyone in young, healthy, fit, childless, and happy to walk 1.2 miles through slush and/or in 10-degree temps. Or perhaps that the fit young parents will bundle their young children up like Eskimos and load them into $7,000 Dutch cargo bikes that get stolen every six months.

Trying to get to a friend’s house in Brookline from practically on top of the Harvard Square T station at 7:14 pm, i.e., after rush hour:

It was 54 minutes by public transit and add another 15 minutes for a more typical Cambridge location that wasn’t so close to the T. This should be a 15-minute drive, which shows you how much the mobility of people in the Boston area has been reduced by roads being narrowed, more people getting cars, population growth, etc.