Nine Projects Win $1 Million in Cambridge’s 12th Participatory Budgeting Cycle

Cambridge residents voted to allocate more than $1 million in municipal funding to nine projects aimed at improving public spaces and expanding transit access, concluding the city’s annual Participatory Budgeting process last week.

More than 10,000 residents cast ballots to fund initiatives proposed by community members, including basketball court upgrades, concrete safety barriers for bike lanes, and enhancements to pedestrian infrastructure. Nearly half of this year’s budget was directed toward four transit-focused projects.

The two most popular proposals — together receiving nearly 9,500 votes — both targeted street and sidewalk improvements. A project to repair sidewalks damaged by tree roots was awarded $100,000, while $200,000 went toward upgrading pedestrian intersections. The third-highest-ranked project secured $50,000 to provide transportation assistance for low-income and unhoused residents over the next three years.

Transit access also factored into the eighth-ranked proposal, which calls for installing concrete barriers along bike lanes citywide. While specific locations have not yet been identified, the effort aligns with the Cycling Safety Ordinance, which requires Cambridge to build a 25-mile network of separated bike lanes by November.

The largest single allocation — $250,000 — went to a project to upgrade basketball courts across the city, funding repairs and equipment replacement. The proposal narrowly secured a spot among the top nine with 2,525 votes, after falling short of funding last year by roughly 400 votes.

The remaining $222,000 was distributed among smaller-scale initiatives, including purchasing school supplies for low-income families, installing electric rat traps near residential buildings, and expanding public gardens designed to attract pollinators and manage stormwater.

The rat control project received $110,000 to expand the city’s existing program, adding 25 to 30 electric traps over the next three years. The devices, which cost approximately $100 per month each, kill rats and collect data, and will be deployed in areas with persistent infestations.

The allocation marks Cambridge's 12th Participatory Budgeting cycle, a process that allows residents to directly decide how roughly $1 million in city funds is spent each year. Between September and October, city staff collected more than 1,100 project ideas from residents. About 80 volunteers then developed those ideas into 20 final proposals.

Over a two-week voting period in March, residents ranked up to five choices. Funding was awarded to the highest-ranking proposals until the $1 million budget was fully allocated. This year, nine projects — each receiving at least 2,500 votes — were selected.

Cambridge residents who are at least twelve years old, or in the sixth grade, are eligible to vote — regardless of their citizenship status. Unlike in traditional municipal elections, college students living in Cambridge are also eligible to vote.

Since launching Participatory Budgeting in 2014, Cambridge has funded roughly 80 projects, totaling more than $11 million in community-directed spending.

This year marked the largest number of funded projects to date; in previous cycles, between six and eight proposals were selected. Proposals to provide free bicycles for low-income residents and to extend winter hours at the Cambridge Youth Center narrowly missed the cutoff.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at shawnb.18. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at ClaireMichal.154.