Author | Lightnews

Justin S.

Justin S.

@jsaif.bsky.social

820 followers 460 following 110 posts

Indie rock, #CambMA and national politics, occasional humor, law. Pro-housing, pro-transit. A Better Cambridge co-chair, “chatty and zealous”

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Reposted by Justin S.

Jason Furman @jasonfurman.bsky.social · 6h

My other top choices will be largely drawn from the "A Better Cambridge" coalition. www.abettercambridge.org

A Better Cambridge

www.abettercambridge.org

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 4h

Vote for lower rents and to reject modern-day residential segregationists tomorrow!

A Better Cambridge IEPAC @abciepac.org · 7h

Powerful letter to reflect on before you go to vote.

Many candidates are running to roll back the progress Cambridge has made - they are explicitly pro-exclusionary zoning.

A vote for ABC's pro-housing slate will help Cambridge go forward, not back.

www.cambridgeday.com/2025/11/03/c...

I’m proud that our city has faced the resulting housing crisis realistically, and with an eye to equity and sustainability. Cambridge started with the 100% Affordable Housing Overlay, which has opened new opportunities for lower-cost housing, with over 800 homes in the pipeline.

This year, Cambridge passed a Multi-family Zoning Ordinance – a landmark law that received national attention as it created possibilities for multi-family housing citywide. Among the results of the lowered barriers in this law:

a 4-unit lot in mid-Cambridge will become home for 30 households;
a one-story retail building with three stores near Porter, fixed at that size and use since 1894, can now become three stores plus 71 homes;
a deteriorating historic structure near Harvard Sq. is on track to be restored and maintained because it can share its large lot with housing and a small hotel.

Cambridge accomplished all this with planning, deliberation and resident involvement, although not everyone’s policy preferences could be adopted. I expect there will be much more to come as we work our way out of the long-term housing shortage.

This is what some Council candidates want to repeal. We’ve seen what happens when conservatives try to take their country back. Some of our local conservatives have announced their intention to take our city back – to the exclusionary policies from the last century.

To keep Cambridge on an equitable and inclusionary path, I’m voting for the slate endorsed by A Better Cambridge: Burhan Azeem, Dana Bullister, Mark McGovern, Ned Melanson, Sumbul Siddiqui, Denise Simmons, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, and Ayesha Wilson. For Cambridge’s sake, I hope you will, too.

Reposted by Justin S.

A Better Cambridge IEPAC @abciepac.org · 7h

Vote tomorrow for all eight of these candidates. Rank them 1-8 in order of your preference to preserve the progress we've made fighting the housing crisis.

Polls are open 7am-8pm. Find your polling place here: www.sec.state.ma.us/WhereDoIVote...

Slate endorsed by A Better Cambridge: Burhan Azeem, Dana Bullister, Mark McGovern, Ned Melanson, Sumbul Siddiqui, Denise Simmons, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, and Ayesha Wilson.

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 2d

Vote, vote, vote, #CambridgeMA!

www.abettercambridge.org/endorsements...

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 2d

Candidates running to reinstate residential segregation and raise rents in Cambridge can’t win if everyone votes!!

Vote for REAL pro-housing candidates!

www.abettercambridge.org/endorsements...

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 3d

Happy Halloween!

Don’t forget to vote!!

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 3d

Spotted in East Cambridge.

Thinking of changing my LinkedIn profile pic.

Halloween sign with photo of skeleton employee and sign, “Worst Employee of June: Justin”

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 3d

Watch out, Cambridge, @marcgov.bsky.social out there scaring some folks!

What is Eugenia Schraa-Huh’s costume? Eugenia campaigning for School Committee in a fascinator?

Anyway, vote for these two on Tuesday!

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 3d

Vote for the pro-housing candidates who support multifamily housing by right—and lower rents—in Cambridge! www.abettercambridge.org/endorsements...

2025 A Better Cambridge City Council Endorsements

www.abettercambridge.org

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 3d

Take it from a corporate landlord salivating over how much he’s going to raise rents because no new apartments are getting built—the only way to keep rents from skyrocketing is to follow Cambridge’s lead and allow multifamily by-right!

Open New York @opennewyork.org · 4d

New housing stops landlords from raising rents—take it from the CEO of AvalonBay, one of NYC's largest landlords:
"We're well-positioned… we face significantly less new supply. Land entitled for multifamily is hard to come by, the amount of time it takes to get those entitlements… sets us up well.”

Reposted by Justin S.

John Hawkinson @johnhawkinson.bsky.social · 6d

My writeup of the #cambma ballot question on the Charter.

(Sorry, this was filed last week and finally posted today, and I missed it going up this morning!)

Cambridge Day @cambridgeday.com · 6d

Also on the ballot in Cambridge: A new and greatly expanded city charter

The existing charter is more than 80 years old.

Reposted by Justin S.

Jess Sheehan @jfsheehan.bsky.social · 5d

I can't stress this enough: in ranked choice systems like Cambridge has, your best bet at getting the council & school committee you want is to rank candidates in order of your genuine preference.

That means you should give your #1 vote to the person you most want to win.

Reposted by Justin S.

Cllr. Burhan Azeem @burhanazeem.bsky.social · 10d

It was wonderful celebrating all the Housing wins we’ve had in Massachusetts over the last year.

Ft. @jessekb.bsky.social @berkie1.bsky.social @ajcampbellma.bsky.social

Reposted by Justin S.

Jesse Kanson-Benanav @jessekb.bsky.social · 6d

Ayanna Pressley, the YIMBY? The congresswoman has endorsed the @abettercambr1dge.bsky.social backed City Council incumbents in Tuesday's election, all of whom voted for that monumental citywide multifamily zoning reform earlier this year. Via @politico.com

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 6d

There are plenty of mansions on large lots that have wealthy occupants, why are renters the target here?

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 6d

Building size is not necessarily a proxy for value per apartment or for income. Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline have plenty of large, century-old apartment buildings that are not in the best condition and do not charge high rents. Increasing rents on the tenants of these buildings would be bad.

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 12d

So excited to welcome new families to East Cambridge!

City of Cambridge @cambridgemass.bsky.social · 13d

💡 Cambridge is shaping the future of housing policy locally and nationally.
From the Affordable Housing Overlay to new citywide multifamily zoning, the City is taking bold action to make housing more accessible for everyone.

Read more here: https://camb.ma/47eP7lt

Cambridge’s Commitment to Affordable Housing Resulting in Momentum and Milestones

Reposted by Justin S.

Ari Ofsevit @ofsevit.bsky.social · 15d

They’re voting!

Make sure that you are, too.

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 18d

(As an aside, the Day wrote the silly headline. 🙄 The point is obviously not bigger buildings for the sake of bigger buildings, it’s that we need an Abundance approach to address Cambridge’s housing shortage and affordability crisis! 🏘️)

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 18d

“Many Cantabrigians feel similarly to us. In the 2024 Resident Opinion Survey, 46 percent of respondents ranked “affordable housing” as the single most important issue for the city to address.”

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 18d

“Yet, we feel trapped in our current location by the lack of budget-friendly options near the friends and businesses that make the city home.”

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 18d

“My partner and I rent an apartment in a Cambridge building that is well over 100 years old. While it’s charming, we would love to move to a better maintained building with more modern amenities.”

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 18d

Terrific piece in Cambridge Day by Sam Polzin about the need to build more homes to address by far the biggest challenge facing Cambridge residents—housing affordabilty!

www.cambridgeday.com/2025/10/15/b...

Reposted by Justin S.

Vicki @vickidilorenzo.bsky.social · 27d

Boston can’t force the Fed to lower interest rates, but we should pursue an approach similar to what Cambridge has done: increase capacity across the whole city (not just small areas) and combine that with policies that protect affordable housing developments from getting targeted by stupid lawsuits

Abundant Housing Massachusetts @abundanthousingma.org · 27d

Given the desire for more action and dissatisfaction with current approaches, Boston residents showed broad support for a variety of policies that would make it easier to build more homes and increase housing choices. Support for these policies was strongest among renters and younger households.

Justin S. @jsaif.bsky.social · 26d

ABC’s all-star housing panel, 6 pm tomorrow at the Senior Center, 806 Mass Ave in Central Sq, also has a Zoom option! us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability from National to Local. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Zoning Lessons for Housing Affordability from National to Local. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

us02web.zoom.us