Housing costs too much. Bringing down the cost of housing and building more climate-friendly housing near transit has been a laser focus of mine over the past two terms, and I’m committed to doing more in my third term. I’ve voted to expand multifamily housing options and ban broker fees.

​​

People deserve housing security. Cambridge must build more transit-oriented housing and pursue development without displacement through tenant protections. We also need statewide solutions to tackle our statewide housing crisis. I founded the nonprofit Abundant Housing MA to address our broader housing crisis.

This term, I passed new citywide zoning that undoes generations of exclusionary zoning and allows multifamily housing across Cambridge. ​ In my last term, I wrote legislation that removed parking minimums citywide, which unnecessarily forced the ⅓ of Cambridge households that don’t own a car to pay hundreds of thousands for unused parking spaces. This historic legislation has been recognized as a huge step towards more affordable housing and pushed forward a nationwide movement. I also wrote the legislation to expand the Affordable Housing Overlay and build much-needed housing in the city.​

​

I've also voted to ban broker's fees (now pending authorization by the state legislature under a home rule petition) and supported expanding tenants' right to a lawyer.

Housing policy is climate policy. We need to build more, greener housing without sacrificing the essence of Cambridge. Our city must remain walkable and transit-based.

As our national leadership guts climate protections, it’s on us to keep fighting for the climate future we deserve. Some of our most significant levers for climate action are housing and transportation policy – despite the attention on national policy, state and local governments control most of what goes on there. ​

​

As such, I’m pushing hard on making Cambridge a net-zero city. This term, we passed three historic pieces of legislation: the net-zero stretch code - requiring new buildings to be net-zero ready; embodied emissions - tracking the emissions during construction; and BEUDO - mandating large buildings to be net-zero by 2035, which will cut the city’s emissions in half. 

Early education provides lifelong benefits to young kids: language, literacy, and math skills. For parents, it’s both a lifeline and, all too often, their biggest expense after housing. This term, Burhan helped pass a bill to fully fund universal pre-K for all families in Cambridge, and expand after-school programs.

Now, I’m building on this momentum to expand and clarify after-school options.

​

Right now, the city has a patchwork of options and a complex lottery system that leaves children behind.

There are several issues. 

• There are only enough spots for 50 percent of applicants, and so many children are left behind and can’t attend after-school.  

• The lottery system is complex and confuses many parents.

• The results come back so late that parents feel compelled to enroll in a private option.

​

It’s time we fixed these issues and provided universal access to everyone both for kids and parents who have made the difficult decision to step back from their careers to care for their children. We owe it to these kids and their parents to provide after-school for every single child. 

Right now, getting from place to place is just too hard. Transportation is a huge cost-of-living driver, a threat to our economic competitiveness, and our most significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. We need to invest in our transit system and make our roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

​

Frequent and affordable bus service is a backbone of our transit system. As the T continues with its generational Bus Network Redesign, I’ve worked to ensure that Cambridge gets routes that meet current transportation needs. Boston has made significant investments in city-wide Transit Signal Priority, and Cambridge should be next., 

​

Cambridge should have a seat on the MBTA’s board. Under General Manager Eng, the T has made commendable progress in tackling the most pressing repair needs. Now, we need a vision to invest in our future and to deliver investments faster and cheaper, including improved Red Line and regional rail service.  I’ll fight to make sure Cambridge has a seat at table in these discussions–in the short term, by advocating directly with the T and state lawmakers, and in the long term by securing us a seat on the board. 

​

Pedestrian safety is an everyone issue–whether walking, driving or taking the train, we all have to walk to get to and from our final destination. Too often, discussions of road safety have left pedestrian safety out. The City’s raised crosswalk installations are a step in the right direction, and I’ll fight for funding to keep up installation here while investing in our sidewalk network and adding protected crossings wherever feasible. ​

​

I am a supporter of bike lanes, Cambridge Bike Safety and their pledge.

​

As Cambridge comes under threat from a hostile administration, Burhan is helping to defend Cambridge’s institutions, citizens, and values. He has helped push Harvard to stand up to Trump’s unprecedented attacks, and is working to stabilize the city budget and essential services as national funds are withdrawn, while protecting residents from tax hikes. Burhan is committed to protecting our immigrant communities, keeping Cambridge a sanctuary city, and disallowing local police from participating in ICE raids.