The People’s Republic Becomes the Province of Bureaucratic Oligarchs

From my window I see the new tree that the City of Cambridge planted in the space between the sidewalk and the curb. Beyond that is the fresh pavement patch where they installed the new gas line. Across the street is the refurbished Glacken Field complex of playground and little league fields. My city is a place of constant upgrade. Why don’t I feel so good about it?

I first lived in Cambridge in 1978, but my true appreciation for our city began thirty years ago, when I bought a house in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood. I’ve lived here ever since. Cambridge circa 1992 was neither the industrial soap-and-candy city of the nineteenth-century, nor the hippy-dippy People’s Republic of the 1960’s and 70’s. It was a well-run city with outstanding services anchored in an ethos of citizen participation.

Two events from my early years made me a devotee of Cambridge.

The first was a well-attended neighborhood meeting where a representative of Traffic and Parking reviewed the city’s parking strategies. During Q&A, he listened to each person’s query and delivered a response based on deep knowledge of on-street parking. “There are two permit-only spaces in front of your house.” “There is a bus stop and a fire hydrant at your corner.” The audience gasped when I requested the city eliminate…