More Cambridge residents than ever said they’re really happy living in the city, according to a 2025 survey of local opinions. But two major issues-housing costs and transportation-still aren’t meeting people’s expectations.
The annual survey results, shared with the City Council by Polity Research Consulting on Monday, follow a familiar pattern: folks love living here but aren’t satisfied with how the city handles key challenges.
This yearly survey checks in on what residents think about different areas like housing, getting around town, and the cost of living. It asks people to rank what matters most to them and then rate how well the city is doing on each issue using a five-point scale.
People gave strong marks for things that affect quality of life-like getting involved in civic activities, feeling safe from crime, and trusting local government. For two years running, libraries, public safety services, sanitation, and customer service have been rated highly.
Almost half of those surveyed this year said affordable housing is “the single most important issue” for the city to tackle – which lines up with previous surveys from 2023 onward.
But worries about housing availability-both regular market-rate homes and affordable units-stood out as where residents’ priorities don’t match up with what they feel the city is actually delivering.
The survey made sure to separate market-rate housing-which many middle-income folks need-and income-restricted homes meant for low-income residents. These reflect related but different problems: middle-income people struggling to find homes they can afford versus ongoing demand for subsidized units for lower-income families.
A few councilors pointed out that this difference really matters both politically and practically. They mentioned that many people who don’t qualify for subsidized housing but still face high living costs see the crisis more as a lack of good options rather than missing services.
Affordable market-rate housing topped the list again – 64 percent called it an “extremely important” focus area for Cambridge. Subsidized or income-restricted affordable housing was close behind at 55 percent saying it’s “extremely important.”
But when rating how well Cambridge is doing overall on affordability in housing? The scores stayed low across the board.
This mismatch was shown clearly in a “gap analysis,” comparing how important an issue is versus how well folks think it’s being handled by the city. Less than one in ten gave “excellent” ratings on either type of affordable housing this year.
The bulk of Monday’s City Council discussion focused more on transportation though.
About 55 percent said improving transportation quality-including driving, biking, walking or public transit-is important but just 27 percent felt things are actually good enough right now.
A quarter of respondents gave biking an “excellent” rating as a way to get around Cambridge. Yet fewer people reported regularly biking here this year-a drop by ten points compared to 2024.
Still, even with some lingering concerns about transit options, satisfaction doubled since last year-from just 13 percent giving top marks in 2024 to 27 percent now saying they’re happy with transportation overall.
The city is close to finishing up work required by the Cycling Safety Ordinance-a law that says they have to add 25 miles of separated bike lanes by November.
“Bicycle infrastructure has gone up three years in a row to now 18 percent, and so maybe people are biking a little less frequently, but the infrastructure is more important to them,” Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem said. “Funny how that works.”
-Staff writer Adelaide L. D. Roger can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @adelaidelrg.......
