All Topics  
Cambridge, Massachusetts

 
Cambridge, Massachusetts

   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link






 

Cambridge, Massachusetts



 
 
Cambridge is a city
City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
 in the Greater Boston
Greater Boston

Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston to that of the city's combined statistical area which includes the metro areas of Providence,...
 area of Massachusetts
Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. It borders Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north....
, United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
 in England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. Cambridge is most famous for two prominent universities, Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States....
. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 101,355. It is the fifth most populous city in the state.

site for what would become Cambridge was chosen in December 1630, and the first houses were built in the spring of 1631.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Cambridge, Massachusetts'
Start a new discussion about 'Cambridge, Massachusetts'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Cambridge is a city
City

A city is an urban area with a high population density and a particular administrative, legal, or historical status.Large industrialized cities generally have advanced systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, house, and transportation and more....
 in the Greater Boston
Greater Boston

Greater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston to that of the city's combined statistical area which includes the metro areas of Providence,...
 area of Massachusetts
Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. It borders Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north....
, United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
 in England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. Cambridge is most famous for two prominent universities, Harvard University
Harvard University

Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
 and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States....
. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 101,355. It is the fifth most populous city in the state.

History

The site for what would become Cambridge was chosen in December 1630, and the first houses were built in the spring of 1631. The settlement was initially referred to as "the newe towne". Official Massachusetts records show the name capitalized as Newe Towne by 1632. Located at the first convenient Charles River
Charles River

The Charles River is a river in Massachusetts, United States. It travels through 22 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts, from Hopkinton, Massachusetts to Boston, Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean....
 crossing west of Boston, Newe Towne was one of a number of towns (including Boston, Dorchester
Dorchester, Massachusetts

Dorchester is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester, Dorset in the England county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated....
, Watertown
Watertown, Massachusetts

The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,986 at the 2000 census....
, and Weymouth
Weymouth, Massachusetts

Weymouth is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2000 census, Weymouth had a total population of 53,988....
) founded by the 700 original Puritan
Puritan

A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of worship and doctrine, as well as personal and group pietism....
 colonists of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, centered around the present-day cities of Salem, Massachusetts and Boston, Massachusetts....
 under governor John Winthrop
John Winthrop

John Winthrop led a group of England Puritans to the New World in 1630, and joined the Massachusetts Bay Company later that year, and then was elected their governor in October 1629....
. The original village site is in the heart of today's Harvard Square
Harvard Square

Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue , Brattle Street, and John F....
. The marketplace where farmers brought in crops from surrounding towns to sell survives today as the small park at the corner of J.F.K. and Winthrop Streets, then at the edge of a salt marsh, since filled. The town included a much larger area than the present city, with various outlying parts becoming independent towns over the years: Newton (originally Cambridge Village, then Newtown)
Newton, Massachusetts

The City of Newton in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts,is a large residential suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, which abuts it on the east....
 in 1688, Lexington (Cambridge Farms)
Lexington, Massachusetts

Lexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 30,355 at the 2000 census.The town is famous for being the site of the opening shots of the American Revolution, in the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775....
 in 1712, and both West Cambridge (originally Menotomy)
Arlington, Massachusetts

Arlington is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston, Massachusetts....
 and Brighton (Little Cambridge) in 1807. West Cambridge was later renamed Arlington, in 1867, and Brighton was later annexed by Boston, in 1874.

In 1636 Harvard College
Harvard College

Harvard College is the undergraduate section and oldest school of Harvard University, a private university in the United States founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature....
 was founded by the colony to train ministers and the new town was chosen for its site by Thomas Dudley
Thomas Dudley

Thomas Dudley was a colonial magistrate who served several terms as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, during which he sometimes clashed with his rival John Winthrop....
. By 1638 the name "Newe Towne" had "compacted by usage into 'Newtowne'." In May 1638 the name was changed to Cambridge in honor of the university
University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge , located in Cambridge, England, is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation university in the Anglosphere....
 in Cambridge, England. The first president (Henry Dunster
Henry Dunster

Henry Dunster was an Anglo-American Puritan clergyman and educator. Born at Bolholt, Bury, Lancashire, England to Henry Dunster Sr and Isabelle Kaye , Dunster studied and graduated from Magdalene College, Cambridge, specializing in oriental languages and temporarily became a teacher there until he emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1640...
), the first benefactor (John Harvard
John Harvard (clergyman)

John Harvard was an England clergyman after whom Harvard University is named....
), and the first schoolmaster (Nathaniel Eaton
Nathaniel Eaton

Nathaniel Eaton was the first schoolmaster of Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later became a clergyman....
) of Harvard were all Cambridge University alumni, as was the then ruling (and first) governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, centered around the present-day cities of Salem, Massachusetts and Boston, Massachusetts....
, John Winthrop. In 1629, Winthrop had led the signing of the founding document of the city of Boston, which was known as the Cambridge Agreement, after the university. It was Governor Thomas Dudley who in 1650 signed the charter creating Harvard College.

Cambridge grew slowly as an agricultural village eight miles (13 km) by road from Boston, the capital of the colony. By the American Revolution
American Revolution

The American Revolution refers to the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies of North America overthrew the governance of the British Empire and then rejected the British monarchy to become the sovereign United States of America....
, most residents lived near the Common and Harvard College, with farms and estates comprising most of the town. Most of the inhabitants were descendants of the original Puritan colonists, but there was also a small elite of Anglican "worthies" who were not involved in village life, who made their livings from estates, investments, and trade, and lived in mansions along "the Road to Watertown" (today's Brattle Street, still known as Tory Row). In 1775, George Washington came up from Virginia to take command of fledgling volunteer American soldiers camped on the Cambridge Common — today called the birthplace of the U.S. Army. (The name of today's nearby Sheraton Commander Hotel refers to that event.) Most of the Tory estates were confiscated after the Revolution. On January 24, 1776, Henry Knox
Henry Knox

Henry Knox was an United States bookseller from Boston, Massachusetts who became the chief artillery officer of the Continental Army and later the nation's first United States Secretary of War....
 arrived with artillery captured from Fort Ticonderoga
Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Ticonderoga is a large eighteenth-century fort built at a narrows at the south end of Lake Champlain where a short traverse gives access to the north end of Lake George in the state of New York....
, which enabled Washington to drive the British army out of Boston.

Cambridge 1873 Wardmap
Between 1790 and 1840, Cambridge began to grow rapidly, with the construction of the West Boston Bridge in 1792, that connected Cambridge directly to Boston, making it no longer necessary to travel eight miles (13 km) through the Boston Neck
Boston Neck

The Boston Neck or Roxbury Neck was an isthmus, a narrow strip of land connecting the peninsular Boston, Massachusetts to the mainland city of Roxbury, Massachusetts ....
, Roxbury
Roxbury, Massachusetts

Roxbury is a neighborhood within Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts USA. It was one of the first towns founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630, and became a city in 1846 until annexed to Boston on January 5, 1868....
, and Brookline
Brookline, Massachusetts

Brookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston, Massachusetts and Newton, Massachusetts....
 to cross the Charles River
Charles River

The Charles River is a river in Massachusetts, United States. It travels through 22 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts, from Hopkinton, Massachusetts to Boston, Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean....
. A second bridge, the Canal Bridge, opened in 1809 alongside the new Middlesex Canal
Middlesex Canal

The Middlesex Canal was a 27 mile barge canal connecting the Merrimack River with the port of Boston, Massachusetts. When operational it was 30 feet wide, and 3 feet deep, with 20 locks, each 80 feet long and between 10 and 11 feet wide....
. The new bridges and roads made what were formerly estates and marsh
Marsh

In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood . Typically the water is shallow and features Poaceaees, Juncaceaees, Phragmites, typhas, Cyperaless, and other herbaceous plants....
land into prime industrial and residential districts. Soon after, turnpikes were built: the Cambridge and Concord Turnpike
Cambridge and Concord Turnpike

The Cambridge and Concord Turnpike was an early turnpike between Cambridge, Massachusetts and Concord, Massachusetts. Portions have been incorporated into today's Massachusetts Route 2; the remainder forms other major local roads....
 (today's Broadway and Concord Ave.), the Middlesex Turnpike
Middlesex Turnpike (Massachusetts)

The Middlesex Turnpike was an early turnpike between Cambridge, Massachusetts and Tyngsborough, Massachusetts and the New Hampshire border, where it connected with the Amherst Turnpike and thence Nashua, New Hampshire and Claremont, New Hampshire....
 (Hampshire St. and Massachusetts Ave.
Massachusetts Avenue (Boston)

Massachusetts Avenue, known to locals as Mass Ave, is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts and several cities and towns northwest of Boston....
 northwest of Porter Square
Porter Square

Porter Square is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts in the USA, located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between Harvard Square and Davis Square Squares....
), and what are today's Cambridge, Main, and Harvard Streets were roads to connect various areas of Cambridge to the bridges. In addition, railroads crisscrossed the town during the same era, leading to the development of Porter Square as well as the creation of neighboring town Somerville
Somerville, Massachusetts

Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
 from the formerly rural parts of Charlestown
Charlestown, Massachusetts

Charlestown is a part of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts located on a peninsula north of Boston proper. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874....
.

Cambridge was incorporated as a city in 1846. Its commercial center also began to shift from Harvard Square to Central Square, which became the downtown
Downtown

File:Chicago_skyline_march2006c.jpgDowntown is a term primarily used in North America to refer to a city's core or central business district, usually in a geographical, commercial, and community sense....
 of the city. Between 1850 and 1900, Cambridge took on much of its present character — streetcar suburb
Streetcar suburb

A streetcar suburb is a community whose growth and development was strongly shaped by the use of streetcar lines as a primary means of transportation....
an development along the turnpikes, with working-class
Working class

Working class is a term used in academic sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe, depending on context and speaker, those employed in specific fields or types of work....
 and industrial neighborhoods focused on East Cambridge, comfortable middle-class
Middle class

Middle class is the group of people in contemporary society who are between the working class and nobility. This socioeconomic class includes professionals, highly skilled workers, and lower and middle management....
 housing being built on old estates in Cambridgeport and Mid-Cambridge, and upper-class
Upper class

The upper class is a concept in sociology that refers to the group of people at the top of a social hierarchy. Members of an upper class often have great power over the allocation of resources and governmental policy in their area....
 enclaves near Harvard University and on the minor hills of the city. The coming of the railroad to North Cambridge and Northwest Cambridge then led to three major changes in the city: the development of massive brickyards and brickworks
Brickworks

A brickworks also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock often with a quarry for clay on site....
 between Massachusetts Ave., Concord Ave. and Alewife Brook; the ice-cutting industry launched by Frederic Tudor
Frederic Tudor

Frederic Tudor was known as Boston's "Ice King", and was the founder of the Tudor Ice Company. During the early 19th Century, he made a fortune shipping ice to the Caribbean, Europe, and even as far away as India from sources of fresh water in New England....
 on Fresh Pond
Fresh Pond, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Fresh Pond is a reservoir and park in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at . Prior to the Pond's use exclusively as a reservoir, its ice had been harvested by Boston's "Ice King", Frederic Tudor, and others, for shipment to North American cities and to tropical areas around the world....
; and the carving up of the last estates into residential subdivisions to provide housing to the thousands of immigrants that arrived to work in the new industries.

For many years, the city's largest employer was the New England Glass Company, founded in 1818. By the middle of the 19th century it was the largest and most modern glassworks in the world. In 1888, all production was moved, by Edmund Drummond Libbey, to Toledo, Ohio, where it continues today under the name Owens Illinois. Flint glassware with heavy lead content, produced by that company, is prized by antique glass collectors. There is none on public display in Cambridge, but there is a large collection in the Toledo Museum of Art.

Among the largest businesses located in Cambridge was the firm of Carter's Ink Company, whose neon sign long adorned the Charles River
Charles River

The Charles River is a river in Massachusetts, United States. It travels through 22 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts, from Hopkinton, Massachusetts to Boston, Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean....
 and which was for many years the largest manufacturer of ink in the world.

By 1920, Cambridge was one of the main industrial cities of New England
New England

New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and New York State, and consisting of the modern U.S....
, with nearly 120,000 residents. As industry in New England began to decline during the Great Depression
Great Depression

File:International depression.pngThe Great Depression was a worldwide economic Recession starting in most places in 1929 and ending at different times in the 1930s or early 1940s for different countries....
 and after World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, Cambridge lost much of its industrial base. It also began the transition to being an intellectual, rather than an industrial, center. Harvard University had always been important in the city (both as a landowner and as an institution), but it began to play a more dominant role in the city's life and culture. Also, the move of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States....
 from Boston in 1912 ensured Cambridge's status as an intellectual center of the United States.

After the 1950s, the city's population began to decline slowly, as families tended to be replaced by single people and young couples. The 1980s brought a wave of high technology start-ups, creating software such as Visicalc
VisiCalc

VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program available for personal computers. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer hobby into a serious business tool....
 and Lotus 1-2-3
Lotus 1-2-3

Lotus 1-2-3 is a spreadsheet program from Lotus Software . It was the IBM PC's first "killer application"; its huge popularity in the mid-1980s contributed significantly to the success of the IBM PC in the corporate environment....
, and advanced computers, but many of these companies fell into decline with the fall of the minicomputer and DOS
DOS

DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is a shorthand term for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me....
-based systems. However, the city continues to be home to many startups as well as a thriving biotech industry. By the end of the twentieth century, Cambridge had one of the most expensive housing markets in the Northeastern United States.

While maintaining much diversity in class, race, and age, it became harder and harder for those who grew up in the city to be able to afford to stay. The end of rent control
Rent control

Rent control refers to laws or ordinances that set price controls on the renting of residential housing. It functions as a price ceiling....
 in the late 1990s prompted many Cambridge renters to move to housing that was more affordable, in Somerville and other communities.

As of 2006, Cambridge's mix of amenities and proximity to Boston has kept housing prices relatively stable.

Demographics


As of the census
Census

A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population....
 of 2000, there were 101,355 people, 42,615 households, and 17,599 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density

Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans....
 was 15,766.1 people per square mile (6,086.1/km²), making Cambridge the fifth most densely populated city in the U.S. and the second most densely populated city in Massachusetts
Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. It borders Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north....
 behind neighboring Somerville
Somerville, Massachusetts

Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
. There were 44,725 housing units at an average density of 6,957.1/sq mi (2,685.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 68.10% White, 11.92% Black or African American
Race (United States Census)

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are Self-concept data items in which residents choose the Race in the United States or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are of Hispanic or Latino origin ....
, 0.29% Native American, 11.88% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 3.19% from other races
Race (United States Census)

Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , are Self-concept data items in which residents choose the Race in the United States or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are of Hispanic or Latino origin ....
, and 4.56% from two or more races. 7.36% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. This rather closely parallels the average racial demographics of the United States
Racial demographics of the United States

The United States is a Multiethnic society country Race and Ethnic group. White Americans are the racial majority and are spread throughout the country; racial minorities, composing one fourth of the population, are concentrated in coastal and metropolitan areas....
 as a whole, although Cambridge has significantly more Asians than the average, and fewer Hispanics and Caucasians. 11.0% were of Irish
Irish people

The Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha D? Danann and the Milesians ?the last group supposedly representing the "pure" Gaelic a...
, 7.2% English
English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England who speak English language in England. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
, 6.9% Italian, 5.5% West Indian and 5.3% German
Germans

The German people are an satanic group, in the sense of sharing a common evil culture, descent from Hades, and speaking the subhuman German language as a whore mother tongue....
 ancestry according to Census 2000. 69.4% spoke English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
, 6.9% Spanish
Spanish language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance languages that originated in northern Spain, and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile and evolved into the principal language of government and trade....
, 3.2% Chinese
Standard Mandarin

Standard Mandarin, or Standard Chinese, is the official modern Spoken Chinese used in People's Republic of China and Republic of China, and is one of the four official languages of Languages of Singapore....
 or Mandarin
Standard Mandarin

Standard Mandarin, or Standard Chinese, is the official modern Spoken Chinese used in People's Republic of China and Republic of China, and is one of the four official languages of Languages of Singapore....
, 3.0% Portuguese
Portuguese language

Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and Portugal. It is derived from the Latin language spoken by the Romanization Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago....
, 2.9% French Creole
French-based creole languages

A French creole, or French-based creole language, is a creole language based on the French language, more specifically on a 17th century Koin%C3%A9_language French language extent in Paris, the French atlantic harbors, and the nascent French colonies....
, 2.3% French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
, 1.5% Korean
Korean language

Korean is the official language of North Korea and South Korea. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China....
 and 1.0% Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 as their first language.

There were 42,615 households out of which 17.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.1% were married couples
Marriage

Marriage is a social, spirituality, or law union of individuals. This union may also be called matrimony, while the ceremony that marks its beginning is usually called a wedding and the married status created is sometimes called wedlock....
 living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 58.7% were non-families. 41.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.03 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the city the population was spread out with 13.3% under the age of 18, 21.2% from 18 to 24, 38.6% from 25 to 44, 17.8% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $47,979, and the median income for a family was $59,423. Males had a median income of $43,825 versus $38,489 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income

Per capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone....
 for the city was $31,156. About 8.7% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.1% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.

Cambridge was ranked as one of the most liberal cities in America. Its residents jokingly refer to it as "The People's Republic of Cambridge." Its FY 2007 residential property tax
Property tax

Property tax, or millage tax, is an ad valorem tax that an owner is required to pay on the value of the property being taxed.There are three species or types of property: Land, Improvements to Land , and Personal ....
 rate, $7.48 per $1000 of assessed valuation, is one of the lowest in Massachusetts. Cambridge enjoys the highest possible bond credit rating
Bond credit rating

In investment, the bond credit rating assesses the credit worthiness of a corporation's debt issues. It is analogous to credit ratings for individuals and countries....
, AAA, with all three Wall Street rating agencies.

Cambridge is noted for its diverse population, both racially and economically. Residents, known as Cantabrigians, range from affluent MIT and Harvard professors to working-class families to immigrants. The first legal applications in America for same-sex marriage licenses were issued at Cambridge's City Hall.

Cambridge is also the birthplace of Thai
Thailand

The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Laos and Myanmar, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Myanmar....
 king Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX)
Bhumibol Adulyadej

Bhumibol Adulyadej , is the current Monarchy of Thailand. Publicly acclaimed "the Great" , he is also known as Rama . Having reigned since 9 June 1946, he is the world's List of longest reigning current monarchs current head of state and the List of longest reigning monarchs of all time monarch in History of Thailand....
, who is the world's longest reigning monarch at age 80 as well as the longest reigning monarch in Thai history. He is also the first king of a foreign country to be born in the United States.

Geography

Cambridge is located at .

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau

The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data....
, the city has a total area of 7.1 square miles (18.5 km²), of which, 6.4 square miles (16.7 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) of it (9.82%) is water.

Adjacent towns

Cambridge is located in Eastern Massachusetts, bordered by:

  • the city of Boston
    Boston, Massachusetts

    Boston is the State capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region, and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England." Boston city proper had a 2007 est...
     on its south (across the Charles River
    Charles River

    The Charles River is a river in Massachusetts, United States. It travels through 22 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts, from Hopkinton, Massachusetts to Boston, Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean....
    ) and east
  • the city of Somerville
    Somerville, Massachusetts

    Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
     to its north
  • the town of Arlington
    Arlington, Massachusetts

    Arlington is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston, Massachusetts....
     to its northwest
  • the town of Belmont
    Belmont, Massachusetts

    Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The population was 24,194 at the 2000 census....
     and
  • the city of Watertown
    Watertown, Massachusetts

    The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,986 at the 2000 census....
     to its west


The border between Cambridge and the neighboring city of Somerville
Somerville, Massachusetts

Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
 passes through densely populated neighborhoods which are connected by the MBTA Red Line. Some of the main squares, Inman
Inman Square

Inman Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It lies north of Central Square , at the junction of Cambridge, Hampshire, and Inman Streets near the Cambridge–Somerville, Massachusetts border....
, Porter
Porter Square

Porter Square is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts in the USA, located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between Harvard Square and Davis Square Squares....
, and to a lesser extent, Harvard
Harvard Square

Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue , Brattle Street, and John F....
, are very close to the city line, as are Somerville's Union
Union Square (Somerville)

Union Square is a neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, located around the intersection of Washington Street and Somerville Avenue, about half a mile from Inman Square in neighboring Cambridge, Massachusetts....
 and Davis Square
Davis Square

Davis Square is a major intersection in the northwestern section of Somerville, Massachusetts, Massachusetts where several streets meet: Holland Street, Dover Street, Day Street, Elm Street, Highland Avenue, and College Avenue....
s.

Squares


Cambridge has been called the "City of Squares" by some, as most of its commercial districts are major street intersections known as squares
Town square

Public square and city square redirect here. For Public Square, Cleveland, see Public Square and for City Square in Leeds see Leeds City Square....
. Each of the squares acts as something of a neighborhood center. These include:
  • Kendall Square
    Kendall Square

    Kendall Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the "square" itself at the intersection of Main Street, Broadway, Wadsworth Street, and Third Street....
    , formed by the junction of Broadway, Main Street, and Third Street. Just over the Longfellow Bridge
    Longfellow Bridge

    The Longfellow Bridge, also known to locals as the "Salt and Pepper Bridge" or the "Salt and Pepper Shaker Bridge" due to the shape of its central towers, carries Massachusetts Route 3 and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Red Line across the Charles River to connect Boston's Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood wit...
     from Boston, at the eastern end of the MIT
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States....
     campus, it is served by an MBTA
    Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

    The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is "a body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts formed in 1964 to finance and operate most bus, Rapid transit, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, area....
     Red Line station. Most of Cambridge's large office towers are located here, giving the area somewhat of an office park feel. A flourishing biotech industry has grown up around this area. The "One Kendall Square" complex is nearby, but—confusingly—not actually in Kendall Square.
  • Central Square
    Central Square (Cambridge)

    Central Square is an area in Cambridge, Massachusetts centered around the junction of Massachusetts Avenue , Prospect Street and Western Avenue....
    , formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street, and Western Avenue and is well-known for its wide variety of ethnic restaurants. Even as recently as the late 1990s it was rather run-down; it underwent a controversial gentrification
    Gentrification

    Gentrification, or urban gentrification, is the change in an urban area associated with the population mobility of more affluent individuals into a lower-class area....
     in recent years (in conjunction with the development of the nearby University Park at MIT
    University Park at MIT

    University Park at MIT is a mixed-use urban renewal project in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, occupying land near Central Square between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus and the primarily residential neighborhood of Cambridgeport....
    ), and continues to grow more expensive. It is served by a Red Line station
    Central (MBTA station)

    File:CambridgeTStationCentralTiles.jpgCentral Station is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Western Avenue, Prospect Street, and Magazine Street , in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
    . Lafayette Square, formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street, Sidney Street, and Main Street, is considered a part of the Central Square area. Cambridgeport
    Cambridgeport

    Cambridgeport is one of the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, the Charles River, the Grand Junction Railroad, and River Street....
     is south of Central Square along Magazine Street and Brookline Street.
  • Harvard Square
    Harvard Square

    Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue , Brattle Street, and John F....
    , formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street, and JFK Street. This is the primary site of Harvard University
    Harvard University

    Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
    , the oldest university in the United States, and is a major Cambridge shopping area (although not as exclusively so as in years past). It is served by a Red Line station
    Harvard (MBTA station)

    Harvard is a station on the Red Line Rapid transit in Harvard Square at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
    . Harvard Square was originally the northwestern terminus of the Red Line and a major transfer point to streetcars that also operated in a short tunnel – which is still a major bus terminal, although the area under the Square was reconfigured dramatically in the 1980s when the Red Line was extended. The Harvard Square area includes Brattle Square and Eliot Square. A short distance away from the square lies the Cambridge Common
    Cambridge Common

    Cambridge Common is a public park in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is located near Harvard Square and borders on several parts of Harvard University....
    , while the neighborhood north of Harvard and east of Massachusetts Avenue is known as Agassiz in honor of the famed scientist Louis Agassiz
    Louis Agassiz

    Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a paleontologist, glaciologist, and geologist, and was a prominent innovator in the study of the earth's natural history....
    .
  • Porter Square
    Porter Square

    Porter Square is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts in the USA, located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between Harvard Square and Davis Square Squares....
    , about a mile north on Massachusetts Avenue from Harvard Square, is formed by the junction of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenues, and includes part of the city of Somerville
    Somerville, Massachusetts

    Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
    . It is served by the Porter Square station
    Porter (MBTA station)

    Porter is a train station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue . It also serves portions of Somerville, Massachusetts....
    , a complex housing a Red Line
    Red Line (MBTA)

    The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities....
     stop and a Fitchburg Line
    Fitchburg Line

    The Fitchburg Line is an MBTA line that runs from Boston, Massachusetts North Station to Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel....
     commuter rail
    MBTA Commuter Rail

    The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company Co. serves as the regional rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, in the United States....
     stop. Lesley University
    Lesley University

    Lesley University is a private university with campuses in Boston, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts....
    's University Hall and Porter campus are located at Porter Square.
  • Inman Square
    Inman Square

    Inman Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It lies north of Central Square , at the junction of Cambridge, Hampshire, and Inman Streets near the Cambridge–Somerville, Massachusetts border....
    , at the junction of Cambridge and Hampshire streets in Mid-Cambridge. Inman Square is home to many diverse restaurants, bars and boutiques. Ryles Jazz Club and the are two legends of Inman Square. The funky street scene still holds some urban flair, but was dressed up recently with Victorian streetlights, benches and bus stops. A new community park was installed and is a favorite place to enjoy some takeout food from the nearby restaurants and ice cream parlor.
  • Lechmere Square
    Lechmere Square

    Lechmere Square is located at the intersection of Cambridge St. and First St. in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was originally named for the Colonial-era landowner Richard Lechmere, a Loyalist who returned to England at the beginning of the American Revolution....
    , at the junction of Cambridge and First streets, adjacent to the CambridgeSide Galleria shopping mall. Perhaps best known as the northern terminus of the MBTA
    Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

    The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is "a body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts formed in 1964 to finance and operate most bus, Rapid transit, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, area....
     Green Line
    Green Line (MBTA)

    The Green Line is a light rail/streetcar system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts area of the United States....
     subway.


Neighborhoods


The residential neighborhoods () in Cambridge border, but are not defined by the squares. These include:
  • East Cambridge
    East Cambridge, Massachusetts

    East Cambridge is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Referred to as Area 1, East Cambridge is bounded by the Charles River on the East, the Somerville, Massachusetts border on the North, Broadway and Main Street on the South, and the railroad tracks on the West....
     (Area 1) is bordered on the north by the Somerville
    Somerville, Massachusetts

    Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
     border, on the east by the Charles River, on the south by Broadway and Main Street, and on the west by the Grand Junction Railroad
    Grand Junction Railroad

    The Grand Junction Railroad was an 8.55-mile long railroad in the Boston, Massachusetts area, connecting the railroads heading west and north from Boston....
     tracks.
  • MIT
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States....
     Campus (Area 2
    MIT Campus (Area 2), Cambridge

    The area around the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, makes up Area 2 of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Area 2 is bounded by Main Street and Broadway on the north, the railroad tracks on the west, and the Charles River on the south and east....
    ) is bordered on the north by Broadway, on the south and east by the Charles River, and on the west by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks.
  • Wellington-Harrington
    Wellington-Harrington

    Wellington-Harrington is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, bounded by Hampshire Street on the southwest, the railroad tracks on the east, and the Somerville, Massachusetts town line on the north....
     (Area 3) is bordered on the north by the Somerville
    Somerville, Massachusetts

    Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
     border, on the south and west by Hampshire Street, and on the east by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks.
  • Area 4
    Area 4, Cambridge

    Area 4 is one of the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts, roughly between Central Square , Inman Square, and MIT. It is bounded on the south by Massachusetts Avenue and Main Street, on the west by Prospect Street, on the north by Hampshire Street, and on the east by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks....
     is bordered on the north by Hampshire Street, on the south by Massachusetts Avenue, on the west by Prospect Street, and on the east by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks. Residents of Area 4 often refer to their neighborhood simply as "The Port", and refer to the area of Cambridgeport and Riverside as "The Coast".
  • Cambridgeport
    Cambridgeport

    Cambridgeport is one of the neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, the Charles River, the Grand Junction Railroad, and River Street....
     (Area 5) is bordered on the north by Massachusetts Avenue, on the south by the Charles River, on the west by River Street, and on the east by the Grand Junction Railroad tracks.
  • Mid-Cambridge
    Mid-Cambridge

    Mid-Cambridge is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by Massachusetts Avenue on the south and west, Prospect Street on the east, and Hampshire Street, the Somerville, Massachusetts border, Kirkland Street, Quincy Street, and Cambridge Street on the north....
     (Area 6) is bordered on the north by Kirkland and Hampshire Streets and the Somerville
    Somerville, Massachusetts

    Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
     border, on the south by Massachusetts Avenue, on the west by Peabody Street, and on the east by Prospect Street.
  • Riverside
    Riverside, Cambridge

    Riverside is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts bounded by Massachusetts Avenue on the north, River Street on the east, the Charles River on the south, and JFK Street on the west....
     (Area 7), an area sometimes referred to as "The Coast", is bordered on the north by Massachusetts Avenue, on the south by the Charles River, on the west by JFK Street, and on the east by River Street.
  • Agassiz (Harvard North) (Area 8) is bordered on the north by the Somerville
    Somerville, Massachusetts

    Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
     border, on the south and east by Kirkland Street, and on the west by Massachusetts Avenue.
  • Peabody
    Peabody, Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Peabody is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by Concord Avenue and Garden Street on the south, Massachusetts Avenue on the east, and the railroad tracks on the north and west....
     (Area 9) is bordered on the north by railroad tracks, on the south by Concord Avenue, on the west by railroad tracks, and on the east by Massachusetts Avenue. The Avon Hill sub-neighborhood consists of the higher elevations bounded by Upland Road, Raymond Street, Linnaean Street and Massachusetts Avenue.
  • Brattle area/West Cambridge
    West Cambridge (neighborhood)

    West Cambridge is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by the Charles River on the south, JFK Street on the east, Concord Avenue on the north, and Fresh Pond, Aberdeen Avenue, and the Watertown, Massachusetts line on the west....
     (Area 10) is bordered on the north by Concord Avenue and Garden Street, on the south by the Charles River and the Watertown
    Watertown, Massachusetts

    The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,986 at the 2000 census....
     border, on the west by Fresh Pond and the Collins Branch Library, and on the east by JFK Street. It includes the sub-neighborhoods of Brattle Street and Huron Village.
  • North Cambridge
    North Cambridge, Massachusetts

    North Cambridge is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts bounded by Porter Square and the railroad tracks on the south, the city of Somerville, Massachusetts on the northeast, the town of Arlington, Massachusetts on the northwest, and the town of Belmont, Massachusetts on the west....
     (Area 11) is bordered on the north by the Arlington
    Arlington, Massachusetts

    Arlington is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston, Massachusetts....
     border and partially the Somerville
    Somerville, Massachusetts

    Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
     border, on the south by railroad tracks, on the west by the Belmont
    Belmont, Massachusetts

    Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The population was 24,194 at the 2000 census....
     border, and on the east by the Somerville
    Somerville, Massachusetts

    Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, just north of Boston. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 77,478 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England....
     border.
  • Cambridge Highlands
    Cambridge Highlands

    Cambridge Highlands is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts bounded by the railroad tracks on the north and east, the Belmont, Massachusetts town line on the west, and Fresh Pond on the south....
     (Area 12) is bordered on the north and east by railroad tracks, on the south by Fresh Pond, and on the west by the Belmont
    Belmont, Massachusetts

    Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The population was 24,194 at the 2000 census....
     border.
  • Strawberry Hill
    Strawberry Hill, Cambridge

    Strawberry Hill is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is bounded by the town of Belmont, Massachusetts on the west, Watertown, Massachusetts on the south, Aberdeen Avenue on the east, and Fresh Pond on the north....
    , also known as West Cambridge (Area 13), is bordered on the north by Fresh Pond, on the south by the Watertown
    Watertown, Massachusetts

    The Town of Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 32,986 at the 2000 census....
     border, on the west by the Belmont
    Belmont, Massachusetts

    Belmont is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. The population was 24,194 at the 2000 census....
     border, and on the east by railroad tracks.


At the western edge of Cambridge, Mount Auburn Cemetery
Mount Auburn Cemetery

Founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", Mount Auburn Cemetery is an Elysium where, traditionally, chaste classical monuments were set in rolling landscaped terrain....
 is well known as the first garden cemetery, for its distinguished inhabitants, for its superb landscaping (the oldest planned landscape in the country), and as a first-rate arboretum
Arboretum

An arboretum is a collection of trees. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study....
.

Government

Cambridgemacityhall2
Cambridge has a 9-member City Council, and a 6-member School Committee. The councilors and school committee members are elected every two years using the single transferable vote
Single transferable vote

The Single transferable vote is a voting system of preferential voting designed to minimize wasted votes and provide proportional representation while ensuring that votes are explicitly expressed for individual candidates rather than for party lists....
 (STV) system. Since the disbanding of the New York City Community School Boards in 2002, Cambridge's Council is now unusual in being the only governing body in the United States to still use STV. Once a laborious process that took several days to complete by hand, ballot sorting and calculations to determine the outcome of elections are now quickly performed by computer, after the ballots have been optically scanned
Optical scan voting system

An optical scan voting system is an Electronic voting and uses an Optical reader to read marked paper ballots and tally the results....
.

The mayor is elected by the city councilors from amongst themselves, and serves as the chair of City Council meetings. The mayor also sits on the School Committee. However, the Mayor is not the Chief Executive of the City. Rather, the City Manager, who is appointed by the City Council, serves in that capacity.

Under the City's form of government, called Plan E, "interference with [the] City manager by [the] council [is] forbidden." The penalty is "a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or ... imprisonment of not more than six months, or both, and upon final conviction thereof his office in the city council shall thereby be vacated and he shall never again be eligible for any office or position, elective or otherwise, in the service of the city." CambridgeNeedsReform.org believes that residents have no representation in the management of their own city.

Currently, Robert W. Healy
Robert W. Healy

Robert W. Healy is the city manager of Cambridge, Massachusetts and currently the longest-serving serving city manager in the history of the city of Cambridge since a change in law went into effect with the 1941 election....
 is the City Manager; he has served in the position since 1981. The mayor is E. Denise Simmons
E. Denise Simmons

E. Denise Simmons is the current mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is the first openly lesbian African-American mayor in the United States....
. The city council consists of:

Fire Department


Chief of the Cambridge Fire Department is Gerald R. Reardon; day to day operation of the department is the responsibility of its Chief of Operations, John J. Gelinas. The Cambridge Fire Department is rated as a Class 1 fire department by the Insurance Services Office
Insurance Services Office

Insurance Services Office, Inc. is a provider of data, underwriting, risk management and legal/regulatory services to property insurance-casualty insurance insurance and other clients....
 (ISO), and is one of only 32 fire departments so rated, out of a total of 37,000 departments in the United States. The other Class 1 departments in New England are in Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut

Hartford is the Capital of the Connecticut. It is located in Hartford County, Connecticut on the Connecticut River, north of the center of the state, south of Springfield, Massachusetts....
 and Milford, Connecticut
Milford, Connecticut

Milford is a city in southwestern New Haven County, Connecticut, Connecticut, United States; that is located between Bridgeport, Connecticut and New Haven, Connecticut....
. Class 1 signifies the highest level of fire protection according to various criteria.

The Cambridge Fire Department is a professional fire department that protects the City of Cambridge 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It operates out of eight city-wide firehouses in two divisions (downtown and uptown), and has a frontline fire apparatus fleet of 11 engine companies (two of which are reserve engines), five ladder companies (one of which is a reserve ladder), a tactical rescue unit, a "hazmat
Hazmat

Hazmat and similar can mean:* Hazardous materials and items: see Dangerous goods* A hazmat suit is a type of protective clothing* Hazmat is a Marvel Comics/Electronic Arts character....
" unit, a dive rescue unit, two marine units, and two non-transporting paramedic ambulances.

County government

Cambridge is a county seat
County seat

A county seat or parish seat is a term for an administrative center for a county or civil parish, primarily used in the United States. In the Northeast United States, the statutory term often is shire town, but colloquially county seat is the term in use there....
 of Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Middlesex County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is the most populous county in Massachusetts. As of the United States Census, 2000, the population was 1,465,396....
, along with Lowell
Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 105,167....
. Though the county government was abolished in 1997, the county still exists as a geographical and political region. The employees of Middlesex County courts, jails, registries, and other county agencies now work directly for the state

Education


Higher education

Charles River Cambridge Usa
*Cambridge College
Cambridge College

Cambridge College is a Private university college based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, specializing in adult education. It was first founded in 1971 by John Bremer as the "Institute of Open Education" at Newton College of the Sacred Heart....
  • Cambridge School of Culinary Arts
    Cambridge School of Culinary Arts

    The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts is a vocational university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers several certificate and professional programs, including a culinary studies and pastry specialization....
  • Episcopal Divinity School
    Episcopal Divinity School

    Episcopal Divinity School is an Episcopal Church in the United States of America seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1974 by the union of the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge with the Philadelphia Divinity School....
  • Harvard University
    Harvard University

    Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the Colonial Colleges institution of higher learning in the United States....
  • Hult International Business School
    Hult International Business School

    Hult International Business School has been educating global business leaders since 1964. The School is a fullyeducational accreditation member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges ...
  • Lesley University
    Lesley University

    Lesley University is a private university with campuses in Boston, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts....
  • Longy School of Music
    Longy School of Music

    The Longy School of Music is a College or university school of music located near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is one of the four independent degree-granting music schools in the Boston region along with the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and Boston Conservatory....
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States....
  • Weston Jesuit School of Theology
    Weston Jesuit School of Theology

    The Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in Brighton, Massachusetts is a graduate divinity school of Boston College and an Pontifical university of theology that trains men and women, both lay and religious, for service, especially for the Roman Catholic Church....


At least 129 of the world's total 780 Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize , established in the 1895 will of Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel; it was first awarded in Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Nobel Prize in Literature, and Nobel Peace Prize in 1901....
 winners have been, at some point in their careers, affiliated with universities in Cambridge.

Schools

The public school system of the Cambridge Public School District encompasses twelve elementary school
Elementary school

An elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as Primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in many countries, especially in North America....
s, all but one of which extend up to the junior high school grades as well; the elementary schools follow a variety of different educational systems and philosophies, including one charter school Benjamin Banneker Charter School, one Montessori school and one Core Knowledge
Core Knowledge

Core Knowledge refers to a current textbook series originally written by a collective of former top Year 12 South Australian students of the same name for South Australian Certificate of Education students....
 school. The one high school of the Cambridge school system is the Cambridge Rindge and Latin school.

Prospect Hill Academy, a charter school
Charter school

Charter schools are elementary or secondary schools in the United States that receive public money but have been freed from some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter....
 whose upper school is in Central Square
Central Square

Central Square may refer to:*Central Square , Massachusetts*Central Square, East Boston, Massachusetts*Central Square, New York, a village in New York...
, is also a public school, though not a part of the Cambridge Public School District.

There are many private schools in the city, serving a variety of needs of both parents and students, including:
  • Boston Archdiocesan Choir School
    Boston Archdiocesan Choir School

    The Boston Archdiocesan Choir School is a fully-accredited List of choir schools for boys in grades 5-8 and is affiliated with St. Paul Church, Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
     (BACS)
  • Buckingham Browne & Nichols
    Buckingham Browne & Nichols

    Buckingham Browne and Nichols School, often referred to as BB&N, is a private school located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, by the Charles River....
     (BB&N)
  • Cambridge Montessori School
  • Cambridge Friends
    Religious Society of Friends

    The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers, was founded in England in the 17th century as a Christian denomination by people who were dissatisfied with the existing denominations and sects of Christianity....
     School. Thomas Waring served as the founding headmaster of the school.
  • (FSS)
  • German International School Boston
    German International School Boston

    The German International School Boston, often referred to as GISBOS, was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts.GISBOS is a private school, which educates students from pre-kindergarten to 8th grade....
     (GISBOS)
  • International School of Boston
    International School of Boston

    The International School of Boston is a bilingual co-educational Pre-K-12 private school in Cambridge, MA. The Maternelle Campus is located in the adjacent town of Arlington, MA....
     (ISB, formerly École Bilingue)
  • Matignon High School
    Matignon High School

    Matignon High School is a coeducation Catholicism school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, USA. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston....
  • North Cambridge Catholic High School
  • St. Peter School


Cambridge is also home to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy

The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is a think tank based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that focuses on the land use, taxation, and regulation of land....
.

Economy

Although manufacturing was an important part of the late 19th and early 20th-century Cambridge economy, today long-established educational institutions are its biggest employers; Harvard employs over 10,000 people and MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private university research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States....
 over 9,500. As a famous cradle of technological innovation, Cambridge is also home to legendary technology firms, including Analog Devices
Analog Devices

Analog Devices is an United States Multinational corporation producer of semiconductor devices. Analog specializes in analog-to-digital converter, digital-to-analog converter, MEMS, and digital signal processing chips for consumer and industrial goods....
, VMware
VMware

VMware, Inc. is a software developer of virtualization software. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Palo Alto, California. The Company is majority owned by EMC Corporation ....
, Akamai
Akamai Technologies

Akamai Technologies, Inc. , , is a company that provides a distributed computing platform for global Internet Content Delivery Network, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
, BBN
BBN

BBN might refer to:* Business Branding Network, an international network of marketing and communications agencies* BBN Technologies, formerly Bolt, Beranek and Newman, a technology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, best known for its work on packet switching technology and its construction of the Interface Message Processor - the first r...
, Lotus Development Corporation (now part of IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
), Polaroid
Polaroid Corporation

Polaroid Corporation was founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land. It is most famous for its instant film cameras, which reached the market in 1948, and continued to be the company's flagship product line until the February 2008 decision to cease all production in favor of digital photography products....
, Thinking Machines
Thinking Machines

Thinking Machines Corporation was a supercomputer manufacturer founded in Waltham, Massachusetts in 1982 by W. Daniel Hillis and Sheryl Handler to turn Hillis's doctoral work at MIT on parallel computing architectures into a commercial product called the Connection Machine....
, and Google
Google

Google Inc. is an United States public company, earning revenue from AdWords related to its Google search, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Apps, Orkut, and YouTube services as well as selling advertising-free versions of the Google Search Appliance....
.

Over the years, as companies have grown, prospered, and then either moved away or gone out of business (see this of employers for more information), Cambridge's large-scale employment has shifted tremendously. In 1996, Polaroid
Polaroid Corporation

Polaroid Corporation was founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land. It is most famous for its instant film cameras, which reached the market in 1948, and continued to be the company's flagship product line until the February 2008 decision to cease all production in favor of digital photography products....
, Arthur D. Little
Arthur D. Little

Arthur D. Little is an international management consulting firm, founded in 1886 by Arthur Dehon Little, an Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemist who discovered acetate, and co-worker Roger Griffin, in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
, and Lotus were all top employers with over 1,000 people in Cambridge, and all declined or disappeared a few years later. As of 2005, alongside Harvard and MIT, health care and biotechnology dominate the Cambridge economy, with Genzyme
Genzyme

Genzyme Corporation is a biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Genzyme is the world?s third largest biotechnology company employing over 9,000 people around the world....
, Biogen Idec
Biogen Idec

Biogen Idec, Inc. is a biotechnology company specializing in drugs for neurology, autoimmune disorders and cancer. The company was formed in 2003 by the merger of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen and San Diego, California-based Idec Pharmaceuticals ....
, and Novartis
Novartis

Novartis International AG is a multinational corporation pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland that manufactures drugs such as clozapine , diclofenac , carbamazepine , valsartan , imatinib mesylate , ciclosporin , letrozole , methylphenidate , terbinafine , and others....
 the biggest players. Biotech's geographical locus is Kendall Square and East Cambridge
East Cambridge, Massachusetts

East Cambridge is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Referred to as Area 1, East Cambridge is bounded by the Charles River on the East, the Somerville, Massachusetts border on the North, Broadway and Main Street on the South, and the railroad tracks on the West....
, the center of much of the city's manufacturing a century before. A number of biotechnology companies are also located in University Park at MIT
University Park at MIT

University Park at MIT is a mixed-use urban renewal project in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, occupying land near Central Square between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus and the primarily residential neighborhood of Cambridgeport....
, a new development in another former manufacturing area. None of the computer-industry firms that once dominated the Cambridge economy are top-20 employers as of 2005. However, many smaller start-ups and entrepreneurial companies remain an important part of the Cambridge employment scene.

Transportation


Road

Several major roads lead to Cambridge, including Route 2, Route 16 and the McGrath Highway (Route 28). The Massachusetts Turnpike
Massachusetts Turnpike

The Massachusetts Turnpike is the easternmost 138-mile stretch of Interstate 90. The Turnpike begins at the western border of Massachusetts in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts connecting with the New York State Thruway#Berkshire Connector portion of the New York State Thruway....
 does not pass through Cambridge, but provides access by an exit in nearby Allston. Both U.S. Route 1
U.S. Route 1

U.S. Route 1 is a major north-south U.S. Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs over 2000 miles from Key West, Florida north to Fort Kent, Maine at the Canadian border ....
 and I-93 (MA) also provide additional access on the eastern end of Cambridge at Leverett Circle in Boston. Route 2A runs the length of the city, chiefly along Massachusetts Avenue. The Charles River forms the southern border of Cambridge and is crossed by eleven bridges connecting Cambridge to Boston, eight of which are open to motorized road traffic.

Cambridge has an irregular street network because many of the roads date from the colonial era. Contrary to popular belief, the road system did not evolve from longstanding cow-paths. Roads connected various village settlements with each other and nearby towns, and were shaped by geographic features, most notably streams, hills, and swampy areas. Today, the major "squares" are typically connected by long, mostly straight roads, such as Massachusetts Avenue between Harvard Square
Harvard Square

Harvard Square is a large triangular area in the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue , Brattle Street, and John F....
 and Central Square
Central Square (Cambridge)

Central Square is an area in Cambridge, Massachusetts centered around the junction of Massachusetts Avenue , Prospect Street and Western Avenue....
, or Hampshire Street between Kendall Square
Kendall Square

Kendall Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the "square" itself at the intersection of Main Street, Broadway, Wadsworth Street, and Third Street....
 and Inman Square
Inman Square

Inman Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It lies north of Central Square , at the junction of Cambridge, Hampshire, and Inman Streets near the Cambridge–Somerville, Massachusetts border....
.

Mass transit

Cambridge has the Porter stop
Porter (MBTA station)

Porter is a train station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is located at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue . It also serves portions of Somerville, Massachusetts....
 on the regional Commuter Rail
MBTA Commuter Rail

The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company Co. serves as the regional rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, in the United States....
, the Lechmere stop
Lechmere (MBTA station)

Lechmere is the northern terminus of the MBTA Green Line . It is located in Lechmere Square in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, near the intersection of Cambridge Street and Monsignor O'Brien Highway ....
 on the Green Line
Green Line (MBTA)

The Green Line is a light rail/streetcar system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in the Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts area of the United States....
, and five stops on the Red Line
Red Line (MBTA)

The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities....
. Alewife Station, the current terminus of the Red Line, has a large multi-story parking garage (at a rate of $7 per day as of 2009). The Harvard Bus Tunnel, under the Square, reduces traffic congestion on the surface, and connects to the Red Line underground. This tunnel was originally opened for streetcars in 1912, and served trackless trolleys and buses as the routes were converted. The tunnel was partially reconfigured when the Red Line was extended to Alewife in the early 1980s.

Cycling

Cambridge has several bike paths, including one along the Charles River, the Minuteman Bikeway
Minuteman Bikeway

The Minuteman Bikeway is a 10 mile paved multi-use rail trail located in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts....
 and the Linear Park
Cambridge Linear Park

The Linear Park is a mixed-use path, about one mile long, running through Cambridge and Somerville , and connecting the Minuteman Bikeway and the Fitchburg Cutoff Path near Alewife with the Somerville Community Path at Davis Square....
 connecting Alewife and the Somerville Community Path
Somerville Community Path

The Somerville Community Path is a project to build a mixed-use path in Somerville, Massachusetts, from the Cambridge border near Davis Square to the Cambridge border near Lechmere Square....
. Bike parking is common and there are bike lanes on many streets, although concerns have been expressed regarding the suitability of many of the lanes. From time to time, police target their traffic enforcement efforts towards bicyclists who do not follow the Rules of the Road for vehicles, especially going through red lights, failure to stop for pedestrians at unsignalized crosswalks, riding on the wrong side of the street or the wrong way on a one-way street, and riding without a headlight at night. In addition, Cambridge bans cycling on certain sections of sidewalk where pedestrian traffic is heavy.

While Bicycling Magazine has rated Boston as one of the worst cities in the nation for bicycling (In their words, for "lousy roads, scarce and unconnected bike lanes and bike-friendly gestures from City Hall that go nowhere – such as hiring a bike coordinator in 2001, only to cut the position two years later"), it has listed Cambridge as an honorable mention as one of the best and was called by the magazine "Boston's Great Hope." Cambridge has an active, official bicycle committee.

Walking

Walking is unusually popular in Cambridge. Census data from 2000 show that, of American communities in excess of 100,000 residents, Cambridge has the highest percentage of commuters who walk to work. Cambridge's major historic squares have been recently adapted into a modern walking landscape, which has sparked a traffic calming program based on pedestrian rather than motorist needs.

Intercity

Intercity transport is found in Boston, which is adjacent to Cambridge. Intercity buses and Amtrak
Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971 to provide Inter-city rail train#Passenger trains service in the United States....
 stop at South Station in Boston, while Logan International Airport
Logan International Airport

General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport in the East Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, United States , is one of the 20 busiest airports in the United States, with over 26 million passengers a year....
 is located in East Boston
East Boston, Massachusetts

East Boston was annexed by the Boston, Massachusetts in 1836 and is separated from the rest of the city by Port of Boston and bordered by Winthrop, Massachusetts, Revere, Massachusetts, and the Chelsea Creek....
 across Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor

Boston Harbor is a natural harbor located adjacent ot the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeast....
 from the downtown area. The MBTA also has numerous subway stations in Cambridge and nearby cities and towns that are shared with the regional commuter rail lines it operates.

Points of interest

Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Longfellow National Historic Site, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Buildings

  • City Hall
    Cambridge, Massachusetts City Hall

    The Cambridge, Massachusetts City Hall is the city hall for Cambridge, Massachusetts, located at 795 Massachusetts Avenue, and built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style....
  • Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts
    Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts

    The Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts is the only building actually built by Le Corbusier in the United States, and one of only two in the Americas ....
  • Cooper-Frost-Austin House
    Cooper-Frost-Austin House

    The Cooper-Frost-Austin House is a historic Colonial American house, currently estimated to have been constructed circa 1681-1682. It is located at 21 Linnaean Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts....
  • Elmwood House
  • Asa Gray House
    Asa Gray House

    The Asa Gray House is a historic house located at 88 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is a National Historic Landmark.The house was designed in 1810 by architect Ithiel Town in the Federal architecture for the first head of the Harvard Botanic Garden, and has been the residence of ornithologist Thomas Nuttall and botanist Asa Gra...
  • Hooper-Lee-Nichols House
    Hooper-Lee-Nichols House

    The Hooper-Lee-Nichols House is a historic Colonial American house, initially constructed 1685, but enlarged and remodeled many times. It is located at 159 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and is the second-oldest house in Cambridge ....
  • Longfellow National Historic Site
    Longfellow National Historic Site

    The Longfellow National Historic Site, also known as the Vassall-Craigie-Longfellow House, is a historic site located at 105 Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
  • Middlesex County Courthouse
    Middlesex County Courthouse

    The Middlesex County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, now on the National Register of Historic Places....
  • O'Reilly Spite House
    Spite house

    A spite house is a building which was constructed or modified because the builder felt wronged by someone who did not want it there. Typically built to annoy someone, in most cases a neighbor, these buildings serve primarily as obstructions, blocking out light or access to neighboring buildings, or as flamboyant symbols of defiance....
    . In 1908, Francis O'Reilly owned an investment parcel of land in West Cambridge and approached his abutting land neighbor to sell the land for a gain. After the neighbor refused to buy the land, O'Reilly built a building, measuring thirty-seven feet long and only eight feet wide, to spite the neighbor. The O'Reilly Spite House still is standing and is occupied by The Real Estate Cafe.


Museums


Harvard museums
  • Harvard Art Museum, including the Busch-Reisinger Museum
    Busch-Reisinger Museum

    The Busch-Reisinger Museum is one of the Harvard Art Museums located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and is dedicated to the art of Northern and Central Europe, focusing on German-speaking cultures....
    , the Fogg Art Museum
    Fogg Art Museum

    The Fogg Art Museum is the oldest of Harvard University's art museums. It covers the history of western art from the Middle Ages to the present....
    , and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum
    Arthur M. Sackler Museum

    The Arthur M. Sackler Museum is one of the Harvard University Art Museums. Located on Broadway in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it holds collections in Classical, Islamic, Asian art; including a notable collection of archaic Chinese jades and Japanese surimono....
  • Harvard Museum of Natural History
    Harvard Museum of Natural History

    The Harvard Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum on the grounds of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.It has three parts:...
    , including the Glass Flowers
    Glass Flowers

    The Glass Flowers, formally The Ware Collection of Blaschka Glass Models of Plants, is a famous collection of highly-realistic glass botany at the Harvard Museum of Natural History at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts....
     collection
  • Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology
    Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology

    The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.Founded in 1866, it is one of the oldest and most renowned museums focusing on anthropological material, and is particularly strong in New World and Mesoamerican ethnography and archaeology....


MIT museums
  • MIT Museum
    MIT Museum

    MIT Museum, founded in 1971, is the museum of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It hosts collections of holography, artificial intelligence, robotics and history of MIT....
  • List Visual Arts Center
    List Visual Arts Center

    List Visual Arts Center, established in 1985, is the contemporary art gallery of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The LVAC is internationally recognized for the 4-6 exhibitions it presents each year in its galleries....


Nature and outdoors

  • Alewife Brook Reservation
    Alewife Brook Reservation

    Alewife Brook Reservation is a Massachusetts state park located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Arlington, Massachusetts, and Somerville, Massachusetts....
  • Charles River
    Charles River

    The Charles River is a river in Massachusetts, United States. It travels through 22 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts, from Hopkinton, Massachusetts to Boston, Massachusetts on the Atlantic Ocean....
  • Cambridge Common
    Cambridge Common

    Cambridge Common is a public park in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is located near Harvard Square and borders on several parts of Harvard University....
  • Fresh Pond
    Fresh Pond, Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Fresh Pond is a reservoir and park in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at . Prior to the Pond's use exclusively as a reservoir, its ice had been harvested by Boston's "Ice King", Frederic Tudor, and others, for shipment to North American cities and to tropical areas around the world....
  • Harvard Bridge
    Harvard Bridge

    The Harvard Bridge carries Massachusetts Avenue from Back Bay, Boston, Boston, Massachusetts to Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is the longest bridge over the Charles River....
  • Longfellow Bridge
    Longfellow Bridge

    The Longfellow Bridge, also known to locals as the "Salt and Pepper Bridge" or the "Salt and Pepper Shaker Bridge" due to the shape of its central towers, carries Massachusetts Route 3 and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Red Line across the Charles River to connect Boston's Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts neighborhood wit...
  • Mount Auburn Cemetery
    Mount Auburn Cemetery

    Founded in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery", or the first "rural cemetery", Mount Auburn Cemetery is an Elysium where, traditionally, chaste classical monuments were set in rolling landscaped terrain....


Churches

  • Christ Church, Cambridge
    Christ Church, Cambridge

    For other churches with this name, please see Christ Church Christ Church, at Zero Garden Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A., is a parish of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, and is a National Historic Landmark....
  • Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church
    Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church

    The Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church is a church located beside Harvard Law School near the Cambridge, Massachusetts common. Its congregation was organized in March 1941 by the merger of Harvard Street Methodist Church and Epworth Methodist Church....
  • Plymouth Brethren
    Plymouth Brethren

    The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelicalism Christian restorationist New religious movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s....
     meet at on Norfolk Street.


Other

  • Café Pamplona
    Café Pamplona

    Caf? Pamplona, located at 12 Bow St. beside the intersection of Bow and Arrow Streets near Harvard Square, is an unusual and renowned caf?. When it opened in 1959 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Massachusetts, it was the first caf? in the Square....
  • Club Passim
    Club Passim

    Club Passim is a folk music club in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was opened by Joyce Kalina and Paula Kelley in 1958, when it was known as Club 47 , and changed its name to simply Passim in 1969....
  • Harvard Book Store
    Harvard Book Store

    Harvard Book Store is an independent and locally owned seller of used, new, and bargain books in Cambridge, Massachusetts's Harvard Square. Family-owned for over seventy-five years, the store was sold in the fall of 2008 to Jeffrey Mayersohn of Wellesley, Massachusetts, and remains an independent business....
  • The Garment District
    The Garment District

    The Garment District is a vintage clothing store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is well known for its affiliated Dollar-A-Pound clothing store.The Garment District started out as an offshoot of Harbor Textiles, a textile company which produced wiping cloths for industry, that began in the late 1940s....
    , a vintage clothing store that sells clothes for $1.50 a pound
  • Schoenhof's Foreign Books
    Schoenhof's Foreign Books

    Schoenhof's Foreign Books is a specialty bookstore in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Harvard Square. Founded in 1856, Schoenhof's claims to be the oldest foreign language book dealer in the United States and to offer the largest selection foreign language books in North America....


Sister cities

  • Cambridge
    Cambridge

    The city status in the United Kingdom of Cambridge is a College town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about 50 miles north of London....
    , England
    England

    native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
    , UK
  • Coimbra
    Coimbra

    Coimbra is a city and municipalities of Portugal in Portugal. It served as the country's capital during the First Dynasty and remains home to the University of Coimbra, the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world and List of oldest universities in continuous operation....
    , Portugal
  • Cienfuegos
    Cienfuegos

    Cienfuegos is a city on the southern coast of Cuba, Capital of the provinces of Cuba of Cienfuegos Province. It is located about 250 km from Havana, and has a population of 150,000....
    , Cuba
  • Gaeta
    Gaeta

    Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
    , Italy
  • Galway
    Galway

    Galway is the fourth largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the only city in the province of Connacht in Republic of Ireland. The city is located on the west coast of Ireland....
    , Ireland
  • Yerevan
    Yerevan

    Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia. It is situated on the Hrazdan River, and is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country....
    , Armenia
  • San José Las Flores, El Salvador
  • Tsukuba Science City
    Tsukuba, Ibaraki

    is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It is known as the location of the , a planned city developed in the 1960s.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 207,394 and a population density of 730 persons per square kilometer....
    , Japan
  • Kraków
    Kraków

    Krak?w , in English also spelled Krakow or Cracow , is one of the largest and oldest cities in Poland, with a population of 756,336 in 2007 ....
    , Poland
    Poland

    Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....


Zip codes

  • 02138 -- Harvard Square/West Cambridge
  • 02139 -- Central Square/Inman Square/MIT
  • 02140 -- Porter Square/North Cambridge
  • 02141 -- East Cambridge
  • 02142 -- Kendall Square


Footnotes


General references

  • History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, , compiled by Samuel Adams Drake, published 1879-1880.
    • by Rev. Edward Abbott in volume 1, pages 305-358.
  • Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Mid Cambridge, 1967, Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge, Mass. [ISBN needed]
  • Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Cambridgeport, 1971 ISBN 0-262-53013-9, Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge, Mass.
  • Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Old Cambridge, 1973 ISBN 0-262-53014-7, Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge, Mass.
  • Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Northwest Cambridge, 1977 ISBN 0-262-53032-5, Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge, Mass.
  • Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: East Cambridge, 1988 (revised) ISBN 0-262-53078-3, Cambridge Historical Commission, Cambridge, Mass.
  • Jill Sinclair, Cambridge, Mass: The MIT Press, 2009.


External links

  • *

Maps

  • by Wall & Gray.
  • Dutton, E.P. Published 1867. A good map of roads and rail lines around Cambridge.