A Powerful Start to PB11! - Idea Collection
| |
From August 26 through October 1, 2024, Cambridge community members submitted over 1,300 creative ideas to improve our city during the PB11 Idea Collection stage! Ideas included everything from infrastructure projects to funding new community programs. In the next stage, Proposal Development, volunteer PB Delegates work to transform these ideas into 20 proposals that will be put on a ballot for the city-wide PB vote in March 2025. | |
A pie chart showing the distribution of ideas across committees. | |
|
The 1,300+ of collected ideas were sorted into five committee categories for PB Delegates to review, research, and develop proposals by each idea's subject/theme.
The five committees and some examples of idea types in each are as follows:
-
Community Resources (e.g., General resources, community programs, public amenities, etc.)
-
Environment: (e.g., sustainability, waste management, public plantings, etc.)
-
Facilities, Parks, & Recreation: (e.g., city parks, playgrounds, recreational spaces, etc.)
-
Transportation, Streets, & Sidewalks: (e.g., transportation services, infrastructure, etc.)
-
Youth: (e.g., youth programming, resources etc.)
| |
|
PB Delegates Meet to Review and Research Ideas
Since closing Idea Collection in early October, PB11 has now transitioned into the Proposal Development stage of the cycle! Over 70+ people, representing every neighborhood in Cambridge, volunteered to serve as PB Delegates and are now meeting weekly by committee to develop proposals.
| |
At the recent PB Orientation in early October, PB Delegates learned the tools they’ll need along with city-provided resources to research how to develop submitted ideas into full project proposals. In weekly meetings over the next couple of months, PB delegates will work alongside one another and City staff to combine, refine, and compare these ideas with what the city is also already doing. They’ll prioritize ideas with an eye on addressing need, impact, and feasibility to put together a ballot for the PB vote in March 2025. | |
Volunteer PB Delegates at Delegate Orientation at the Main Library in early October 2024. | |
The PB11 Delegate Guide details the timeline and guidelines volunteer delegates will be following as they work to develop submitted ideas into ballot projects. Learn more about the Proposal Development process by reading the PB11 Delegate Guide and exploring the PB11 cycle page! | |
Meet a few of the PB11 volunteer PB Delegates! | |
"I’ve volunteered as a PB Delegate for the past two years and worked with different groups. In PB, you get information about what people want for the city, how the city works, and how to make proposals. It helps me connect to people in the community that I may have never connected with as well as learn about things that are going on. I’m also really glad PB is open to teenagers because it gives them a preliminary experience in how democracy works, a sense of pride in the place they’re in, and they get to contribute in an important way!”
| |
|
Danielle Jones McLaughlin (left), PB Delegate
(Transportation, Streets, and Sidewalks Committee) alongside Kate Thurman (right), Deputy Director, Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD) and Assistant ADA Coordinator, City of Cambridge.
| |
|
David Hawley, PB Delegate
(Transportation, Streets, and Sidewalks Committee)
| |
"I’ve only recently moved back [to Cambridge] after being away 34 years! When I came back from have lived in the Hague, Geneva, and Frankfurt where the infrastructure is so wonderful, I wanted to bring that understanding and possibility to Cambridge. There are many exciting things happening here from cycling infrastructure and pocket parks. Being in PB is like riding a wave. We want to continue giving it momentum with more protected bike lanes and a protected path throughout Cambridge. When pedestrians and cyclists are privileged in a city, the quality of life improves dramatically. I think Cambridge can be a model for the world!”
| |
What's Next: Speed Consulting! | |
|
In late October, PB Delegates will be engaging in "Speed Consulting"; in-person face-to-face meetings with staff from different City departments to ask questions about the PB ideas they are reviewing, and to better understand how they can be developed into project proposals for the ballot. The information gathered will help delegates refine the ideas, understand how these ideas fit into the broader work of the City, and help identify current unaddressed needs. More on this in our next issue!
Catch a glimpse of what PB Speed Consulting with a brief video from last year's PB10 cycle!
|
|
The newly finished CRLS Plaza with wonderful October 2024 foliage! | |
|
Check out the recently completed Cambridge Rindge and Latin Plaza Improvement project at the high school!
The PB7 "Rain Gardens for Resiliency" project was implemented at this site to add a large, beautiful rain garden to the broader CRLS project. Besides its beauty, this garden represents true environmental stewardship by reducing runoff as the garden collects rain water, minimizing the amount entering the City's storm water system.
Planted with native plants, thanks to funding from a PB6 project, it will provide food and shelter for pollinators, as well as a great place for students and community members to have an outdoor lunch!
This wonderful new improvement to the CRLS greenery was made possible with a combination of winning PB projects and other city funding. If you haven't already, stop by the new CRLS plaza to enjoy this newly renovated space!
| |
|
Cambridge is currently in its eleventh cycle of Participatory Budgeting! PB11 projects can only be implemented after July 1, 2025 because this year's cycle is setting aside funding for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26), which runs from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026!
The City is currently in Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) which runs from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.
Learn more about the City's budget beyond PB at cambridgema.gov/budget.
| |
| | | |
