Cambridge From the Couch: Civic Self-Esteem

The people of Cambridge possess a remarkable talent for seeing what’s wrong with our city. They also are quite adept at pointing out those problems. No doubt the issues are legitimate, but we’ve been so thoroughly trained to identify the negatives that we often overlook what’s going right in Cambridge.

Yes, we have crime, poverty, vacant buildings, school challenges, and slow economic growth. I won’t argue with that. Still, we also have a new waterfront promenade and a transformed Harriet Tubman Museum, as well as several new businesses opening. Eagleman is this weekend—promising an influx of cash around town—and Juneteenth celebrations are coming up.

Those may seem small in the grand scheme of things, and that’s likely why the bad stuff gets more attention. Progress is gradual, incremental, almost invisible at one moment, while problems are obvious and chronic. We focus on what isn’t happening rather than what is.

It’s understandable, of course. For decades, residents heard announcements about projects that never happened, or happened years later than promised. After enough false starts, skepticism becomes a community habit. When someone says, “They’re finally building something on the waterfront,” the instinctive response becomes, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

And Cambridge’s identity is still closely tied to what the city has lost. Just look on social media, and you’ll see local conversations continually circle back to what used to be here: the factories, the seafood industry at its peak, an abundance of retail business, signature events. There’s certainly value in remembering that history. But if every comparison is to Cambridge’s mid-20th-century peak, almost any present-day achievement can feel inadequate.

But think of it this way. If someone last visited Cambridge in 2000 and then came back today, they would see a hell of a lot of progress. Downtown is revitalized. The Hyatt draws visitors regularly. The old packing house has been transformed and is close to full. New housing developments are brightening streets. And the long-dreamed waterfront complex is nearer reality than ever before.

Each of these things is meaningful, but none individually feels transformational. As a result, residents may not notice how much the city has changed over a decade or two. If a new public space opens, tourism increases, or property values stabilize, those changes are less dramatic and often take years to appreciate.

Celebrating progress doesn’t require ignoring problems. In fact, communities that recognize their successes are often better positioned to tackle their challenges. The question isn’t whether Cambridge still has work to do, because it does. The question is whether we’re going to learn to congratulate ourselves and each other as that work gets done. No matter how slowly it happens.