Burhan Azeem
He/Him
- Currently
- City Councillor
- Election history
- 1st term on council
He/Him
Burhan Azeem's family immigrated to the United States from Pakistan when he was a kid. They moved several times, and he's spoken about how, as a brown Muslim immigrant living in the USA after 9-11, Cambridge was the first place he felt welcome.
He holds a Bachelor of Science from MIT and speaks three languages. He has studied sustainability and is passionate about mitigating climate change and its impacts. Professionally, before being elected to the council, he was an engineer.
In addition to canvassing, he has helped residents register to vote and has also been a volunteer EMT. A renter, he served on the board of A Better Cambridge, and founded a housing nonprofit called Abundant Housing Massachusetts.
Burhan's housing stance can broadly be described as "yes". In his first term, he was a strong supporter of expanding the Affordable Housing Overlay, loosening the restrictions places on non-profit built, subsidized, income-restricted housing developers. He also supported removing required parking mandates, maintaining that they drive up the cost of housing.
He's also spoken and written about ending market-rate apartment bans, ensuring tenant right-to-council, increasing funding for the city's Office of Housing Liaison, and rent stabilization.
Housing policy is climate policy.
To productively address our housing crisis we need to address supply, subsidy, and stability. This means that we need to build more housing, provide more resources to help people afford housing, and strengthen protections for residents.
I started working on just legalizing triple deckers this term and it was really hard. I'm hoping that we can do it next term but 4-5 story buildings are going to be tough. I'd 100% support it but my colleagues are not there yet.
| Organization | Cambridge? | Union? | View |
|---|---|---|---|
| A Better Cambridge | on Sept. 15, 2023 | ||
| Cambridge Bicycle Safety | on Sept. 23, 2023 | ||
| Massachusetts Sierra Club | this cycle | ||
| Greater Boston Labor Council | this cycle | ||
| UAW Region 9A (includes Harvard Grad Student Union) | this cycle |
They asked candidates to sign a pledge, which starts: "I support rapid implementation of the citywide network of protected bicycle lanes..."
They asked candidates to sign a pledge, which starts: "I support rapid implementation of the citywide network of protected bicycle lanes..."
Housing policy, development, governance questions
Housing policy, development, governance questions
Distribution of funds, non-profits and their position in Cambridge
Distribution of funds, non-profits and their position in Cambridge
Public internet forum, anything goes
Public internet forum, anything goes
Public internet forum, anything goes
Public internet forum, anything goes
It is because of pure luck and generosity that I am here – and I will never forget that. I have worked for my community every way I can.
There’s a well-documented problem of public meetings and boards being unrepresentative–BU professors Katherine Einstein, Maxwell Palmer, and David Glick have conducted extensive research on this across Massachusetts municipalities.
In Azeem’s first month on the job, he moved to revive a policy order ending all minimum parking requirements for housing developments — ultimately leading to its passage in October 2022. Now, housing developments are no longer mandated to include a certain number of parking spaces, which Azeem says paved the way for more housing and decreased rents.
Oct. 25, 2023 — Samuel P. GoldstonIn Azeem’s first month on the job, he moved to revive a policy order ending all minimum parking requirements for housing developments — ultimately leading to its passage in October 2022. Now, housing developments are no longer mandated to include a certain number of parking spaces, which Azeem says paved the way for more housing and decreased rents.
“This is a moral issue,” said City Councilor Burhan Azeem, who proposed the amendments. “I understand that tall buildings are something that people are sensitive to, but this comes down to which should we care more about. How tall a building is? Or the people who don’t have stable housing?”
Oct. 15, 2023 — Andrew Brinker“This is a moral issue,” said City Councilor Burhan Azeem, who proposed the amendments. “I understand that tall buildings are something that people are sensitive to, but this comes down to which should we care more about. How tall a building is? Or the people who don’t have stable housing?”
"There’s also a huge difference in not only what we want to do, but how we plan to get there," [Burhan Azeem] said. "A lot of candidates care about climate change, but our plans to address climate change are really different, and I think that that has pretty big implications."
Oct. 27, 2021"There’s also a huge difference in not only what we want to do, but how we plan to get there," [Burhan Azeem] said. "A lot of candidates care about climate change, but our plans to address climate change are really different, and I think that that has pretty big implications."