Douglas "Doug" Brown
He/Him
- Currently
- Project Manager at interior design firm
- Election history
- 1st time running
He/Him
Doug Brown has lived in Cambridge for almost 25 years, and first bought a house here in 2002. Before being a project manager and stay-at-home-dad, he worked for 15 years at an automative/transportation insurance claims processing tech firm.
He is currently the clerk for History Cambridge, and has also been involved in the Fresh Pond Residents Alliance, the City’s Climate Resiliency Zoning Task Force, the Envision Cambridge Alewife Working Group, and is an organizer of the annual Standish Street Halloween Block Party. He's submitted several zoning changes to the city in the past decades; one in February was rejected by the council as "defective as a matter of law".
He wrote in the Cambridge Citizens Coalition survey that "the continuing polarization of local politics by certain Councilors and by factions such as ABC motivated me to run."
As long as I have lived in Cambridge, our City has had a housing affordability issue.
For renters who prefer continuing to rent, we need to solve our vacancy issue. 10% of all housing units are currently vacant, often due to real estate speculation and/or foreign investment, but also because owners can’t afford to fund necessary repairs. Some states are experimenting with controls on house flipping and on foreign ownership, while others are providing grants to fund repairs. We should pursue both options.
I don’t support the AHO, particularly along secondary corridors that have neither retail nor quality public transit. I also believe that the heights and dimensions permitted under the proposed AHO amendments are extreme and entirely inappropriate for existing neighborhoods.
I believe that more density is appropriate, but only it it can be done responsibly with proper protections for open space, reuse of historic structures, and truly equitable transit options.
This year I submitted a citizens’ petition (The Brown Petition) to incrementally modernize the current Zoning Ordinance. I believe that incremental changes are more responsible than the Council’s radical proposal.
Not to say we don’t want people in Cambridge, but at a certain point, what can a city actually do? Do we keep building until we look like New York City or Singapore? Or do we decide that there’s a limit?
| Organization | Cambridge? | Union? | View |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge Residents Alliance | on Sept. 30, 2023 | ||
| Cambridge Citizens Coalition | on Sept. 14, 2023 |
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
General. Note: only distributed in downloadable word or pdf documents.
General. Note: only distributed in downloadable word or pdf documents.
I support term limits for all elected and appointed officials, including the City Council, School Committee, and all boards and commissions.
As a parent of three young children who bike, I am a strong advocate for safer streets. I also support the broad vision laid out in the City’s Bicycle Network Plan. However, I also believe that the City’s process for bike lane implementation has been deeply flawed, and that the results are often confusing for both cyclists and drivers alike.
Brown did not respond to requests for an interview with The Crimson.
Nov. 4, 2023 — Jina H. ChoeBrown did not respond to requests for an interview with The Crimson.
“It’s a hammer approach to a problem that’s way more complicated than that,” said Doug Brown, an officer of the Fresh Pond Neighborhood Alliance, who is running for City Council. “We need to have deeper conversations than, ‘build more housing build more housing build more housing.’ Residents have genuine concerns over quality of life.”
Oct. 15, 2023 — Andrew Brinker“It’s a hammer approach to a problem that’s way more complicated than that,” said Doug Brown, an officer of the Fresh Pond Neighborhood Alliance, who is running for City Council. “We need to have deeper conversations than, ‘build more housing build more housing build more housing.’ Residents have genuine concerns over quality of life.”
[Left as a comment] This is not at all the type of story that I enjoy being quoted in. The City needs to do a much better job of engaging with neighborhoods. Despite beliefs to the contrary, it’s well demonstrated that community involvement makes for better project outcomes, while actively ignoring neighbors creates nothing but contempt and conspiracy theories. Whether a “miscommunication” or something more intentional, this is clearly unacceptable for a City that is of late attempting to re-engage with neighborhoods.
Dec. 14, 2021 — Marc Levy[Left as a comment] This is not at all the type of story that I enjoy being quoted in. The City needs to do a much better job of engaging with neighborhoods. Despite beliefs to the contrary, it’s well demonstrated that community involvement makes for better project outcomes, while actively ignoring neighbors creates nothing but contempt and conspiracy theories. Whether a “miscommunication” or something more intentional, this is clearly unacceptable for a City that is of late attempting to re-engage with neighborhoods.
So what does the future look like for Cambridge and its immigrants? The next big driver of migration will quite possibly be climate change, with climate refugees replacing economic and political ones as the next great wave.
Writing in Rolling Stone, Jeff Goodell reports that extreme weather connected to climate change displaced more than 1 million people from their homes in 2017. A recent study by Mathew Hauer of the University of Georgia estimates that 13 million Americans will be displaced by sea-level rise by 2100. Rather than struggle to adapt, it’s often easier just to leave. Unfortunately, the fact that 40 percent of Cambridge is built on filled wetland means that the city could potentially lose as many or more people to climate migration as it gains.
July 26, 2021 — Doug BrownSo what does the future look like for Cambridge and its immigrants? The next big driver of migration will quite possibly be climate change, with climate refugees replacing economic and political ones as the next great wave.
Writing in Rolling Stone, Jeff Goodell reports that extreme weather connected to climate change displaced more than 1 million people from their homes in 2017. A recent study by Mathew Hauer of the University of Georgia estimates that 13 million Americans will be displaced by sea-level rise by 2100. Rather than struggle to adapt, it’s often easier just to leave. Unfortunately, the fact that 40 percent of Cambridge is built on filled wetland means that the city could potentially lose as many or more people to climate migration as it gains.
“It was an interesting meeting. I don’t think I’ve ever had so many compliments and still not got a date to the prom,” Brown quipped.
Wednesday’s hearing heard testimony that the city was already working on environmental zoning that covered much of what Nakagawa and Brown were trying to accomplish, including in the Envision Cambridge master planning process. On each night, there were criticisms that the petition was overly complex and carried the risk of big unintended consequences – some of which could limit the building of affordable housing, though Nakagawa and Brown believed those projects would likely be exempted from its requirements. (The city’s primary builders of affordable housing, Just-A-Start and Homeowners Rehab Inc., oppose the zoning.)
June 28, 2018 — Marc Levy“It was an interesting meeting. I don’t think I’ve ever had so many compliments and still not got a date to the prom,” Brown quipped.
Wednesday’s hearing heard testimony that the city was already working on environmental zoning that covered much of what Nakagawa and Brown were trying to accomplish, including in the Envision Cambridge master planning process. On each night, there were criticisms that the petition was overly complex and carried the risk of big unintended consequences – some of which could limit the building of affordable housing, though Nakagawa and Brown believed those projects would likely be exempted from its requirements. (The city’s primary builders of affordable housing, Just-A-Start and Homeowners Rehab Inc., oppose the zoning.)