Defending Cambridge, Investing in our Future
Hi! I'm Ned Melanson and I'm running for Cambridge City Council. Here's a bit about my background:
• Public defender at Cambridge District Court and disability advocate at Melanson Law Group
​​​
• Renter living on Allston Street in Cambridgeport for the past 5 years
​
• Walker, cyclist, and Red Line-rider and all-around progressive urbanist
​
• Housing advocate -- more homes, more affordable homes, and more tenants' rights!
• Lover of all things outdoors and protector of the environment
Defending Cambridge from tyranny and despotism
Addressing the housing shortage and affordability crisis
Expanding transit, safe streets, cycling and walking infrastructure
Funding Cambridge schools and pre-k and increasing workforce training and vocational programs
Protecting our local environment and combating climate change
Championing unions, workers, renters, and immigrants
Why is Ned Melanson running for Cambridge City Council?
The Rent is Still Too High
I moved to Cambridge in 2021 and immediately fell in love with the city. The dynamic and diverse people, the unique neighborhoods, the beautiful parks, the walkable and bikeable streets, and the go-to local businesses convinced me I wanted to make Cambridge my home.
Luckily, I found stable housing--renting (along with a few close friends/roommates) from a landlord who owns a few buildings in Camrbidgeport and often rents to younger folks going to grad programs or who work in Cambridge or Boston. When my friend toured the top floor of the triple decker, there were 20 other groups in competition for it as well. He texted me that day telling me he'd signed on the spot. I hadn't even seen a picture of the place, but I knew the housing game in Cambridge had to be played with bold moves, so I didn't for a second question his judgment. And here I am, five years later, living in the same place and making Cambridge my home.
​
Many people who live, lived, or want to live in Cambridge are not so lucky. They are one rent increase, one price hike, one "sorry that apartment you toured an hour ago just went to someone else" away from not having stable housing. They're forced out or never allowed in to this great city--the greatest city, in my mind, in the country.
Why do we put up walls in an era where we should be tearing them down?
I got involved in the housing fight shortly after moving to Cambridge. In the 2023 City Council election, I knocked on doors, primarily in East Cambridge, and talked to residents about their housing issues. The precariousness of it all was evident. Everyone felt lucky to have a roof over their heads and expressed remorse about those that didn't. Remorse that they couldn't upsize or downsize because the competition for housing in Cambridge is too fierce, their options too limited. Remorse that their elderly mother or father couldn't move in close to them, or that they didn't have enough space for a new baby's room.
​
The housing crisis is multifaceted and began before many Cantabridgians were born. One-off solutions won't solve it, but that doesn't mean we can't make incremental, meaningful change every year, ever election cycle, every City Council term. And we have! The Affordable Housing Overlay, the Affordable Housing Trust, the Housing Authority, and, most recently, the multifamily upzoning, are all evidence that we can pass laws and enact programs to fight the housing shortage and affordability crisis.
​
But our work is still very much cut out for us. We have momentum but there are forces organizing against us. We need to defend our accomplishments and push forward to actually get the results we want and need. There are challenges and roadblocks--whether macroeconomic (interest rates, construction costs), or local (historical commission reviews and endless lawsuits delaying building)--that still stand in the way of affordability. As a city councilor, I would understand what's in our control and what's not--and that we must do everything in our power to make Cambridge the welcoming beacon of a city it can be. ​​​​​​​​​​
The Streets Are Still Too Dangerous
Like many people who ride bicycles to work, school, for exercise, or to local businesses, I have more near-death experiences on the streets of Cambridge and Boston than I can count.
We must make our streets safe--by completing the Cycling Safety Ordinance and expanding protected bike infrastructure, by creating Slow Streets, and by improving pedestrian walkways and street crossings.
People who ride bicycles, roll on wheelchairs, walk, or take public transportation should have just as much freedom and sense of safety on the roads and streets of Cambridge as people who drive cars and trucks. Year after year, we sacrifice cyclists and walkers to the needs to car-drivers. If I am elected to the Cambridge City Council, I will work to change this. I will prioritize the safety of cyclists, walkers, and rollers over those driving personal automobiles. I will push to build more bike lanes, expand our sidewalks, and develop public transit run by the City! These are goals that will help make our city safer, greener, and more livable.
We Must Defend Cambridge
As a lawyer for poor criminal defendants and for people living with disabilities, I know what it takes to stand up to power. Now more than ever, we must make Cambridge strong and prosperous and welcoming to all, while defending our way of life from the Trump Administration and its cronies.
I was born in Holyoke, MA., went to high school in Cape Elizabeth, ME, college in Pittsburgh, PA, then returned to New England to attend Boston College Law School. I come from a family of lawyers and teachers who emphasized public service (and dinner table debates). My late grandfather was a WWII intelligence officer and Hampden County Commissioner who helped stop a highway from cutting through downtown Holyoke (not unlike the efforts to stop the Inner Belt highway in Cambridge). He inspired me to not only serve my community but also use the government's tools to make it a better place.
I believe we need an effective government that is willing to stand up to both forces of tyranny and the many challenges of our time--whether it's environmental, economic, or social. Cambridge stands as a beacon of progressive leadership, and I want to help it progress towards an even brighter future. To do this, we need to end the decades of stagnation that left us with a scarcity of homes and a defective transportation system. We need to build more homes, more affordable homes, and enhance tenants' rights. We need to build more protected bike lanes, improve pedestrian crossings, and establish a transit system operated by the City of Cambridge!
In my law practice, I serve people living with disabilities, helping them get government or insurance benefits they've earned, and at Cambridge District Court as a public defender (or "bar advocate"). The problems they face are often tied to broader societal and economic forces--forces that government can and must step in to ameliorate. I've also developed a great respect and admiration for the Constitution, the document that underlies our entire legal and political system. Undoubtedly, it is under attack by the Trump Administration. We need leaders who understand our constitutional system and who will do what is necessary to protect it.
The teachers in my family (mother, high school English, and grandmother, vocational) instilled in me a love of learning and an appreciation and humility for the unknown. Maybe it's cliche, but I truly believe anything is possible through education, whether that's reading the classics or learning to weld. While we have great schools in Cambridge, we can always improve. If elected, I would particularly focus on expanding vocational opportunities for both high school students and for adults, and those pushed to the side of the modern labor force, such as the disabled or the formerly incarcerated. We must grow our economy and build the future, but we also must ensure that everyone in society benefits from this growth and progress.
Finally, although I am one of the younger candidates, I believe it's time for the newer generations to enter public service. What we lack in experience, we make up for in new, bold ideas, and a vast supply of enthusiasm and energy--energy that will be necessary to take on the many challenges Cambridge faces and to lead it into a prosperous and dynamic tomorrow.
​