Voices of the Community

In many ways Cambridge combines the benefits and opportunities of a large city in a manageable size and at a human scale. Within in its compact six square miles, 13 neighborhoods, nine distinct commercial areas, two world class universities, the Charles River and a good transit system all combine to make Cambridge a vibrant working city and a culturally rich home shared by recent immigrants and Nobel laureates, small businesses and international research institutes. Of course Cambridge also is part of a rich metropolitan area with easy access to many more educational and cultural institutions, historic sites, harbor islands, greenways, waterways and beaches, championship sports teams, scenic New England coastal villages and quiet woodland retreats. But in addition to these assets, we are a city of contradictions and contrasts, which add to the energy and vitality of everyday business and life. Because 47% of us live and work in Cambridge, we have an added investment in the community. 58% of us walk to work or take the T, adding to the activity on the street and patronizing small businesses along the way. Many of us come here for advanced degrees, bringing our professional, scientific and research skills. Many of us came here from other countries and cultures, adding our different ideas, traditions and languages to the mix. Many of us came here to live and work among the best and the brightest. So it is no wonder that our city council debates foreign policy, that we have numerous sister cities, and a women's commission, that we are an incubator for start-up businesses and innovative civic initiatives around carbon reduction and energy efficient transportation. The symptoms of this concentration of energy and intellect - traffic and parking issues, incessant opinions and debate on everything under the sun, Hari Krishnas vying with street musicians, the Ignobel awards - are all part of the participatory theater which confronts, confounds and entertains us every day in Cambridge. For visitors as well as those of us who move on to new places and lives, Cambridge remains a unique experience and place, seldom matched and never forgotten. George Metzger came to Boston to attend Harvard's Graduate School of Design. He is the president of HMFH Architects, a 45-person firm in Central Sq. which focuses on educational and community planning and design. He lives in the Inman Sq. area where he and his wife raised two daughters. He is active in both civic and professional activities, on the boards of the Central Sq. Business Association, CASPAR, Architecture Boston and the Community Design Resource Center, and former president of the Boston Society of Architects. He walks to work.