Cambridge residents selected nine projects in March 2026 budget vote
The city's twelfth participatory-budgeting cycle awarded $1.032 million after 10,172 residents voted.
News report
Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced nine winning projects in its twelfth participatory-budgeting cycle on March 18, 2026. The city recorded 10,172 participating voters and $1.032 million in project funding.
The selected projects span transportation, public space and everyday community needs. They include sidewalk work that preserves trees, complete-street improvements, transportation assistance, cold- and wet-weather kits, rain and pollinator gardens, school supplies, residential rat control, bike-lane barriers and basketball-court upgrades.
The ballot grew from more than 1,100 ideas submitted in September and October 2025. Nearly 80 volunteer delegates researched and refined those suggestions into 20 proposals between fall 2025 and February 2026, according to the city's cycle account.
Voting ran from March 5 through March 15. The city's advance notice offered online, telephone and in-person routes, with paper and online ballots in ten languages. Eligible participants included residents age 12 and older and all sixth graders, regardless of citizenship status.
The published results distinguish a successful vote from completed construction or service delivery. The cycle page lists funding amounts, vote totals and links to the projects, creating a record residents can use to follow implementation. The process gives community members a defined role in choosing part of the municipal budget while city staff retain responsibility for delivering the funded work. The March results document which proposals won that stage, with later progress reported through the project pages.