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Kendall Square Central Square (K2C2) Planning Study
What's Happening Now
This page is not being updated while the Community Development Department transitions to a new website.
For meeting dates and new project materials, please check our Facebook page at:
Staff and consultants are now working with the Kendall Square Advisory Committee and Central Square Advisory Committee on the K2C2 project. Phase I, focusing on the Kendall Square/Transition Area, began in April 2011 and Phase II, focusing on Central Square/Transition, began in November 2011. To hear from the broader community, public meetings were held in Kendall Square on June 21, 2011 and April 10, 2012 and in Central Square on June 9, 2011 and April 11, 2012.
Upcoming Meetings
Overall
- Wednesday, May 30, 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM -- City Council Roundtable to complete the K2C2 update from Goody Clancy and CDD staff.
Upcoming Meetings - Central Square
- Wednesday, May 16: Central Square Walk, meet at 6:00 P. M. at the steps to City Hall.
- Wednesday, June 13: Committee Meeting, 6:00 P. M. to 8:30 P. M.; Location TBD.
Upcoming Meetings - Kendall Square
- Thursday, May 17: Committee Meeting, 8:00 A. M. to 10:00 A. M.; Cambridge Innovation Center, 1 Broadway.
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Study Description
The City of Cambridge is conducting a comprehensive planning study to develop a vision for Central Square, Kendall Square, and the Transition Area connecting the two squares. The Study area map is available here.
In addition to developing a vision for the study area, the process will formulate recommendations including specific actionable steps to achieve the vision. The consultant team is also charged with providing peer review of rezoning proposals in the area – namely the Novartis, Forest City and MIT rezoning petitions.
The K2C2 Study will be conducted in two phases over the span of ten to twelve months.
- Phase I is focusing on Kendall Square and the Transition Area and will be guided by a Kendall Square Advisory Committee. The City Manager has appointed a twenty-member Kendall Square Advisory Committee, including neighborhood residents, representatives of Kendall Square property owners, businesses and institutions.
- Phase II will focus on Central Square and Transition Area and will be guided by the 21 person Central Square Advisory Committee, which includes neighborhood residents, property owner representatives, businesses and institutions.
A series of public meetings will also be held to solicit input from the broader community. It is expected that the Committees will meet monthly and will guide the work of City staff and a team of consultants. The City has retained the services of a team of consultants led by Goody Clancy to assist the City and Advisory Committees in refining the vision for the Study Area.
The consultant team, which includes expertise in land use planning and urban design, retail, housing, market analysis, and transportation planning, was hired after a competitive RFP process that was widely advertised and drew proposals from across North America.
Background
Over the last few decades, Central Square has become an ever more important center for the four neighborhoods that surround it, as well as for Cambridge as a whole. At the same time, Kendall Square has been transformed from a former industrial area to a world-renowned center for biotech and high tech research.
An appendix to the RFP entitled “Central and Kendall Squares: History Relevant to 2010 RFP” has a chronological description of many of the important policies and actions in those urban transformations.
Central Square
Central Square is a vibrant retail and office district directly adjacent to the Cambridgeport, Area 4, Riverside and Mid-Cambridge neighborhoods. The district is at the northwest end of the MIT campus and also abuts University Park.
In addition to neighborhood-serving shopping, Central Square features a number of food and entertainment venues that attract residents and visitors regionally, and at its core physically carries forward a rich legacy of buildings reflecting its past.
The Square has been the focus of several infrastructure projects and planning studies over the last 30 years.
Kendall Square
Despite having a number of new developments in recent years, including several research and academic facilities on the MIT campus and improved access to the Charles River, and having begun to create multiple nodes of activity, Kendall Square has no defined center. What Kendall Square does have is a large daytime population, an emerging residential population supported by a cluster of biotech and high-tech businesses, and a number of large property owners who are willing to come together to develop a common vision.
Kendall Square has the capacity to absorb new developm.ent without the constraints that would have resulted from a large inventory of historic buildings. Infrastructure improvements have occurred in some, but not all, areas over the past twenty years.
The Transition Area
The area where Main Street intersects with Massachusetts Avenue, known as Lafayette Square, and its urban context, including the area along Main Street east of Lafayette Square, is referred to as the Transition Area.
What Kendall and Central Squares have in common is excellent access to public transportation, nearby density in both student and residential neighborhoods, and proximity to MIT. The develoP. M.ent of the Transition Area can help make it easier for users to flow from one Square to the other, with an increasingly interesting and active urban streetscape and retail environment.
The assets existing today in Kendall and Central Squares should continue to support future growth in each area. The Squares each have significant growth potential and each could benefit from better connections to the other. There are several new and proposed projects that have the potential to help activate the Transition Area, including the growing presence of Novartis and the planned new building sponsored by Forest City Enterprises.
Resources
These files are in PDF format and require use of the free Adobe Acrobat viewer.
Central Square Meetings
- April 24, 2012 Committee Meeting
- April 11, 2012 Public Meeting
- April 4, 2012
- March 14, 2012
- February 8, 2012 Central Square Advisory Committee
- January 25, 2012 Central Square Advisory Committee
- June 30, 2011 Presentation to Red Ribbon Commission
- June 9, 2011 Central Square Public Meeting
- May 25, 2011 Presentation to the Red Ribbon Commission
Kendall Square Meetings
- April 26, 2012
- April 24, 2012
- April 10, 2012
- April 6, 2012
- April 5, 2012
- March 22, 2012
- March 9, 2012 Kendall Square Working Session: Built Form
- March 8, 2012 Kendall Square Working Session: Open Space
- February 9, 2012 Kendall Square Advisory Committee Meeting
- January 26, 2012 Kendall Square Advisory Committee Meeting
- January 19, 2012 Kendall Square Advisory Committee Meeting
- November 17, 2011 Kendall Square Advisory Committee Meeting
- November 10, 2011 Kendall Square Advisory Committee Meeting
- October 10, 2011
- September 22, 2011 Kendall Square Advisory Committee Meeting
- September 8, 2011 Kendall Square Advisory Committee Meeting
- July 21, 2011 Kendall Square Advisory Committee Meeting
- June 21, 2011 Kendall Square Public Meeting
- June 16, 2011 Kendall Square Advisory Committee Meeting
- May 19, 2011 Kendall Square Advisory Committee Meeting
- May 9, 2011 City Council Roundtable
- April 28, 2011 Kendall Sq Advisory Committee Meeting
Planning Board and City Council Meetings
- April 25, 2012 City Council Roundtable
- April 3, 2012 Planning Board Update – Heights discussion (1.9 MB)
- May 24, 2011 Planning Board Update (1.4 MB)
- May 9, 2011 City Council Roundtable (5.2 MB)
Additional Resources
- Kendall Square Customer Intercept Survey Report (1.8 MB)
- Cambridge Arts Council Exhibit - Artist Designed Bike Racks
- Main Street Plan Rendering (2.2 MB)
- Study Area Map
- K2C2 RFP (1.5 MB)
- Goody Clancy Proposal (10.9 MB)
- Proposed Broadway Improvements
- Proposed Western Avenue Improvements
- Rezoning Petitions
- Studies and Other Material of Interest
For More Information
For more information about the K2C2 study, please contact Iram Farooq at ifarooq@cambridgema.gov or 617/349-4606. The Community Development Department TTY line is 617/349-4621.
For information on Kendall Square infrastructure, please contact Kathy Watkins at kwatkins@cambridgema.gov or 617/349-4751. The Department of Public Works TTY line is 617/349-4805.
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