Good Governance and Oversight
As Finance Chair, Patty’s deep experience with financial accountability and oversight has guided council discussions by balancing fiscal realities and desire for expansion of programs and initiatives. Patty’s dedication to good governance is evident in her solid record of transparency, responsiveness, and accountability at every level of city government, including her work on the City’s charter.
- Consistently pushed for greater focus on reducing expenses and pushing back on spending on capital projects and initiatives that her research showed was far above comparable cities.
- Demonstrated commitment to transparency by ensuring Council and City accountability for promises and financial goals.
Initiated earlier Council involvement, demanded decision-making consistent with public goals, and promoted open criteria for tax and budget increases.
Known for committee work focused on governance, environment, and finance.
In her committee work, she:
- Maintained high engagement and public participation, holding more committee meetings than any other councillor in recent years.
- Led and organized sessions on renewable energy, waste management, climate resilience, budgets, public health, affordable housing, and police oversight.
- Set the standard for productive cross-committee collaboration, focusing on environment (Health & Environment), finance, and major city policy areas.
Patty has been instrumental in reviewing and updating the City’s charter. In 2020, recognizing that Cambridge had not reviewed its charter in many decades, unlike every other municipality in Massachusetts, she worked on three changes to the charter, all approved by more than 70% of the voters. One change called for a citizen-led committee to review the charter. The Council reviewed its recommendations, modified some, and has proposed a new charter on which we will vote November 4. This letter to the Commonwealth of MA requesting approval of the charter in order to put it before the voters includes a summary of key changes in the new charter. Recently, there’s been a fair bit of misinformation shared about the charter; here’s a recent flyer I’ve used to help correct some of that misinformation.
Climate Crisis
Patty Nolan has championed aggressive climate and sustainability measures, leading municipal efforts to cut emissions and implement innovative policies for greener buildings and equitable climate solutions.
- Provided oversight for Combined Sewer Overflow mitigation, Urban Forest planning, green jobs development, and infrastructure to address climate resilience (e.g., Charles and Mystic River dam maintenance and improvements).
- Made progress on plan for a geothermal energy network in the city
- Got ban passed on gas-powered leaf blowers March 2025 for non commercial use and March 2026 for commercial and municipal operators
- Pushed for increasing renewable energy capacity for all residents
- Reformed the Zero Waste Master Plan to reduce reliance on single-use plastics.
- Led efforts to update Zero Waste Master Plan to mandate food waste diversion for commercial buildings and restaurants (helping both our climate goals and our rat problem).
- Instrumental in passing the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO), landmark legislation that requires large buildings to reduce their emissions over time. BEUDO is the most significant piece of our Net Zero Action Plan. Instrumental in oversight and monitoring implementation.
- Led the adoption of the Cambridge fossil fuel-free ordinance for new construction and major renovations.
Safe and Sustainable Transportation
- Prioritized street safety for all users, supporting the Cycling Safety Ordinance and maintaining essential bike lane connections.
- Advocates for thoughtful implementation timelines, more community feedback, and balancing design quality for bike lanes with broader road access.
- Keeps the focus on the data showing the most dangerous parts of our streets for cyclists and pedestrians are intersections. Which is why she pushed for prioritization of the most dangerous intersections to guide city work.
- Champions automated traffic enforcement, (not yet in place, but moving along) improved MBTA bus service, creation of municipal shuttle systems, and identifying dangerous intersections for systematic improvement.
- Led the push for the City’s first ever Zero Emissions Transportation Plan.
Thoughtful Planning and Development
On planning and development, Patty advocates for community-driven, sustainable growth that balances housing needs, urban vitality, and climate resilience, making sure new projects reflect Cambridge’s values and long-term priorities.
- Advanced efforts to enable residents to not use their car by developing one coordinated reliable frequent citywide shuttle that replaces existing separate shuttles – (university, corporate).
- Advocated for comprehensive and disciplined city planning rather than piecemeal report generation or reactive policy changes, with a focus on honoring and evaluating progress against adopted plans.
- Led successful efforts in comprehensive zoning reform, in the Alewife area, achieving broad stakeholder consensus that led to new zoning. This reform was made possible by a one-year moratorium on development, a challenging achievement that I led.
- Supported measured and evidence-based changes to policies and zoning, opposing premature amendments that don’t align with the city’s guiding plans or stakeholder input.
- (See the affordable housing section, below, for information on the 2025 MultiFamily Zoning changes.)
When it comes building heights in squares and along corridors, Patty supports additional height along the main corridors, such as much of Mass Ave, where she feels that 6-8 stories — with appropriate setbacks and step-backs — makes sense. She calls for protection of existing first floor retail and incentives for new first floor retail. With regard to squares, for example Porter Square, she is open to greater height, perhaps 10 or 12 stories with adequate open space, green space, setbacks and step-backs.
Affordable Housing
Patty backs affordable housing policies focused on increasing access especially for middle income people, protecting renters, and ensuring equitable opportunities across Cambridge.
- Forged compromises that dramatically improved the recent and highly controversial citywide MultiFamily Zoning proposal by adding restrictions lowering as-of-right building heights, placing substantial restrictions on taller structures, increased green space, and partially restoring eliminated setback requirements. Details and analysis can be found here.
- Consistent advocate for investment in affordable housing (currently over $40 million annually) to serve the most needy
- Focused attention on middle-income residents unable to afford Cambridge since the city has lost many middle class residents and will lose more without specific steps like social housing.
- Brought to light the high cost of affordable housing—near $1 million per unit—and working to identify strategies to reduce expenses.
- Brought folks together to discuss how to balance goals of more housing density, solar protections, urban forestry, and good design.
- Emphasizes ongoing responsibility to monitor housing impacts on affordability, and collaborate regionally for housing improvements.