The black population in Cambridge has been steadily decreasing since 1990.

In 2011, Cambridge established the PILOT program.

• The PILOT program would have nonprofits with more than 15 million dollars of tax-exempt property help with the cost of services such as police and fire protection.

• The purpose of the program was to have a more straightforward way for nonprofits to do business and not have as much of an impact on residents.

• Since 2012, no nonprofit that fits this category has paid the full amount that was requested from them.

Rent is outpacing housing prices in Cambridge.

• Real estate in Cambridge is more expensive than in Boston and it is rising at a higher rate.

Harvard and MIT, along with other tech, biotech, an pharmaceutical companies have bought up big amounts of real estate in Cambridge. This causes housing, rental, and general living costs to increase a significant amount.

Harvard stretches over three towns, it owns about 27 million square feet of land. Including:

• 9.56% of land in Cambridge

• 5.7% of land in Allston

• 0.27% of land in Boston

Harvard's wealth puts the school in a position of power in Cambridge and Allston because small businesses and families can't compete with an institution that has an endowment of 37.6 billion dollars.

Harvard's endowment has grown from 1.6 billion dollars in 1981 to 53.2 billion dollars in 2021.

• About 5% of this endowment is used to cover 1/3 of the school's operating expenses and expansion desires

• As the endowment has increased: 

  • the black population of Cambridge has decreased

  • housing prices in Cambridge have increased