The Belt and Relocation

The continuing fight against the Inner Belt Highway must not make Cambridge lose sight of the terrible problems that the highway will cause if the fight is unsuccessful. The expressway, all eight lanes of it, will uproot between 3000 and 5000 people, and thereby aggravate an already serious shortage of middle and lower income housing.

Those who oppose the Inner Belt face a dilemma: by preparing for the consequences of the Inner Belt (i.e. stimulating and cooperating in any relocation effort), they implicity weaken their own position by recognizing the Belt as inevitable; and yet, by ignoring these efforts (and encouraging others to do so), they may be compounding the serious social and economic problems that the Belt will cause if the last-ditch opposition fails.

And that the opposition will fail seems probable. The opponents, who have banded together in a "Save Our City" committee, seek to raise $100,000 to finance a highway study that they hope will show that the Belt is either unneeded or ill-planned. In addition, they seek to mobilize popular support against the highway. Doing either of these things will be difficult, but even if it does succeed, the prospect of the Inner Belt's being scrapped remains slim. One must reckon with the facts: both state and federal highway officials are highly committed to the road; Gov. John A. Volpe is solidly behind the highway; and thus far, the opposition has lacked both the breadth and depth to convince any pro-Belt politician that his political salvation lies in a change of position. Opposition to the Inner Belt is a local Cambridge issue. Under just the right circumstances, the highway may still be stopped; but only the most optimistic can hold out reasonable hope that those circumstances will come along.

Given the probability of the Belt, and the natural reluctance of opponents to prepare for relocation, the public and private agencies of the City have a delicate and demanding task: they must work vigorously on relocation while simultaneously avoiding associating themselves with the pro-Inner Belt advocates.

A large part of this responsibility falls upon the Cambridge government and the newly-formed Cambridge Corporation. And perhaps one way they can tread the delicate line (but only one way) is by launching a general program to create more lower and middle income housing in the City. Whether or not the Belt finally comes, Cambridge clearly needs such additional housing. A sustained drive (beyond the projected impact of the Innr Belt) to provide it would be more effective than a simple relocation campaign and simultaneously remove any pro-Belt stigma.