Whereas: Cambridge is one of the densest cities in the Commonwealth;

Many residents are being driven out of the city by high rents and housing prices;

Private developers are seeking zoning changes to allow high-rise office, lab, and market-rate apartment buildings in Kendall Square, Central Square, Alewife, and Northpoint that will continue to drive rents and housing prices up;

The tens of thousands of additional auto, bus and truck trips per day generated by new development will intensify traffic congestion, worsen air quality, and make the streets less safe, especially for children and elderly pedestrians;

High-rise development threatens to create shadows and wind tunnels, block sky views, increase noise pollution, remove green space, and thereby diminish the quality of life for all residents;

There is no current and complete Master Plan for the city's equitable development;

Most residents have not been informed of the enormity of the proposed changes or have been denied meaningful input;

Therefore: we call upon the Cambridge City Council to declare a minimum one-year moratorium on up-zoning in Kendall Square, Lafayette Square, Central Square and Alewife Brook Overlay Districts until a comprehensive study assessing the impact of all the proposed development is presented to the neighborhood associations and brought to the City Council for a public discussion.