Cambridge is a city located in Middlesex County in the state of
Massachusetts, United States. In the 2020 Census it had a
population of 118,403 inhabitants and a population density of
7,182 people per km². It is located in the eastern part of the
state, on the outskirts of Boston.
Cambridge is known for
being home to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT). According to the 2000 census, the city has
a population of 101,355, although many more people go to
Cambridge to work.
Cambridge's population is very diverse. Its residents, known as
"cantabrigians" (in Spanish it would be cantabrigiense), range from
distinguished professors from MIT and Harvard to working-class families,
including immigrants from around the world. The first same-sex civil
union in the United States was held at Cambridge City Hall.
This
diversity contributes to the liberal environment and can be compared to
Berkeley, California in some ways. This, along with historic student
protests and a rejection of legal rent control, has earned it the
humorous label of the "Cambridge People's Republic." Cambridge is today
an urbanally renewed, upper-middle-class city with a growing property
market, just across the river from Boston. It is also known as the
"Boston Left Bank".
Cambridge has also been called by some the
"city of squares" ("City of Squares" in English), since most of its
commercial districts are large intersections known as squares. In the
New England region, the term square is applied to a commercial area,
usually formed around the intersection of three or more streets, and
originally consisting of a cleared square area. Since most of the
streets were built centuries ago, only a few squares retain the
geometric shape of a square. Harvard Square is, for example, formed by
two converging curved streets. Each of these squares serves as a
neighborhood center. These include:
Kendall Square, formed by the
intersection of Broadway, Main Street and Third Street, after the
Longfellow Bridge that connects Cambridge with Boston, and at the
western end of the MIT campus. In its surroundings is the Kendall
station on the red line of the subway. Most of Cambridge's large office
skyscrapers are located here, and a thriving biotech industry has grown
in the surrounding area.
Central Square, formed by the intersection
of Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street and Western Avenue. It is
perhaps the closest to a financial and commercial center in Cambridge,
and is well known for its wide variety of ethnic restaurants. In the
1990s it was partly dismantled and the area underwent controversial
urban renewal in recent years and continues to increase in value. In its
surroundings is the metro station of the same name. Lafayette Square,
formed by the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street,
Sidney Street, and Main Street, is considered part of the Central Square
area.
Harvard Square, formed by the intersection of Massachusetts
Avenue, Brattle Street, and JFK Street. Here is located Harvard
University, the oldest university in the United States, and a major
shopping area in Cambridge. In its surroundings is the metro station of
the same name. The north section of Harvard east of Massachusetts Avenue
is known as Agassiz, after famed scientist Louis Agassiz.
Porter
Square, about one mile north of Massachusetts Avenue from Harvard
Square, formed by the intersection of Massachusetts and Somerville
avenues, and includes part of the city of Somerville. In its
surroundings is the Porter metro station.
Inman Square, at the
intersection of Cambridge and Hampshire streets, in the center of
Cambridge. In this square are located various restaurants, bars and
boutiques.
Lechmere Square, at the intersection of Cambridge and
First streets, adjacent to the CambridgeSide Galleria shopping centre.
It is known for being there the terminal station of the green line of
the metro.
Among the residential neighborhoods are Cambridgeport,
west of Central Square, toward the Charles River; Riverside, south of
Massachusetts Avenue toward the Charles River, between Central and
Harvard Square; East Cambridge; Wellington-Harrington; North Cambridge;
Agassiz; Avon Hill; Brattle Street; Strawberry Hill; and Mid Cambridge,
bounded by Central, Harvard, Inman Square, and the city of Somerville.
On the west bank of Cambridge, Mount Auburn Cemetery is known for
its burials of distinguished people, magnificent landscaping, and
outstanding arboretum.
Although you often see references to the
"Boston/Cambridge area" in the press, Cambridge prefers to retain its
own identity.
Cambridge was established under the name "Newtowne" in 1630. Newtowne
was one of many towns founded by the original 700 Puritan settlers of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony under Governor John Winthrop. The original
site of the town was in what is now the heart of Harvard Square, while
the city included an area much larger than it is today, with several
outlying areas that became independent cities over the years: Newton
(originally Newtown) in 1690, Lexington (Cambridge Farms) in 1712, and
Arlington (West Cambridge) and Brighton (Little Cambridge), which were
annexed to Boston in 1807.
In 1636 the colony founded Harvard
College to train ministers and Newtowne was chosen as its seat. In 1638
the name of the city was changed to "Cambridge" (in relation to
Cambridge, England) to reflect its status as the center of higher
learning in the colony.
Cambridge grew as a farming town, slowly
following the road to Boston, the colonial capital, for eight miles. At
the time of the Revolutionary War, most residents lived near the Common
and Harvard College, with farms and ranches encompassing most of the
city. Most of the inhabitants were descendants of the early Puritan
settlers, although there was also a small elite of "respectable"
Anglicans who were not involved in the life of the city, concerned with
their estates, investments and trade, living along the road. to
Watertown (present-day Brattle Street). Most of those farms were
confiscated after the revolution and sold to the Loyalists.
Between 1790 and 1840, Cambridge began to grow rapidly with the
construction of the West Boston or Longfellow Bridge in 1792, which
connected the city directly to Boston, making it unnecessary to travel
the eight miles through Boston Neck, Roxbury, and Brookline to cross the
Charles River. A second bridge, the Canal Bridge, was built in 1809,
spanning the Middlesex Canal. The new bridges and tracks transformed the
agricultural land and marshes into an industrial and residential
district. Roads such as the Concord Turnpike (present-day Broadway and
Concord Avenue) and the Middlesex Turnpike (Hampshire Street and
Massachusetts Avenue northeast of Porter Square) were built much later,
and present-day Cambridge, Main, and Harvard streets were roads
connecting different areas of Cambridge to the bridges. Additionally,
railroads crisscrossed the city during the same time, leading to the
development of Porter Square, as well as the creation of the neighboring
city of Somerville out of rural Charlestown.
Cambridge was
incorporated as the second city of Massachusetts in 1846. Its commercial
center also began to move from Harvard Square to Central Square, an area
that became the center of the city. Between 1850 and 1900, Cambridge
acquired most of its present face, including suburban streetcar
development along the highways, working-class and industrial
neighborhoods in East Cambridge, construction of comfortable
middle-class houses on former estates in Cambridgeport and
Mid-Cambridge, and upper-class enclaves near Harvard University and in
the city's lower hills. The arrival of the railroad to North Cambridge
and Northwest Cambridge allowed the three major changes in the city: the
development of brick factories and buildings made of this material
between Massachusetts, Concord and Alewife Brook avenues; Frederic
Tudor's Ice Factory at Fresh Pond; and the subdivision of the last
haciendas for their conversion into residential subdivisions, which
would make it possible to build homes for the thousands of immigrants
who came to work in the new industries.
In 1920, Camdridge was
one of the major industrial cities in New England, with about 120,000
inhabitants. As industry in the eastern United States began to decline
with the Great Depression and then World War II, Cambridge lost much of
its industrial base. Furthermore, it began the transition from being an
industrial center to an intellectual one. Harvard University has always
been important to the city (both because of the amount of land it owns
and because of its institutional importance), but it began to play a
more dominant role in the life and culture of the city. The move of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology from Boston in 1912 secured
Cambridge's status as the intellectual center of the United States.
After the 1950s, the city's population began to slowly decline,
families being replaced by singles and young couples. At the end of the
20th century, Cambridge had one of the most expansive real estate
markets in the northeastern United States. As it maintains diversity in
classes, races, and ages, it makes it more difficult for those who grew
up in the city to stay in it.
Cambridge is located at coordinates 42°22′34″N 71°7′6″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, Cambridge has a total area of 18.4 km², of which 16.54 km² is land and (10.15%) 1.87 km² is water.
As of the 2010 census, there were 105,162 people residing in Cambridge. The population density was 5,713.94 inhabitants/km². Of the 105,162 population, Cambridge was made up of 66.57% White, 11.65% African American, 0.23% Native American, 15.1% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.13% other races, and 4.28 % belonged to two or more races. Of the total population, 7.58% were Hispanic or Latino of any race.