Harvard Live Cam

Around every corner in Harvard Square you will find hidden treasures in an environment that mixes European flavor, American history, and international cultures. The Square is filled with restaurants, historic sites, unique shops, quaint parks, and entertainment that reflect the international cultures that that derive from its many educational institutions and diverse neighborhoods.

Brick sidewalks lead to over 20 bookstores, 9 music stores, over 100 dining establishments ranging from fine dining to bistros, cafes, coffee houses, and hundreds of shops ranging from department stores to specialty stores.

Culturally, the Square holds 5 performing arts theatres, 4 movie theatres, and 9 museums ranging from the arts to the sciences. Other forms of entertainment can be found inside and out, with several restaurants and clubs providing live performances. Some of the most popular and diverse music can be found on the sidewalks and local parks where street musicians play music for all ages and cultures.

The Harvard Museum of Natural History

Harvard University's Museum of Cultural and Natural History (MCNH) is the public museum of the Botanical Museum, the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Mineralogical and Geological Museum, and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. The MCNH features exhibitions, public programs, and educational resources that reflect the collections and research of the four parent museums. We welcome you to our web site, a place to learn more about our programs and events, exhibitions, museum shop offerings, membership benefits, and international travel program.

Cambridge Historical Commission

The Cambridge Historical Commission was established to enforce city ordinances which protect historic buildings in Cambridge, to mark historic sites, to advise owners of historic buildings on preservation issues, and to research and publish information about the architectural history of the City. In addition to the Historical Commission, there are two separate Neighborhood Conservation District Commissions. The ordinances under which these boards operate were adopted to protect and preserve Cambridge's significant buildings. A significant building is one which, according to Chapter 2.78 of the City Code, "constitute(s) or reflect(s) distinctive features of the architectural, cultural, political, economic or social history of the City." The enforcement of these ordinances promotes the public welfare by "preserving the resources of the City and making the City a more attractive and desirable place in which to live."

City ordinances allow the preservation of Cambridge's important architectural resources in several different ways. A group of properties may be protected together as a designated historic district or neighborhood conservation district; an individual property may be protected as a designated landmark; or a proposed demolition may be delayed under the demolition ordinance. The Cambridge Historical Commission is supported by a staff which serves as a resource for preservation information and maintains an archive of information and photographs of buildings, neighborhoods, people. Commission staff also consult with owners of historic buildings on preservation issues.

Election Commission

The Cambridge Election Commission is responsible for supervising all federal, state and municipal elections within the City; providing voterregistration; certifying nomination papers and initiativepetitions; conducting an annual census; administering municipalcampaign and political finance reporting for the City; andimplementing Chapter 2.118 of the Cambridge Municipal Code known asthe "Ethics Ordinance".

Daily operations of the Commission are conducted by five full-timestaff persons (an Executive Director, Assistant Director, an Administrative Assistant, two data entry staff) and two part-time clericalaides. They are assisted at peak times by temporary art-timeemployees in voter registration, census canvassing, and signaturecertification. In addition, prior to each election,approximately 260 additional personnel are recruited, trained, andsupervised by the Board to staff each of the 42 polling locations within the City. Over 40,000 voter records (from a total of nearly 73,000 residents over the age of 17) are actively maintained both in acomputer database and in a cross-referenced card system, withseveral thousand changes of party, name, and address annually. Confirmationof each change to a voter's record is sent to the respective voterin accordance with statutory requirements. In order to preservethe integrity of the database for the street lists and votinglists, the Board of Election Commissioners personally verifies theexistence or nonexistence of questionable addresses within theCity. They also prepare manuals to guide poll workers' operationson election day.

Cambridge Electrical Department

The Administration Division of the Cambridge Electrical Department consists of the City Electrician, who is responsible for managing all personnel and functions of the department, and one Administrative Secretary, who is charged with maintaining all personnel files, payroll, accounts payable and receivable, answering telephone calls and delivering messages. The department is responsible for the electrical maintenance of the fire alarm systems and security systems of all public facilities; street lighting and lighting in outdoor areas of municipal property; fire dispatch and the municipal fire alarm system, police call boxes and public emergency alarms; and radio and the telephone communications network for all departments.

The Electrical Division consists of six licensed electricians, responsible for maintaining and installation of electrical equipment and devices for municipal owned property. The electricians respond to 1500 calls per year for maintenance of electrical equipment. The Signal Maintenance Division has three Signal Maintainers and one supervisor responsible for maintaining the municipal fire alarm system, for public and private use throughout the city. The fire alarm system is tested regularly to insure reliability of the 20 circuits and 545 master boxes associated with the system. The signal maintainers also install and maintain public police alarms in various outdoor recreation facilities throughout the City. These alarms are activated by any person needing a Police response during an emergency. The Police respond to the pre- determined location, from where the activation occurred.

There are twelve Fire Alarm Operator positions and one Chief Operator that supervises the operation. The Fire Alarm Operator's primary responsibility is to receive and re-transmit emergency calls for fire and medical emergencies. Each year all operators receive training in CPR, medical triage, and pre-arrival medical instruction, to assist the victim while emergency units are responding. In the Radio Division one electrician is assigned to install mobile radio equipment, fixed base station and control equipment, and install emergency warning light systems for vehicles sirens, and mobile radar installations. The street lighting conversion, from mercury vapor to sodium lighting, is continuing with the conversion presently being done in Neighborhoods 10 and 13, to finalize the conversion by 1994. The Street Lighting Division is continuing to make improvements in street lighting where problem areas exist throughout various neighborhoods particularly where public safety is a concern, and is responding to the needs identified by neighborhood crime watch groups in regards to increased lighting levels.

Cambridge Fire Department

The Cambridge Fire Department was formed in 1832 by an Act of the State Legislature. The Department has always been a leader in its profession and continues to look into ways of making the Department more efficient and effective in its delivery of service. The Department is composed of 258 sworn members and five civilians. The Department provides its fire protection, emergency medical services, and hazardous material incident abatement from its fourteen Fire Companies. The Department consists of 8 engine companies, 4 ladder companies and 1 Heavy Rescue/HAZMAT company, all under the command of 2 Deputy Division Fire Chiefs. The Companies are quartered in 9 fire houses located throughout the City.

Cambridge Peace Commission

The Cambridge Commission on Nuclear Disarmament and Peace Education continues its mission of promoting peace education within Cambridge and seeking to reduce violence. Begun in 1982 to confront the concerns of nuclear war, the Peace Commission has expanded its mission to incorporate challenging local forms of discrimination which foster violence and promoting those ideas and programs which affirm diversity and build community within our City. Dedicated to the concept of thinking globally and acting locally, the Commission creates and supports programs which build understanding, community cooperation and social justice.

The Commission is devoting special attention to the concerns of violence as they affect young people by addressing youth violence in Cambridge and collaborating with others to design creative programs which might prevent further violence. In Cambridge, dramatic events punctuate an ongoing escalation of violence with direct effects on the schools. The Peace Commission has tried to promote non-violence at the school level, through initiating programs and collaborating with school and community efforts to develop comprehensive policies which foster a community in which difference is understood and celebrated, in which the sources of violence are recognized and confronted, and where all members of the school community can be part of an effort for equity.

The Peace Commission is unique in Cambridge and within the United States. Although it is quickly becoming realized as the only real strategy for addressing the kinds of violence now affecting our cities, programs of violence prevention such as mediation have been shown to fail (80% within the first year) if they are not grounded in fertile soil. The Commission is creating that fertile soil through projects such as the Peaceable Schools Campaign for teacher-training in conflict resolution and creating peaceable classrooms.

Programs which highlight international issues of violence and resources for peace such as the Cambridge-El Salvador Sister City Project are limited if they can not connect to local concerns. The Commission works with Sister City project to bring its resources into the City's schools and communities providing the models of peace-making from El Salvador to Cambridge youth and teachers. The Commission provides a framework and perspective which links the realities of both local and national violence, and begins to offer programs and action which can really have lasting impact. The Commission is uniquely situated to join these "peace-making" efforts which have been traditionally unconnected to better serve the City of Cambridge as well as enhance the programs themselves. The Commission acts as a network center for Cambridge linking peace organizations, community groups, school and university efforts, neighborhood concerns with each other and the City.

Office of the City Solicitor

The Law Department is responsible for providing representations and advice to the City and its officials in numerous areas including but not limited to: zoning issues, environmental issues, employment law, civil rights, civil service, contract actions, tax appeals, real estate, workers' compensation, education law, tort actions involving personal injury and property damage claims. These services are provided by a legal staff comprised of seven full-time and two-part time attorneys, In addition to the legal staff there is a support staff which consists of an office manager, an administrative assistant, and a clerical worker. Members of the legal staff regularly attend and provide advice at meetings of the City Council and sub-committees thereof and to several City boards and commissions. In addition to drafting ordinances and other legal documents, numerous verbal and written opinions are rendered to the City Manager, City Council, and Department Heads.

Cambridge Retirement Department

The Cambridge Retirement System is admistered by a three member board: an elected member, an appointed member, and a member ex- Officio (City Auditor), and an office staff consisting of six employees whose duties are to maintain the accounts of 3,500 active employees and 1,600 retired employees and survivors. The staff is responsible for the accounting of all financial transactions, investment activity, member account balances, retiree benefit allowances, retirement counseling and annual reports. The administration is governed by Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 32 with the Public Employee Retirement Administration as its regulatory authority. The board members, along with the office staff are committed to serve the employees and retirees of this city with dilligence and consideration and are readily available for consultation when needed.