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The assessed value of property in Harvard Square nearly doubled between fiscal years 2012 and 2017, an explosive growth that has contributed to rising rising rents and high turnover among Square businesses.  According to data collected by the City of Cambridge, assessed property values in Harvard Square rose from $1.8 billion in fiscal year 2012 to $3.2 billion in fiscal year 2017. And as property values rise, so do rent rates, according to Michael H. Shuman, an expert on community economics, a trend he said poses problems for local retailers.

Nearly six months after the debut of the Boston Calling music festival’s new location across the Charles River in Allston, Cambridge residents remain concerned that festival organizers will be unable to avoid repeating last year’s noise issues that led to an unbearable three-day weekend for many along Memorial Drive last May.  Despite complaints and meetings, the show is slated to return in 2018 and there’s no easy fix in sight.

A City Council subcommittee agreed more outreach was necessary when planning future bicycle safety initiatives in Cambridge at an Oct. 10 public hearing, following backlash about a new protected bike lane on Cambridge Street.  “People feel left out and people get angry when they feel left out,” Mayor Denise Simmons said.  The debate began in September when the city installed a bike lane on Cambridge Street to the right of a parking lane. The project was part of a city-wide initiative to make streets safer for travel, but a loss of more than half the street’s parking and perceived safety issues for pedestrians sparked criticism from neighbors and local business owners.

New separated bike lanes along Cambridge Street have drawn intense criticism from some residents who say the reduction in parking and the location of the spots are hurting area businesses as well as those with physical disabilities.

The outpouring of compassion and assistance to those wracked by the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in Texas is a remarkable testament to the human spirit that seeks to comfort and assist.  But equally remarkable, if not more so, are the acts of human kindness that happen quietly, often out of sight from the hustle-and-bustle of our everyday lives. The enablers of such acts seek no reward or recognition, but only the ability to alter someone’s path in a good way and, in the end, make the world a better place for doing so.

A local chef known for his specialty burgers is bringing the beef to his second Cambridge restaurant.  Chef Michael Scelfo celebrated the one-year anniversary of “coastally-inspired” Waypoint by debuting a small batch of “secret burgers” this past weekend.

The city will hold a discussion over concerns raised by the business community regarding new bicycle lanes…

On Brattle Street’s busiest days, the bicycles used to swim upstream like salmon, headed (illegally) into two lanes of one-way traffic toward Harvard Square. Well, sometimes it was two lanes: Brattle was so frequently crowded with delivery trucks and (illegally) double-parked cars that the second lane was often a theoretical concept.

In the latest twist in &pizza’s quest to open in the Brattle St. location that formerly housed newsstand Crimson Corner and restaurant Tory Row, the D.C.-based pizza chain has received preliminary approval for a Harvard Square location.  The Cambridge Planning Board earlier this month voted to approve the proposed restaurant, a partnership between &pizza and Milk Bar, a dessert bakery based in New York.