Learn About
Neighborhood Council
The Baldwin Neighborhood Council (BNC) was established in the 1970s as part of Cambridge’s Community Schools program and is a forum for discussion and action with the goal of enhancing quality of life in our community.
Neighborhood Council Overview
Community members are invited to attend semi-regular meetings on the second Tuesday of the month, 7:30 to 9:00 PM, from September through June (unless otherwise noted). Any person who lives in the Baldwin Neighborhood or whose children attend the Maria L. Baldwin School and/or are enrolled in Maria L. Baldwin Community Center’s Programs is eligible to become a member of the Baldwin Neighborhood Council. To vote on issues presented at Council meetings, participants must have attended at least one meeting in the calendar year prior to voting.
Monthly Meetings
Meeting minutes are published in The Whistler, a community newsletter that keeps residents and MLBCC program participants informed up-to-date on neighborhood news, programs, and events. The Whistler is published four times per year.
2025-26 Meeting Schedule
2026 Meeting Dates:
Unless otherwise noted, all meetings occur on the second Tuesday of the month, 7:30-9:00 PM. Special meetings may be scheduled as needed with advance notice.
- Tuesday, September 9, 2025
- Wednesday, October 15*, 2025
- Tuesday, November 18, 2025
- Tuesday, February 10, 2026
- Tuesday, April 14, 2026
- Tuesday, May 12^, 2026
- Tuesday, June 9, 2026
^Annual Meeting
* City Council Candidates Forum
More information on the Neighborhood Council
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, May 12th from 7:30-9 PM.
Agenda:
- The Council will vote to approve the slate (TBA) for the 2026-27 Board of Directors.
To suggest a topic for discussion for a future meeting, please contact Phoebe Sinclair via email.
The Whistler is the newsletter of the Baldwin Neighborhood Council (BNC) and informs residents and our community programs’ participants about neighborhood news, programs, and events. It features minutes from BNC community meetings as well as agendas for upcoming meetings.
Recent Newsletters
Archived Newsletters
2019
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
Recent Projects
Neighborhood Name Change
2019-2021
While working on a class project on her neighborhood’s namesake, Maya Counter (who was a CRLS student at the time) proposed our neighborhood’s name change. Read more:
In 2019, Maya Counter discovered that Louis Agassiz’s theories on polygenism are rooted in white supremacy. With this knowledge, Maya proposed renaming the neighborhood, first posting on the social media app NextDoor and then bringing the issue to the Neighborhood Council in January 2020. Maya then presented this proposal to Cambridge City Council, and she and Baldwin Neighborhood Council representatives worked with the City on a process to discover how residents feel about potentially renaming the neighborhood.
Sacramento Field Renovation
Between 2015 and the fall of 2016, the Neighborhood Council and the City of Cambridge hosted numerous meetings and discussions regarding renovations to Sacramento Field, a playing field and community space located on Sacramento Street, adjacent to Riverside Health/The Guidance Center and the Sacramento Street Community Garden. Frequent users and stakeholders, including abutters, neighbors, the Maria L. Baldwin School community, Maria L. Baldwin Community Center, and plot-holders in the Sacramento Street Community Garden engaged with Cambridge City staff and the City Manager’s office to discuss desires for the field and work through issues.