"We have a lot of faith in the Cambridge economy," Iram Farooq, assistant city manager for community development in Cambridge, Mass., tells the Boston Globe.
"We are in this moment of a little bit of readjustment.
The question is 'and this is anybody's guesshow long that period of readjustment will last.'" The city, just outside Boston, has seen industries shrink, life-sciences jobs disappear, and the number of jobs available in its borders are up 9% over the past two years, while its unemployment rate is better than the regional, state, and national averages, Farooq tells the Cambridge City Council's Economic Development & University Relations committee.
But the city, which has seen retail rents fall by 20% over the past few years, isn't immune from the national economy, which has seen higher interest rates and rising building costs.
"Nobody can debate the fact that we're in a down cycle nationally," Farooq tells the Globe.
"We remain a very fiscally strong organization in terms of how we think about our finances, in terms of the various benchmarks that we try to meet, in terms of our debt and reserves."
One bright spot, per Farooq: the opening of the Investor Catalyst hub, a venture
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