Cambridge Highlands

Cambridge Highlands also known as "Area 12", is a neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts bounded by the railroad tracks on the north and east, the Belmont town line on the west, and Fresh Pond on the south.^[1] In 2005 it had a population of 673 residents living in 281 households, and the average household income was $56,500.^{[needs update]}

The street grid is internally disconnected, and the railroads and pond block access north, east, and south. The only through roads are the east-west Concord Avenue and north-south Alewife Brook Parkway. Public transit access includes Alewife Station across the railroad tracks, and buses on Concord Avenue connecting to Harvard Square.

The area is largely industrial-commercial, with the Fresh Pond Mal and other stores on Alewife Brook Parkway. The mall includes a movie theater multiplex. Also in the neighborhood are BBN Technologies, E Ink Corporation, an office of the Social Security Administration, a Best Western hotel, the Olympia Fencing Center and a large electrical substation.

North of Concord Avenue and west of Alewife Brook Parkway a variety of light-industrial uses predominate, including Anderson & McQuaid Millwork, Longleaf Lumber's reclaimed wood warehouse and showroom, the scene shop of the American Repertory Theater, and the C.J. Mabardy disposal station, but since 2010 a steady encroachment of residential buildings has been occurring from the east. The Sancta Maria Nursing Facility and the Fayerweather Street School are also situated in this area.

Near the Belmont line, a few streets in the neighborhood are mainly residential. There are also a few isolated houses on Concord Avenue, and a senior living center overlooking Fresh Pond; condominiums have gone up on Wheeler Street. In 2011, a developer purchased 70 Fawcett Street and was in the process of constructing a 428-unit residential complex.^[2]

Blair Pond, on the western edge of Cambridge Highlands, is part of Alewife Brook Reservation, which continues north of the Fitchburg Line.^[3]