Cambridge is a unique community in its mix of cultural and social diversity, intellectual vitality and technical innovation. The city is home to internationally known Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and over one-fourth of all its residents are college students, while one-sixth of all its jobs are in higher education.
Yet residents feel that Cambridge is far more than a college town. It has long been an industrial innovator, producing America's first factories for ladders, piano keys and waterproof hats. At one point, it was the third largest industrial center in the Commonwealth.
Today, former factory buildings which once turned out soap or socks house cutting edge firms in biotechnology, computer software and other emerging technologies. Close to one-third of Massachusetts' biomedical employers reside in Cambridge. Cambridge is rich in demographic diversity. More than one in five residents is foreign born. Students from 64 nations attend the public schools, and their families speak 46 different languages. The most numerous immigrant groups hail from Haiti, Central America and Portuguese-speaking nations, including Brazil. An out-of-town visitor might enjoy a Greek festival or a Caribbean gala on the same weekend and buy Portuguese pastries or fresh fish in one block. The continued vitality of its immigrants and entrepreneurs, students and street musicians, factory workers and professionals gives Cambridge its unique flavor.
