Cambridge Co-existence

Several Cambridge civic leaders, including a director of the League of Women Voters, exposed an important problem when they accused Harvard and M.I.T. of failing to give the City sufficient co-operation on its plans for urban development. In the opinion of many local citizens, Harvard considers itself too important on a national and international level to bother with the problems of the mere community in which it happens to be located. Unfortunately, the University has at times given Cantabrigians good reason for this resentful attitude. No longer can Massachusetts Hall fail to realize, however, that Cambridge's troubles are Harvard's troubles too. Unlike the many families who move out of the city each year in search of better housing, transportation, and schools, the University has hundreds of millions of dollars invested here and cannot leave. Now that Cambridge has at last embarked upon an "urban renewal" program, it is unthinkable that Harvard should fail to help city authorities with their planning and to co-ordinate the University's growth with that of the community. The local citizens are right in saying that more must be done to insure such cooperation.

Specifically, these critics of Harvard's role in the community have urged that the administration set up a planning board to direct the University's growth and to keep in touch with the City's planners. They are probably unaware that a Massachusetts Hall official is already performing these functions--considering where a new University building would put the least strain on the city's traffic, discussing with City Hall the future of a certain area near Harvard Square, and so forth. Yet with Cambridge's housing and traffic problems as acute as they are, and with both the City and the University contemplating expansion, the administration might very well appoint at least one planning executive to devote more time to the problem. Such an official could use Faculty talent in the Design School and other parts of the University to develop an overall "master plan" for Harvard's future development, and could work in close co-operation with the urban renewal director that Cambridge will shortly appoint.

But the City's problems--and consequently Harvard's problems--go beyond the physical considerations of buildings and traffic that might be handled by a planning board. They involve improving schools and recreational facilities throughout the city, eliminating slums, and generally making Cambridge a desirable place for young families--including those of Harvard faculty members-- to live and bring up children. What is needed is a high-level Citizens' Committee that would include representatives of Harvard, M.I.T. and other groups in the city--the kind of University-community project that has served in many American cities to solve civic problems and improve town-gown relations. The City Council should move to set up such a committee, and the two local universities should name official representatives to it. This action would not solve any problems overnight, but in the long run it might help Harvard and Cambridge, who have to live and grow together whether they like it or not, to achieve a future of happy co-existence.