An Invitation to Chaos

No one, it seems, has seriously attempted to measure the impact of the John F. Kennedy Memorial on Cambridge. When completed in the early '70's, the Library complex will attract thousands of tourists to the City -- that much is known. But equally important for Cambridge, the Library's presence will drastically affect local commercial patterns and push real estate values skyward.

The situation invites land speculation. Harvard Square now beckons the shrewd investor because many areas near the Square are "under-used": there are now gas stations or small stores where there could be high rise commercial buildings. The presence of the Kennedy Library will add to the Square's natural attractiveness. The consequences could be disastrous: uncontrolled commercial development, with investors straining at zoning restrictions and constructing huge buildings to recoup their initial outlay.

Development of the Square is not only unavoidable, but also desirable. There has long been a need for more commercial office space, and now the Kennedy Library will require new shops and stores. The question is not how to prohibit new development, but how to control it. Harvard's self-interest is involved--what kind of place will the Square be in 15 or 20 years from now?--but the real issue is broader. Cambridge, more than ever before, will become a national city. The John F. Kennedy Memorial was placed in the heart of Harvard Square to bring it closer to the University and make it a truly "urban memorial." Leaving the memorial to be surrounded with large ugly buildings will only show the worst of urban America and will naturally detract from both the physical stature and the spirit of the entire complex.

One possible solution, already under consideration by City officials, would be to create an urban renewal district around the Library site. The City, through its Redevelopment Authority, would then have to approve all new construction with the urban renewal area. But the success of the renewal scheme depends not only on the strength of the plan worked out by the City but also the amount of support it commands within the community -- the Library Corporation, local businessmen and residents, and the University. In Cambridge, such plans are often worked out in a vacuum; private interests stand aloof and, when the plan is released, size it up from their own perspective. If they dislike it, they pounce on it both privately and publicly. The results often satisfy no one.

If this familiar pattern is allowed to emerge once again, plans for controlling development in Harvard Square could be crippled. And fifteen or twenty years from now, when the resulting chaos becomes painfully apparent, someone will ask the embrrassing question: why?