A Good Precedent

IN A FEW WEEKS, the Harvard Corporation will vote on the plans for a massive office and condominium project on Mt. Auburn St. We urge it to approve the development--for its own sake, but even more as an affirmation of the open, cooperative way University officials went about planning the complex.

Though it would have been nice if the vacant lot on Mt. Auburn St. could have remained open space in this crowded community, it was obviously not to be, considering the booming value of Harvard Square real estate. And the final plans drawn up by Harvard and approved by the community are not so bad--certainly they are better than the twin 20-story towers once proposed by the former owner.

More important, though, is the way the planning was conducted. Harvard asked local residents and city politicians before they went ahead and bought the land; Harvard immediately formed a design review team of community residents; and Harvard submitted its final plans to public scrutiny and modified them to meet the wishes of the neighborhood.

Certainly the process was in the University's self-interest--it avoided the costly years of legal and governmental challenges that tied up the nearby Parcel 1B development; it hit upon an agreeable proposal that will secure the future of that corner of the Square, and they built up some precious goodwill with local residents. Even in situations where it may make affairs more complicated or sticky, though, the University should retain its commitment to community involvement. The people that have to live with Harvard's actions deserve some say in their formulation.

The real tests of Harvard's new posture lie ahead--will the University show the same concern when it is not as clearly to its advantage, or when it is dealing with tenants or low-income residents, not the Brattle St. elite that helped develop the University Place Project? Still, with its University Place plan, Harvard has made a very good start.