The Task at Hand

The Harvard-Allston Task Force will meet again Wednesday evening for the first time in more than 100 days. On the agenda are Harvard’s proposed community benefits package and the plans for several new buildings for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, which plans to move two-thirds of its faculty to Allston facilities in 2019. After several years of strained relations with the Allston community, this meeting represents an opportunity for Harvard to show good faith and build a relationship that can provide lasting benefits for the university and the Allston community.

The relationship Harvard and Allston community members reached a low point in 2009, after the financial crisis, when the university put on hold and then scaled back its development plans. Having bought up much of its land in Allston in secret, Harvard left it largely undeveloped during the worst of the recession, which community members say only further damaged the local economy.

Dialogue through the Task Force and similar institutions has improved this relationship over time, but many community members remain concerned that Harvard is indifferent to their input, and would like to see more details about upcoming projects.

Chief among the topics slated for discussion is Harvard’s Institutional Master Plan for expansion in Allston. Boston planning law requires that institutions with over 150,000 square feet of tax-exempt real estate, such as colleges, universities and hospitals, must submit an IMP. The document must describe all changes entailed in new development projects, including growth projections and details about community benefits. Harvard’s IMP for Allston includes a $43 million community benefits package, a major part of which is the 0.7-acre Brookline Machine site, which houses an abandoned factory scheduled for demolition. Many want the site to be used for affordable housing developments, while Harvard has signaled that the $43 million dollar offer may be its upper limit for funding, a figure with which some task force members remain unsatisfied.

Harvard can and should do more to combat the lingering difference between it and Allston residents. By being more concrete about its timeline and building construction plans, Harvard can signal that it cares about residents’ concerns. Members of the task force have expressed a desire for these steps, and they would be seen as an investment in a smoother and more trusting relationship with Allston residents into the future.

Ultimately, as a private landowner, Harvard should have independence in its decisions about the design and layout of its new campus. But as a part of the broader Allston community, Harvard also has a responsibility to show good faith to its neighbors and to take their concerns seriously. As projects in Allston continue and the neighborhood becomes an even more significant part of the University, Harvard should strive to communicate with residents clearly and continue to improve its relationships across the Charles.