Town vs. Gown in Allston: Harvard vs. the Embattled Neighborhood

By Jane Holtz Kay

Many of the largely blue-collar residents of Boston's Allston and Brighton neighborhoods have long felt threatened by their aggressive Cambridge neighbors. For years now, Harvard has been creeping across the Charles River to gobble up properties for sports (stadium); educational users (business school, new law school, and a proposed science center); and residential development. The university now owns about 200 acres in the area. The public face of the university's planning effort is embodied in its Harvard-Allston Campus Planning and Institutional Master Plan.

The buy-out plans of "the Kremlin on the Charles" (as some of the angrier neighbors describe it) have led to battles with longtime residents and shopkeepers. And the situation has gotten worse as Harvard and other local universities continue their search for expansion space. Meanwhile, the funky storefronts and frame two-deckers, which offer some of the last affordable rentals in the Boston area, barely hang on.

As part of its overall city planning responsibilities, the Boston Redevelopment Authority created a neighborhood planning and zoning advisory committee for Allston and adopted a neighborhood strategic plan advertised as promoting the public safety, health, and welfare of the people of Boston. Generally, however, the BRA has stood aside as Harvard, under President Drew Faust, acquires ever more land.

Harvard's lack of openness has made things worse. Since it began buying up property in Allston some two decades ago, it has been extremely secretive about its activities, alienating many residents. Even so, the city last fall approved the university's new, 570,000-squarefoot science center. The Hub2 exercise in the Harvard-funded Portal, some surmised, was an attempt to involve the community, perhaps to deflect future hassles.

If Harvard's plans go unchecked, the city will lose the places that give Allston-Brighton character: neighborhood landmarks like Allston's Barry's Corner, a hub of retail activity, theaters, and restaurants. In their stead, we'll see more walled-off institutional buildings. Shades of the South End, some would say, recalling Boston's infamous urban renewal.

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