BOSTON — The rats are out in spades this spring in North Allston, a
gritty neighborhood wedged between the Charles River and the
Massachusetts Turnpike, and residents are blaming Harvard.
Harvard had big plans to expand its campus into Allston with a
science complex. But last winter, the university announced that the
recession would force it to slow — perhaps even halt — the $1 billion
project. Now Allston residents are living with a gaping hole and a
bunch of vacant buildings instead of the prospect of a revitalized
neighborhood.
They are not alone in feeling burned by a
university. As endowments everywhere sink with the economy, town-gown
relationships, often carefully nurtured during the boom years as
colleges and universities sought to expand, are fraying.
“We feel
like we’ve been betrayed and taken advantage of,” said Harry Mattison,
a resident who serves on the Harvard Allston Task Force, an advisory
group. “Instead of Harvard bringing in jobs and excitement and
vibrancy, we are sliding backwards.”
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