A summary of a Planning Board Meeting on the 2022 Town-Gown Reports and Presentations

On February 7, 2023, the Cambridge Planning Board met to hear the annual Town Gown

presentations from educational institutions. Four schools reported to the Board: Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lesley University, and Hult International School of Business. The Town Gown reporting process enables the Planning Board to better understand the educational missions of the universities and how they relate to programmatic needs and, in turn, future development of the physical campus.

The reports, presentations, and comment period all provide valuable insight into the institutional planning process and help set expectations for future growth. On a practical level, this knowledge prepares the Planning Board to review cases involving institutional development. The information gained from Town Gown provides the Board with a clearer understanding of where individual projects fit into an institution’s programmatic and physical plans.

The presentations centered around each institution’s long-term plans for campus assets, sustainability, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Overall, Planning Board members expressed appreciation to the institutions for their contributions to the Cambridge community, and for the ways they continue to advance their planning and development work in a way that aligns with the City’s broader planning and policy goals.

Following presentations and public comment, the Planning Board offered observations and asked additional questions of the institutions. At the conclusion of the meeting, the Planning Board voted to send the following summary of Board questions and comments to the City Council for its own consideration: For all of the institutions, meeting the housing needs of students, particularly graduate students, remains a primary concern.

Board members asked each institution to elaborate on how a long-term goal is established for the number of new graduate housing beds to be built, and what factors influence how that goal may change over time, such as changing housing needs of the student population. Date: Subject: 2022 Town-Gown Reports and Presentations Page of 1

City of Cambridge, MA • Planning Board Report

2022 Town-Gown Reports and Presentations Board members acknowledged that all of the educational institutions wield significant purchasing power, and asked each school to describe how it planned to use that purchasing power locally to help drive economic growth and community development.

Board members observed that each institution appeared to be expanding its efforts each year in the Cambridge community, but noted it would be helpful to document that in the Town Gown report each year so it could be tracked and discussed in more detail.

Matriculation of Cambridge residents into each of the institutions remains of interest to Planning Board members, who asked the schools to continue to report on the number of Cambridge students who are accepted and provide additional context by reporting on the number who apply, enroll and ultimately graduate. Board members requested that Harvard University share its plans for the future of the Loeb Drama Center at 64 Brattle Street and for the Inn at Harvard “swing house” at 1201 Mass Ave.

In both cases Board members expressed a strong interest in retaining some public function or use with a future redevelopment. A few additional questions and observations came up as well, related to how schools continue to plan and respond to the challenges brought forward by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, Board members were interested in learning more about changes in employee numbers, demand for on-campus facilities, including parking, and changes in planning for certain types of classrooms, work spaces, and student amenities. Board members also expressed concern about the need for improved handicapped access to the Harvard-owned Weeks footbridge and plans for the Lesley-owned parking lots on Massachusetts Avenue.

In their next report, MIT was asked to discuss the relationship between their campus and the adjacent Charles River Respectfully submitted for the Planning Board, Mary Flynn, Chair. Page of