Feb
26
The Globe’s take on Harvard/Allston
Posted by nathanael. Filed Under politics
Interesting editorial in the Globe this morning -
Harry Mattison, an outspoken member of the Harvard Allston Task Force, says the land-banking is choking the commercial life of the neighborhood. “It’s the drip, drip, drip of property warehousing, encroaching blight, and establishment of a real estate monopoly,” he says.
Faust won’t commit to a moratorium on buying additional properties in Allston, as City Councilor Michael Flaherty recently suggested. But that would be a sensible plan if Harvard fails in its effort to lease its empty land holdings.
Unfortunately, given the level of discourse on that site instead of a reasonable discussion on livable streets we get non-sequitur knee jerk responses like -
Give me a break. Stop being cry babies. If you have the muscles, why don’t you buy the land from Harvard? Until then, you should be on knees that Harvard owns the land. If you don’t like looking at empty land, move away, who asked you to live there in the first place?
For a more thoughtful and cogent examination of the issues, see Allston: State of Play in 2009, where Dylan Matthews interviews Harry Mattison and Brent Whelan.
-via allston02134
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