AROUND HIGHER EDUCATION: Harvard eyes more grad student housing

The Harvard Crimson CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (U-WIRE) -- Cambridge is putting pressure on Harvard University to house more graduate students in university-owned buildings in order to free up housing units for local residents facing rising rents. Complying with a City Council request, representatives from Harvard appeared before Cambridge's Housing and Development Committee last night to describe Harvard's impact on the city's current housing shortage. The hearing followed a meeting this week in which council members explored ways to extract more taxes from the university. Three Harvard officials appeared before the council to present a "housing impact statement," which includes statistics on how many students are currently competing for space in the Cambridge housing market. The council requested the statements from both Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology because of a concern that students were further constricting what is already a tight housing market. Harvard houses 60 percent of its total student body -- including graduate students -- in university-owned housing, a higher proportion than any other Boston-area university, according to Harvard's director of community relations, Mary Power. However, while Harvard reportedly houses 99 percent of its undergraduate students, only 38 percent of graduate students live in Harvard-owned property. It is those 3,197 graduate students competing for Cambridge housing that council members said they are concerned about. Harvard's report last night discussed the possibility of constructing more graduate housing facilities, proposing a new building with room for 418 beds on the corner of Soldiers Field Road and Western Avenue in Allston. Vice Mayor Anthony Galluccio said the construction of new buildings by Harvard would be as contentious as the current competition for affordable housing by students. But Power said Harvard has limited options, noting that almost any solution would have its detractors. Affordable housing has been a top priority -- and a divisive issue -- for the City Council this year. Some believe that by abandoning restrictive zoning and welcoming developments, Cambridge can supply more housing, thus reducing the market price. Others worry that large developments destroy the character of Cambridge. Just as much as they do not want to see long-time Cantabrigians move away, some council members do not want to see city neighborhoods dominated by condominiums. The council passed a down-zoning measure Monday night to protect one residential block from development.