THE UNIVERSITIES draw a lot more than excess residents to Cambridge; many businesses, especially in such fields as computers and electronics, are eager to locate near the universities in order to make use of the vast technical expertise available.
"Polaroid, Tech Square, and Draper Laboratories probably never would have come to Cambridge if it weren't for the presence of Harvard and MIT," Duehay said. Non-university-related businesses also have an incentive to locate in Cambridge because of the ease with which managerial personnel can be attracted to live in a university community.
But Harvard and MIT also create problems for business vitality in Cambridge. As high rents force residents out of Cambridge, the city's once-abundant supply of unskilled immigrant labor is rapidly declining. Also the high cost of industrial land has caused Cambridge to rely too heavily on science-oriented industries which have a real incentive to be near Harvard and MIT.
The disastrous consequences of such a trend can be seen in Kendall Square. Scores of blue collar industries were forced to move out of that area in the early sixties (at the cost of 3000 jobs) to make way for a mammoth NASA research center. Cutbacks in the space program in the late sixties forced the closing of the center after only one building had been completed; Kendall Square is now a multi-acre wasteland.
More and more of the industries in Cambridge rely heavily on science-oriented government contracts. This rapid growth in Cambridge's electronics-university complex could lead to economic disaster in the city if ever the federal government terminated a significant number of contracts to local firms.
City officials are attempting to diversify Cambridge's industrial base by inviting blue collar industries to help redevelop Kendall Square, but at least one official privately admits that these industries usually prefer other industrial areas of greater Boston, where land is cheaper and is available for future expansion.
Harvard itself, the city's largest employer, provides a boost to the local economy. It has over 9000 employees, 3000 of whom are Cambridge residents. While one corporation the size of Harvard has little effect on the economy in the entire metropolitan area, it does provide Cambridge residents with a convenient place of employment.
ONE OF THE greatest losses to Cambridge that the disappearance of Harvard would entail would be the demise of Harvard Square. As a subway terminus and as the meeting place of all of the city's major roads, a Harvard-less Square would quite likely continue to be congested. But the area's economic vitality and cultural uniqueness is totally dependent on its proximity to the University.
Peter W. Wasserman, a Harvard Square architect/developer, said last week, "People come from all over to shop in the Square because it's got a flavor all its own. But we'd be just like Davis Square [Somerville]--dull and depressed--without Harvard."
A Harvard-less Cambridge is often compared in such terms to Somerville--where the housing is cheap but run-down, taxes are high, and little sense of community exists. Despite their complaints against Harvard, locals are truly proud of their city and its educational institutions.
"What makes Cambridge an interesting place to live in is the mixture of all different types within the city--working class people and university types, and every conceivable ethnic group," Wasserman said.
Duehay said, "The cultural advantages of Cambridge benefit the upper middle class most of all, and working class people probably could live more cheaply somewhere else. But most everyone in the city is willing to pay a little bit for the privilege of living here."
The crucial question for Cambridge's future is whether the balance between working class and university Cambridge can be maintained. The workers have been giving ground continually over the past decade, with one neighborhood after another losing its cohesiveness as young transients move in; rents are simply getting too high for family units to remain in the city. Perhaps the proper question to be asking is, "What would Harvard be like without Cambridge?