Residents in this central Cambridge neighborhood have been in a number of heated debates with Harvard over its expansion plans.

By 2003, the Government Department plans to move into the new Knafel Center for International Studies, which will unify all of the department's offices in one building.

Harvard's original proposal sparked an angry reaction from community members, worried that the building would be too large to blend into their residential neighborhood. Harvard is working with the community to develop the final plans.

In the early 1980s, the museums proposed building a skyway to connect the Fogg and the then-new Sackler museums. The community opposed the bridge, fearing it would be an eyesore, and it was never built.

"I'm sorry there are these types of misunderstandings between the University and the city," says long-time Ware street resident Joanna Soltan. "Basically I feel Harvard's buildings are beautifully designed and maintained. It's a privilege to live nearby."

People interviewed on the eastern edge of Harvard earlier this week did not feel threatened by Harvard's expansion, perhaps because they have had a voice in recent building projects.

"I don't have the sense that Harvard is overbearing," says Allie Lie, who lives just off Broadway Avenue on Cambridge Street. "One kind of accepts, when living in Cambridge, the Harvard presence."

Residents approve of Harvard's size and just ask that the University not expand into their neighborhood.