Harvard officials say that the situation over the separate school announcements was merely a misunderstanding clouded by poor timing, and that it did not show any concerted effort to leave Cambridge out—despite the fact that Grogan spoke with Galluccio the day before the Boston announcement, and did not mention the planned afterschool partnership.

“We had an unfortunate communication problem,” Grogan says. “What we always intended was the development of an education partnership with Cambridge.”

Like a Good Neighbor?

But city officials and residents say that the tensions over the afterschool program show the inherent problem with the University in its dealings regarding development: elusive plans and hidden agendas keep the University from forming any basis of trust.

“Why not be direct?” Cambridge resident Carlson asks. “They don’t understand that’s why people are weary of them.”

A comfort level has been nearly impossible for Harvard to achieve on many recent projects, with residents opposing everything from the surface to the purpose of buildings.

Along with the Riverside museum proposal, the Center for Government and International Studies—formerly known as the Knafel Center—featured Cambridge residents adamantly opposed to Harvard development near their neighborhood.

The project faced nearly four years of opposition that forced two redesigns before being approved by the Cambridge Planning Board three weeks ago.

While University officials feel that the process did take too long, they say that community concerns have been addressed through the approval process, with Cambridge City Council approval as the last step.

“We’ve tried to be thoughtful, responsive and patient in response to community needs,” Rudenstine says.

McCready says that an open process has been used on all projects recently, as the University tries to present plans early when they want to develop sites, while seeking community input as much as possible.

“All of these projects are in these folks neighborhoods, so it’s important that they feel comfortable with them,” McCready adds.

But while community initiatives such as the affordable housing or summer school funding deals may help smooth relations on the governmental level, residents directly opposed to University proposals don’t think the tradeoff is worth it.

“We’re concerned about the tradeoffs, where the University basically says, ‘Let us build this, and we’ll give you this,’” Carlson says.

“With these deals, residents end up on the short end,” Carlson adds. “You get lobsters for the developers and lollipops for the residents.”