In both neighborhoods, residents say Harvard officials put themselves in a better position to negotiate by offering benefits that really mattered to the community.

Mayor Michael A. Sullivan says the provisions offered in Riverside were “quantifiable” and targeted two of the city’s priorities: providing affordable housing and preserving open space.

In Agassiz, Harvard took steps to reduce the noise, dust and disruption caused by construction, which has been a key issue in a neighborhood facing years of development on all sides.

And by providing a 25-year picture of its development plans in Agassiz, Harvard responded to the common complaint from neighborhood residents that the University proposes building projects one at a time, without offering any insight into its long-term vision.

“For the first time in this neighborhood’s history, we had a true sense from Harvard as to what the total build-out was going to be,” Bloomstein says.

Stone says the University “modified slightly our modus operandi” in Agassiz by having representatives from the law school and FAS together at the table to present a more unified picture of the development plans—something that has been difficult to do in the past at this notoriously decentralized institution where each school has pursued its own projects.

Bloomstein says he felt it was “very positive” for the neighbors to be able to meet face-to-face with Stone and other high-level administrators.

“It demonstrated how serious Harvard was about the process,” he says.

In Riverside, residents say they did not feel they always had the chance to speak with people at Harvard who were authorized to negotiate on the spot.

“On occasion, Harvard representatives would actually make a decision in the room,” Wysoker says. “The vast majority of the time we would be expected to make decisions in the room and Harvard would say, ‘We’ll get back to you.’”

But Murphy, one of the councillors who took a lead role in the behind-the-scenes Riverside negotiations, says he thinks Harvard’s representatives “were getting their marching orders from Mass. Hall and had a very good sense of what they could and couldn’t do.”

“It allowed us, I think, to move through the process and to come to agreements,” he says.

ROCKY ROAD

Despite the ultimately successful resolutions, the process of arriving at agreements was not always smooth in either neighborhood.

In Agassiz, Harvard officials met with four representatives who negotiated on behalf of the neighborhood, and at several community meetings throughout the process, other residents raised concerns about their lack of direct involvement.