Kathy A. Spiegelman, chief University planner and director of the Allston Initiative, says the residents’ concerns for Allston match well with the University’s interests.

“We’ve found a lot of common ground with the things that the neighborhood and the city would like to see with regard to physical improvements and economic development and the kinds of things that the Faculty task forces are pointing us towards,” she says.

Ray Mellone, chair of the community task force, says the neighborhood report will provide a framework for the planning firm to take into account.

“We have to rely on the good-faith efforts of everybody to agree to abide by those principles,” he says. “If the new folks that they hire are unwilling to follow that, then I guess there will be a lot of discussion about why they can’t go forward with those kinds of things.”

Stone says the community planning process will parallel Harvard’s own internal planning.

“I can’t see a scenario where there won’t be a great deal of engagement with the community,” he says.

As Harvard has learned from Cambridge, it’s crucial to care about what the neighbors think.

—Lauren R. Dorgan contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Jessica R. Rubin-Wills can be reached at rubinwil@fas.harvard.edu.