Several residents responded positively to Lue’s ideas. Still, task force member and Allston resident Brent C. Whelan ’73 questioned the feasibility and cost of translating those ideas into practice. For his part, Houghton challenged the relevance of the presentation altogether to the task force’s role in shaping the master plan—something he said that he did not entirely understand.

Kairos Shen, chief planner of the BRA, said that the task force’s role in the community benefits conversation is to consider, help prioritize, and provide feedback on potential services. But with the future needs of the community still unclear, Mattison questioned how the task force could prioritize benefits that could be in place years from now.

“How on earth can we...say...that bridging the digital divide is more or less important than day care and early childhood education or job re-training?” Mattison said. “We’re not going to try to micromanage knowing eight years from now what the demand for English as a second language is going to be. Because who knows what this community is going to be like in eight years?”

—Staff writer Madeline R. Conway can be reached at mconway@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @MadelineRConway.