Cambridge Planning Board Sends Town-Gown Comments to City Council After Four-University Briefing

CAMBRIDGE — February 7, 2023 — Cambridge Planning Board votes to send town-gown observations to the City Council after annual reports from Harvard, MIT, Leslie, and Hult. The board voted 8-0 at its February 7 remote meeting to forward comments to the council after presentations from all four institutions, with members focusing on graduate student housing shortfalls, institutional purchasing power, and the future of publicly significant sites. Cliff Cook of the Community Development Department reported that combined payments from the institutions to the city grew from roughly $23 million in 2000 to $127 million in 2022, with MIT contributing $104 million of that total, while the number of students housed off-campus in the private market has grown faster than enrollment. Harvard disclosed plans to add more than 500 new graduate and affiliate beds over the next several years, MIT reported its new 300-unit residential building at 165 Main Street — including 54 affordable units — leased up within five months, and Hult said its 500-bed residence hall reached full capacity for the first time. Public commenter James Williamson called on the universities to house all of their students on campus rather than "externalizing housing costs on Cambridge."