TownGown World : Town and Gown University Communities 

Boston, MA
Building to Community Scale
By Susan Ashbrook, Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, USA
Feb, 2008

The Berklee College of Music Community Task Force, representing local residents, business and cultural organizations, was formed in September 2006 to participate in the development of the college’s Institutional Master Plan, as required by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA).  Berklee, an undergraduate college with approximately 4,000 students dedicated to the study of contemporary music, has grown piece-meal since its foundation in 1945.  Most of its classrooms, administration and housing are scattered around a variety of spaces, leased and owned, amidst densely populated neighborhoods. 

The college is seeking to provide dormitory space for a larger percentage of its student population, to build a new state-of-the-art performance center, and to consolidate some of its administrative functions closer to the heart of its “campus.”  In a draft of its Institutional Master Plan Notification Form published last fall, Berklee proposed to accommodate these needs in a tower of as much as 35 stories, to be built on the only significant parcel of land that it owns, on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Boylston Street. 

This prominent site abuts the high-rise Prudential Center to its east but is characterized by low commercial buildings from the turn-of-the century, and adjoins a dense residential neighborhood of small scale apartment buildings.  In response the Task Force voiced support for Berklee’s goal of creating an architectural identity where none has existed but expressed in the strongest terms the dismay felt by most members at the inappropriate scale proposed for the site.

At the time of writing the college has backed away from the proposed tower as it pursues acquisition of an adjacent site that will allow a larger footprint and thus a lower structure. The Berklee administration so far has responded to the Task Force’s strongly stated objections, and the community process seems to have encouraged other options to be brought forward.  The Task Force is hopeful that Berklee’s needs can be met in a manner that is in harmony with the neighborhood in which it resides.(Go to NABB)

Southhampton England
By Lorraine Barter, Spokesperson-Residents Action, UK
Dec 2007
Residents Action is a residents pressure group founded ten years ago to attract the Local  Councils attention to the awful lifestyle suffered in the Polygon area as students moved in and there was an increase in pubs and bars opened to cater for the student market. We are a member of the HMO Lobby,their site has a link to our address.
 
Fifteen years ago the Polygon area of Southampton, England was a very desirable place in which to live. The semi detached Edwardian houses had a character that was unique, and the whole area had an elegant ambience.

Today, the ratio of Houses in Multiple Occupation to Family homes is 2.75 HMOs to 1 Family Home. Students and other young singles live in houses that have four bedrooms but many landlords make the lounges into bedrooms so that the occupiers have little space in which to relax or entertain their friends. This of course only encourages them to go out clubbing more often.