With Harvard's plan to build a Renzo Piano-designed art museum rejected, the university took a new tack and built student housing, a park and an underground parking garage -- a "satisfying outcome", says Anthony Flint.
The site is the old Mahoney's garden center site on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. The Renzo Piano plan was so unpopular that locals threatened to bomb it if it was built. Flint says that the opposition's point was valid: "was this really the best place to put an art museum?" And Renzo Piano ended up still being part of the plan, with a renovation to the nearby Sackler Museum.
Pictures at Anthony Flint's new Boston Globe blog, This Land.
Read the full story: After battle, park at Harvard site manages to please
After public outcry, Massachusetts city releases housing development tracker
Cambridge’s tracker currently shows 250 housing projects in various stages of development.
How Cambridge Restored its Public Housing
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, residents speak positively of the renovations to their public housing stock. The housing authority attributes its success to an innovative mix of RAD with other funding sources.
Cambridge Passes Zoning Reform
Developers can now build housing of up to six stories in the Massachusetts city.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Move over, LA: St. Louis gears up for Olympics, invests millions in downtown redevelopment
The Missouri city will host the 2028 Olympic soccer group stage and knockout matches.
San Diego’s Midway Rising project gets greenlight from city council
The project looks to become the largest affordable housing development in California's history.
Bill to overhaul energy permitting clears Senate
The Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 still needs to pass the House of Representatives.
MTA sends Dem leaders a wish list to mend Trump’s damages
Requests include exempting new train and bus components from tariffs and increasing transit security funding.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello