Word: allstonned
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Harvard entered into interest rate swap agreements—which are used to hedge against rising interest rates—in 2004, when it seemed that interest rates had reached favorable lows and that locking in those rates would help the University finance its mammoth, long-term expansion into Allston. But the agreements backfired this past year when the global financial crisis pushed interest rates to unprecedented lows, thereby decimating the value of the swaps...
Thus, with Allston languishing in the wake of Harvard’s expansionary slowdown and neighborhood planning plagued by constant antagonism, some activists have shifted their attentions to the Mayor and BRA. But residents say the City has been unresponsive to community needs and that the only solution may be drastic, fundamental reform of the system...
...City planners maintain that the BRA’s structure is effective and that it has had a successful track record. Susan Elsbree, a BRA spokeswoman, said in an interview with The Crimsom that planners have been working “tirelessly” in Allston and that “it simply wasn’t true” that community input was being ignored. “To suggest that we’ve not been doing enough to plan and hold Harvard’s feet to the fire is ridiculous,” she said...
...Allston residents are critical of Menino’s partnership with the BRA. Ray Mellone, chairman of the Harvard Allston Task Force, said he supports the current structure and noted that, contrary to some neighborhood perceptions, the University has not been given a free pass...
Harry Mattison, a member of the Harvard Allston Task Force and a vocal critic of the City’s planning process, said that the election was a critical moment for City reform, and that he and other Allston activists would be making their voices heard in the coming weeks...