Baldwin Neighborhood Council (BNC) has a long history of successful negotiations and partnership with neighboring universities Harvard and Lesley.

The Baldwin Community and Harvard University
Harvard University is Baldwin’s neighbor along the community’s southwestern edge, with properties on Hammond St., Museum St., Oxford St., Francis Ave., and Kirkland St., as well as residential rental and retail properties.

-ACID
The Agassiz Committee on the Impacts of Development (ACID), a special committee of then-named ANC (now Baldwin Neighborhood Council), was instrumental in creating the Agassiz-Harvard Memorandum of Understanding, which addresses construction and development in Harvard’s North Campus/the neighborhood’s southwestern edge. Below find documents developed by ACID committee members.

-Agassiz-Harvard Memorandum of Understanding
At the December 16, 2003 ANC Meeting, the community voted to approve the Agassiz-Harvard Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), a document intended to “frame and memorialize the relationship between the Agassiz Community and Harvard University regarding future development within Harvard’s North Campus . . . ”   The final vote at the Council meeting was: 59 yes, 4 no, 4 abstain.

The Baldwin Community and Lesley University
Lesley University’s central campus is located on Wendell St., Mellen St., Oxford St., and Sacramento St.  Recent development projects in the neighborhood include renovations to University properties, a new dorm at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Wendell St., and the proposed relocation of the Art Institute of Boston (AIB) to Porter Square.

-Development in Porter Square
In November 2008, a community survey was distributed to the Council, this neighborhood, and nearby neighborhood groups with the goal of identifying residents’ opinions and concerns about Lesley University’s proposed development in Porter Square.  To learn more, download the survey results and comments.

For updates on Lesley University and the community, read The Whistler.  You may also visit the university’s Campus Planning pages on their website.

Downloads:

Request for Special Noise Variance – July 2022
Mass Ave-Everett-Chauncy Intersection work notice
Law School Implementation Agreement – July 2007
Signed Agassiz Harvard MOU 4/04
Agassiz-Harvard MOU 12/16/03
Agassiz-Harvard MOU Map attachment 12/16/03
Construction Mitigation Memo 12/16/03
Draft Memo of Understanding (MOU) Summary 9/03
Harvard’s Mitigation Response 9/03
ACID Wish List for Harvard Law School 6/03
ACID Wish List for Faculty of Arts and Sciences 3/03
ACID Chronology
ACID Statement of Purpose 2/02