New town/gown website

www.towngownworld.com is a new website with a lot of information relevant to the our situations here in Allston and Brighton. There is link to a review of a book by Rockefeller Foundation president and former University of Pennsylvania president Judith Rodin titled "The University & Urban Revival" and a link to an article by Rodin "Working With the Neighbors".

Another link is to "When the Gown Devours the Town" that discusses a recent panel discussion in New York on the subject of "When the Big Get Bigger: New York’s Universities and Their Neighborhoods". Judith Rodin was a speaker at this forum and this excerpt gives a glimpse into what happened at Penn during her tenure.

In Penn’s case, the university ultimately spent or obtained hundreds of millions of dollars for programs to improve public safety, support retailers and other small businesses, build housing and improve public schools.
“I have to be candid,” Dr. Rodin said. “There were many times in which faculty legitimately said to me during this process: ‘Why are you building a supermarket? We need five more positions in the English Department.’ And that is a very real and very honest tension within.”

Hopefully www.towngownworld.com will continue to post new information and resources and be a great source of learning for us.