Property Values Around Harvard Help City

To the editors:

I hope that when the Cambridge City Council sets out to assess its “losses due to Harvard” (News, “Cambridge To Assess Losses Due To Harvard,” April 1), some consideration is given to taxes levied on property surrounding the University.

Would local houses be selling in the $500,000 to $1,000,000 range if not for Harvard? Would Abercrombie and Fitch, et al. be paying astoundingly high rents for retail space in Harvard Square if not for all the students and tourists the University attracts?

Jason W. Gabler

April 2, 2003

The writer is a graduate student in sociology and a resident tutor in Pforzheimer House.