Abstract:

This project seeks to explore the intricacies of the Harvard “Bubble:” a term that students often use colloquially to define the space around Harvard’s campus. As a real estate professional, I am interested in understanding the ways in which institutions of higher education interact with surrounding real estate markets. As such, Harvard is a case study in understanding how institutions of higher education access exclusive residential properties, and what this exclusive housing creates around it. Through interviews, use of mapping tools, and qualitative research methods, I came to understand that the Bubble is real and exists physically as much as it does culturally, economically, and socially. In the case of Harvard specifically, university housing is made exclusive to the general public by particular legal and tax allowances. Within the bounds of the Harvard Bubble, there are low levels of crime, high property values, and high-income residents.