As Harvard buys up more property in the Western Ave area of Allston in preparation for its major expansion there, local residents are worried that life in the neighborhood will die out, according to an article in the Boston Business Journal. About half of the 1.2 million square feet of commercial space the university owns is vacant.

In response to the community’s concerns, according to the article, Harvard has drafted an interim land use plan, that would including leasing some of the properties for five years or more.

Harvard has a lot challenges on its hands when it expands into Allston. Not only will it have to convince some of its scientists to move their labs over there (and some are certainly skeptical about what they’ll gain from being over there away from the main campus and the medical school), but it also has to maintain good relations with the Allston community members.

Community relations hasn’t been a strong point of Harvard’s (it’s had a historically difficult relationship with the city of Cambridge), but the Allston residents/entrepreneurs quoted in the article seemed to be pretty positive about Harvard…although one local business owner expressed his desire to keep his business where it is, even if it’s surrounded by Harvard-owned land.