I'm sorry, but I have to call a "mega B.S." on that statement. I just did a research project on the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood(s) with regards to structures that facilitate a sense of community in the neighborhood, and after attending Northeastern University for the last 4 years I can assure you the school promotes a greater sense of community than any establishment abutting or within the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood. Through the greening of campus quads and corridors, Northeastern now features the Krentzman Quad, the Library Quad, the Sciences Quad, the Churchill/World Series Way Quad, the West Village Quad, the Freshman Quad (Spear Place), and of course Centennial Commons on the heart of campus. Unlike the collective 'Colleges of the Fenway' and even our neighbor to the north (Boston University), Northeastern's open spaces are frequently bustling with student-sponsored activities, visiting families, impromptu music performances, wiffle ball games, ultimate frisbee tournaments, BBQ's, and even the casual sunbathers looking to catch up on studies or enjoy the pleasant weather. Yet while the transition from some neighborhoods to others is quite abrupt in parts of Boston, at least at Northeastern the transition is smooth, representing the positive relationship the school has looked to foster with the surrounding communities in the neighborhood.
Also, you're misinformed with regards to admissions & ratio of people living on campus/around campus. After the completion of International Village, Northeastern now houses nearly 60% of its student body on campus. Its student body is around 15,000 people and enrollment has been capped for entering freshman classes to about 2,800 students. Be that as it may, of course there are those students that must live off campus and "commute" to NU. But it's important not to misidentify what this commute actually is. Well over 85% of Northeastern's students live within a half mile of the university within on or off campus housing--their commute simply requires a short walk or bike ride to the campus, or perhaps even a hop on the "T". But between the student body and the faculty/administration, less than 15% physically drive cars to "commute" to campus. And as Northeastern moves to house more of its students on campus, that percent of cars on campus will continue to reduce.
NU's campus is only 73 acres big--large enough to accommodate our vast student body, yet intimate enough in scale that it not only takes less than 12 minutes to walk between the two furthest points on campus, but also promotes an environment that fosters a VERY rich sense of community. Physically speaking, it annoys me that someone would make the claim that NU is too big to have a sense of community and might likely argue that a school that's hundreds of acres larger is small enough to accomplish the same task. That's poppycock.
I work as a tour guide at Northeastern's Visitor Center and would be more than pleased to arrange a tour for you to see exactly what I'm talking about. Just shoot me a message.