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A growing number of cities now utilize Citizen Advisory Committees (CACs) to review plans for large buildings and even smaller structures in historically sensitive areas. Boston, a city of strong neighborhoods, has been exceptionally active in the use of CACs. Indeed, by the mid-1980s Boston had gained something of a reputation as being a difficult place to build because of requirements to work with review committees and with the city''s redevelopment agency, in effect, as new partners in the design process. In the evolution of the role of CACs in design review, a proposal by The New England Life Insurance Company to build new headquarters at Five Hundred Boylston Street in Boston was particularly pivotal. The company proposed a structure far in excess of allowed density, raising concerns about traffic and other neighborhood impacts. In addition, the design of the building provoked widespread criticism, particularly from residents of the prestigious Back Bay neighborhood.