In the West Harlem neighborhood where Columbia University would build the Obama presidential library, residents are accustomed to change. But they have not always welcomed it.
The proposed library would be a cornerstone of Columbia's massive expansion into the mostly poor and working-class neighborhood of Manhattanville, one subway stop north of the university's sprawling main campus in Morningside Heights. With views of the Hudson River to the west and a cluster of public housing high-rises to the east, the Obama library and museum would serve as a bridge between the old and the new.
As one of the four semifinalists for hosting the Obama library and museum, Columbia has...