Worcester or Lowell? Which would you rather live? Why. (Boston: home, living in)

[Tiger Beer]

Just trying to learn more about your cities. If you could or had to live in either Worcester or Lowell, which would you choose? Why?

[btownboss4]

Depeds, where do you work, if Its Boston I would pick lowell, its a nice city, and closer to Boston. but Worcester is closer to a Stand alone city.

[LexWest]

Lowell for me. Worcester is a little too isolated. At least Lowell is within a reasonable distance to Boston and Southern NH.

[lrfox]

Lowell.

As others have mentioned, Lowell has the advantage of proximity to Boston as well as the coast.

In addition, I think Lowell has a more "complete" downtown area that's very walkable, full of attractions; and is, in my opinion, prettier. I like how Lowell is situated on a system of canals and the city is chalk-full of wonderful architecture (not that Worcester isn't). Lowell's the fairly easy choice for me.

[Tiger Beer]

Interesting poll results. Without having been to these two cities, I would have assumed Lowell was the beaten down undesireable mill town one, and Worcester the more intact one.

Lowell looks interesting on google maps though, home of Jack Kerouac, and an interesting large Cambodian population. Might be an interesting place.

[chaxey]

I think your poll doesn't have toooo much value due to the small sample size of responses, but I would agree with the others; Don't discount what Lowell has to offer.

Yes, Lowell has PLENTY of problems, but offers a lot at a VERY practical price point. The Highlands and Belvidere offer an urban and suburban communities, and downtown has a lot to do whether it be museums, nightlife, dining, etc.

I can't speak to Woostah, I've never spent much time there.

[lrfox]

Just to be clear... my choice (Lowell) was not a knock against Worcester. Neither city is perfect, but both get taken for granted more than they should. However, Lowell's unique characteristics combined with proximity to Boston make it my choice of the two. Lowell is constantly praised for what it has done to improve the downtown area and the city as a whole. I would certainly classify it as "up and coming" despite the problems that do still exist. Worcester is another city that's improving (the City Square project is huge).

I like both of them. I'd probably be very happy living in either of them (I prefer to be in a more urban environment than a suburban one), but I'd choose Lowell over Worcester, all other factors being equal.

[bolehboleh]

Sorry to bump this thread but I was curious about these two cities now that some time has passed since this thread was posted. In 2011, it seems like a lot of people preferred Lowell to Worcester - but now now that Worcester is going through a lot of changes, has anyone changed their minds?

[BosYuppie]

Worcester is gentrifying and has a lot more interesting stuff (restaurants, breweries, minor league sports etc) now than it did in 2011. Much more variety than Lowell. In a vacuum, I would choose Worcester over Lowell in 2019. Lowell is of course much closer to Boston and southern NH.

[OutdoorLover]

I'd prefer Worcester. The nicer parts of Worcester are really pretty nice. I haven't been in Lowell a lot but I have yet to run across the nicer parts.