Worcester Area - all you need to know

[heathflax]

hey there, "Gardner" commenter (Anthony), ...not that I'm from Gardner exactly, though have lived there, and have long been in an adjacent town: interesting comments, and I guess I know what you mean, but Gardner still has its backers...and always probably, in the area and at large as well: In the area, basically Gardner has long been and still remains a major hangout/"cruising"/social spot for young people growing up in all the neighboring towns...which makes it sort of a "second home" comfortable to move to as many of the youth decide to stay in the area as they first head out on their own, yet in many cases wish to try out some place other than these same home towns they are "from."
and the bigger picture is also ok will unless its industry "really" crashes beyond recent losses such as Simplex and the chair factory too, Nichols and Stone. ..because amazingly, much industry, if mostly smaller plants, still remains in Gardner, so there are still a lot of jobs....multiple recent "industrial parks" there are pretty well occupied and thriving, from what I understand anyway
The thing that slows me down a little, personally, is just that, compared to my pristine town next door, even though we used to be a shop town too just like Gardner, is that the architecture and such of the downtown seems not the most refined or fancy, although that may just be a personal bias I ;m finding difficulty with, and the downtown living such as apartments like I would likely end up in, tends to be congested and cramped especially as to yard space that's so tiny there...although the single family homes, even older ones, run nice enough in Gardner I think...a recent neighbor in the apt block I ;m at in my neighboring town, who until recently had been more of a city person (born N.Y.C) thinks Gardner "mannah from Heaven", the way he talks, and loved it there when he owned a house there which unfortunatley he lost over being unable to afford it
As a city, I think oneway or another it's likely to farre well enough for some time, even if problems and challenges exist. One bit of evidence: apparently pretty well connected with the state Powers-that-be, meaning, the pols and the Statehouse, because: as to one thing at least that's said to be something to "go by,": Courts--Garner not only fairly recently landed a big brand new courthouse building from the state, it also has just become the court housing for the neighboring Winchendon District Court, which itself covers several towns. That's clout! and power and connection when you need it, on behalf of a town...

I also agree, mostly, with the original poster, as to the North of Massachusetts being a good area overall...if the transportation services being admittedly a little limited for such areas as the
Greater Gardner area, though the small towns are tending to get a little Gardner or Fitchburg/Leominster based M.A.R.T bus service, to get at least to Gardner, which can mean options for Fitchburg, at least during the college season, with rather less Fitchburg options in summer due to some of the buses being not running in summer due to their support and main purpose being ap to be from and for the community college students who aren't around in summer.
Environment's still rather beautiful up hereabouts, and getting if anything, much increased respect, especially waterways which are being cleaned up and or preserved .. With still some issues existing such as housing lot rules are often increasingly relaxed, so new houses and sprawl are apt to show up... Too bad america can't very much learn from other cultures around the world as well as history, that people can do well congregating themselves into group housing of one kind or another, leaving intervening space between intense group housing structures, for the rest of life and society, such as recreation, farms, and intact nature, ...instead of having mostly just individual houses for traditional "family" units.
yeah, the sprawl is increasing in just too many places still and thus, recreational space is becoming decreased overall, although becoming very closely watched and often looked out for and preserved or planned for preservation while there is stlll the chance....and the Rail Trails and new public places and new parks are coming on pretty strong, to go along with all the existing ones. Overall the environment is a big plus here I think, though other areas of the middle of Massachusetts , or Worcester County it could be said, are I suppose also mostly in relatively nice shape , still. For those who like countryside and nature....

[anthonyfromMA]

Hey Heath,

Yes, Gardner is still a "major destination" of sorts for the surrounding smaller communities. But I just see a dying city. We've got a WalMart that put a lot of the small town companies out of business.

The downtown area is god-awful. Not just the problem with empty shops, but also the change in traffic patterns every few years that just make the area worse.

There seem to be more slum areas in town than I remember when I was growing up. But, perhaps I was just viewing Gardner through the eyes of a child and thus the grass looked greener back then, perhaps it was always a hole of a town.

Regardless, I know it's not where I want to be