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Worcester is a nasty city. It would be a nice place were it not for the attitude of the people here. They don't care about anything. Trash day is the day that they distribute more trash into the streets. Car insurance is ridiculously high because the people drive like maniacs here. They are rude, inconsiderate and dangerous. And if you think you can get by with public transportation, try getting around in winter when the dilapitated sidewalks are covered in ice and snow. Or during other months when you will encounter all the trash and (I'm not exaggerating!) raw sewage bubling up onto the sidewalks. I pity any children that grow up here. I cannot wait to leave. Oh, and if you think it is a safe place to live, do google search on the following news article: Suspect Arrested in Gruesome Worcester Murder, ABC6 News Story Created: Jul 29, 2009 at 11:15 PM EDT. If you can afford to live somewhere else, don't move to Worcester.
I have to agree with your post and quash some of the other supporting posts. I did seven years of school in Worcester, between QCC and WSC and I have never met a ruder brand of people who have closer to zero consideration for other people. I could list the host of things that I have run into, but I don't want to be accused of a defaming post.
Massachusetts as a whole has developed a bad rap for a lot of things over the years, including some of the taxes that we levy and laws that we've created, however it is the only state home to an insurance company that covers pre-existing conditions (such as the ones I were just diagnosed with recently).
I would not recommend raising a family in Worcester, but rather a town like Shrewsbury. Very quiet, classy, and you have almost anything you'd need as far as living accommodations. If you want night life, go to Boston.
But what's your case? The worst "s-holes" (as you put it) in MA aren't as bad as the worst "s-holes" in the rest of the country. Dorchester is an umbrella term for an area encompassing MANY neighborhoods, some not so wonderful, but others excellent. Chelsea may not be gorgeous, but it's not a bad city. Fitchburg has a rough economy, but again, not a bad town. Revere also isn't beautiful (I don't think the beach area is terrible) but isn't a bad town. Roxbury has hit and miss areas, but some aren't bad at all. Lowell, Springfield, etc have bad neighborhoods and great ones. Lowell has a lot of history and a pretty cool city center. Worcester is similar... there are areas to avoid, but it's not a bad city at all. Certainly not even close to some of the "s-holes" elsewhere. I'd take any of Massachusetts "S-holes" over Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Richmond (CA or VA), Houston, etc.
The real issue is that many people in Massachusetts (and New England) have an aversion to any urban area other than Boston (or a few other regional urban centers like Providence, Portland, etc). Cities like Worcester, Lowell, Springfield, Manchester, etc all sit in the shadow of greater Boston. It's impossible for those cities to offer what Boston does and it's unfair to chastise or label them negatively because they can't compare. It's also unfair to expect these smaller urban areas to offer the pristine environment that the well-to-do suburbs do. As diverse urban areas, they can't do this either.
What these cities do is provide affordable urban alternatives to the sometimes prohibitively priced Boston area. They offer history, diversity, culture, entertainment, etc that one would look for in an urban area. No, not on the same level as Boston, but few cities do. To label them "s-holes" is unfair and displays a pretty decent quantity of ignorance and lack of knowledge base. If you think Worcester is bad, you need to get out of New England more.
I grew up in the army (between multiple states in the South and I lived in FL for six months and the only other pleasure that MA has over any other states is good unemployment benefits. Just for my credentials:
1) Dated two girls that lived in Boston; unless you're into the city life or enjoy paying extra for rent and expenses, you're just asking for trouble.
2) Fall River, Manchester, NH, and Providence, RI all are of the same type of city - very underdeveloped. You can find good living accommodations, but they're not in the safest parts of town.
3) Did seven years of school + working in Worcester. There are some portions of the city, but overall, it's a college/party city. There roads aren't all that well paved (main roads that is) and their snow response time is poor compared to other cities that I've done things in. The city government has admitted on many occasions that they've misused funds and given raised where not appropriate.
4) If the MCAS wasn't in effect, the educational system in MA would be ten times better.
I could keep going, but you can do a Google search to learn more.
1) Dated two girls that lived in Boston; unless you're into the city life or enjoy paying extra for rent and expenses, you're just asking for trouble.
Well, yeah, if you're not into the city life then you probably won't like living in Boston. Many people ARE into the city life (myself included) and would prefer smaller, more expensive living space close to all that Boston has to offer (without the need of a car which is expensive itself) to a larger place in the 'burbs or a rural area. That's why people will pay $1+ Million for a 1,000sq foot condo in Boston over paying $1+ Million for double that space in Weston. It's a matter of preference.
If anything, recent trending shows that people (particularly the younger generations) are starting to prefer urban areas to suburbs and rural areas again. You can see this in the entrepreneurial revitalizations in the core of cities like Lowell, New Bedford, and even Worcester to a degree. Younger whites are moving to cities while immigrants are moving to the suburbs. Things are changing.
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2) Fall River, Manchester, NH, and Providence, RI all are of the same type of city - very underdeveloped. You can find good living accommodations, but they're not in the safest parts of town.
Manchester, Fall River, and Providence are the same type of city? Really? Have you been to Providence lately? It has tough spots (as do all urban areas), but the nice areas in Providence are beautiful and still far cheaper than the bulk of the Northeast. Providence doesn't skimp on urban amenities either. Fall River and Manchester offer less (far less, really) but in turn, the nicest areas of town are staggeringly affordable and safe (take a ride through Fall River's Highlands... you can get 3,000 sq. ft Victorians for $250k in a safe, suburban area).
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3) Did seven years of school + working in Worcester. There are some portions of the city, but overall, it's a college/party city. There roads aren't all that well paved (main roads that is) and their snow response time is poor compared to other cities that I've done things in. The city government has admitted on many occasions that they've misused funds and given raised where not appropriate.
But EVERY city has some good/bad neighborhoods. It's how cities function. Worcester has a larger percentage of students than most cities, but that's not anything to knock the city for. The city as a whole (when compared nationally) isn't really unsafe and the good neighborhoods are, well, good.
As far as poor government management goes, I agree. Worcester isn't alone in that regard. Too many of these secondary cities are poorly managed and too heavily grant-dependent. It's not just Worcester. Still, it doesn't mean they can't improve, and it doesn't mean there aren't good places in most every one of them. It's too frequent that entire cities are written off under one sweeping generalization that's often inflated to an extreme. If I listened to some of the posts in these forums I'd be afraid of getting shot for just setting foot within Worcester (or Fall River, New Bedford, Brockton, Lowell, Lawrence, etc) city limits. That's hardly the case.
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4) If the MCAS wasn't in effect, the educational system in MA would be ten times better.
I agree 100%. I think MA is working towards some other testing systems proven to work elsewhere. MCAS is a failure. It holds teachers and school districts to unfair standards and takes responsibility away from those who it should be placed upon (Parents/students in most cases).
I could keep going, but you can do a Google search to learn more.[/quote]
I have been looking for some more information on Worcester lately. I am foreign national, planning to visit WPI in Worcester this summer, and I was wondering what the city was like. So I don't plan on living there, but I will be walking around by myself quite a lot...
Are there any specific dangers that I should know about.
(If it's of any relevance, even if my appearance could be that of a caucasian american, I do have an accent that can quickly expose me)
I have been in the USA once before, but only for three weeks.
I have been looking for some more information on Worcester lately. I am foreign national, planning to visit WPI in Worcester this summer, and I was wondering what the city was like. So I don't plan on living there, but I will be walking around by myself quite a lot...
Are there any specific dangers that I should know about.
(If it's of any relevance, even if my appearance could be that of a caucasian american, I do have an accent that can quickly expose me)
I have been in the USA once before, but only for three weeks.
Many thanks in advance!
If you are male you will be safe any where any time as long as you keep your street smarts about you, stay out of the projects, and don't plan on getting involved in drug trafficking.
If you are a woman all of the above applies except be a little more cautious at night.
Random violent crime is very very very low in Worcester.
I am slowly starting to realize that this right here is Worcester's biggest obstacle to becoming a true city with a non poor urban core. The majority of people who grow up in Central Mass and stay here are not people who enjoy a dense urban lifestyle. People who do enjoy city living and want to stay in the area almost always end up moving to Boston, Providence or NYC. So what you have left is a very small minority of folks who truly love the city and are living in the urban neighborhoods and trying to make things better. Than you have folks moving to "the second largest city in New England" (a title true in population only and false in every other way imaginable) expecting all that title would entail and being hugely disappointed. What you have here is a bunch of people trying to run a city who haven't the faintest clue about what true city living is being voted in by a population who could care less about true city living.
Worcester for most of it's history prior to the industrial revolution was a small town. In the span of about 40 very quick years it became a city on the cusp of being a great American city. I-290, the GI bill, and white flight halted this practice in it's tracks in the 50's and 60's and the entire city has been an exercise in futility ever since. The title of second largest city in New England plus the skyscrapers and other big city infrastructure has fooled Central Mass into having faith that this city should be something it isn't and fooled New England and the rest of the outside world to expect this city to be something it just doesn't have the capacity of becoming.
Add in the fact that the metropolitan area is absolutely tiny. Worcester has far less people coming into the city on a daily basis to use it's services and amenities than Boston, Providence, Hartford, New Haven, Springfield, and Albany, and even Lowell. We like to compare ourselves to Providence but people can't seem to grasp the idea that a Northeastern cities density and metropolitan area are what make it feel like a large city not it's population.
If Boston was laid out like a southern city of over 150 square miles it would be an absolute megalopolis. Providence and Hartford would be very large cities of over a million people. Worcester would still only be about 300,000 people. Think about that next time you are comparing and thinking about what you think Worcester should be versus what it is.
The Poster above me makes some very good points. Here is how I see Worcester from my seventeen year old perspective:
Worcester was once a great industrial city with a population of 200,000 plus in the 1950's. But the Industry left, and the people left with the industry. Worcester does have a small city feel in the area around WPI. That area is very nice, it is lively with a mix of restaurants and some shops even. If the whole city was like the area around WPI it would be amazing. Worcester today is a mixed bag. The area opposite the WPI campus on Park Avenue is a beautiful residential area that can compare with the Boston Suburbs in my opinion. There are many beautiful parts to the city over there. The Highland Street area is nice also, very few problems over there.
Worcester is run poorly though, with a government that has no idea how to run a city. All the recent development in the city has been by the colleges in the city. Nothing ever seems to be built here. It is unfortunate though. In Worcester the city is covered with "Three Deckers", or three family homes. In my opinion those are becoming the downfall of the city. They were once nice homes for the working class families in the city, my mother grew up in one and I have spent much time in some nicer ones around the city. But today the vast majority of three deckers in the city are slums. The citizens of Worcester that live in the three deckers today have no respect for where they live and trash the three deckers. Overall they give the city a very trashy appearance. Not to mention that they are 100 or so years old, so they can be costly to maintain, but in my opinion vinyl siding was a terrible thing to bring to Worcester and who ever did made a killing on siding all the three deckers in the city. It is unfortunate that most of the city is in the state that it is in.
You will be safe in the area around WPI day and night if you use common sense that you would use in any city. I would even say that downtown is definately safe during the day, and at night with a small group there would be no problems. However avoid the Plumley Village housing projects. That is the area nearest you that may be a problem. The City government thinks that low income housing downtown is the answer to everything. They are wrong, mainly because they have no idea on urban planning and are fools.
When you are in the city though, try and visit the Art Museum at least. It is very close to WPI. It is a gem of a small art museum. If that is not your tase, maybe visit the Worcester Historical Society on Elm Street to see the former grandeur of the city, perhaps you can take in a Tornadoes Game or go to a show at the Hanover or Mechanics Hall. There really is alot of things in the city but the residents are ignorant and think Boston is the answer to their cultural needs.
Yes it is true that Boston is amazing and is where most of the city dwellers want to live in Massachusetts. However that is unfortunate, because if Worcester was spruced up there would be some fabulous places for the city dwellers to live in. There really is a beautiful downtown waiting to be cleaned up.
Worcester is a lot less dense than other cities. There are dense neighborhoods, but they are poorer. The rich people in Worcester live in massive homes on rather large pieces of land for a city. Hopefully the CitySquare II development will finally launch and the city can make some progress in gentrification in the downtown sector. Have fun visiting the city, hopefully you will have a good time here and you will like it. On one last unrelated note, I am looking for colleges and will unfortunately have to leave the city for college, but the colleges here are excellent but they just don't have what I want to study, but hopefully Worcester will turn around while I am in college because I really want to return to Worcester and live in one of the beautiful old buildings downtown and see a change. So enjoy Worcester, it really is not that bad, just ignore the city government, they are the problem with the city.
(Sorry I said so much, I had a lot to say about my city.)
Here's my perspective from someone who was raised in the suburbs of Florida her whole life and wanted desperately to move up north, and so got a job in Worcester and moved here a month ago with her boyfriend.
I like it. A lot. Yes, there are things that suck. I need to get used to the aggressive driving. The highways confuse me. And if there are so many pot holes and unevened pavement in the roads now, how am I going to drive through this in winter when I have never driven in snow before a day in my life? But, it'll make me tougher, I have a GPS, and I love the cold.
Everyone here compares Boston to Worcester. My dream all my life was to live in NYC. I've been to Boston, once. So far I'd still rather live in NYC than Boston. I'm thankful to be within driving distance of both.
Back to Worcester though. There is no more crime than what I dealt with in Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and Jacksonville. Like any place, you have to learn where to go and where not to go, and keep street smarts about you.
The restaurants are great. And I've only begun to explore them. (Anyone want to name some more for me to check out btw? Maybe I'll start a new thread on that. lol) I LOVE the ambiance, the feeling of history when you look out your window, or in my case, even around my own apartment building which used to be a factory. The churches are so gorgeous it almost makes me want to find god just so I can go into them! lol The colleges look amazing and make me want to go back to school again, though I have no idea what for since I already have an MA. Part of what is so great about Worcester is that it is so close to all the places everyone keeps comparing it to. You can live here and go visit those other places. I have found the cost of living to be extremely affordable, yet I'm very near anything and everything I could want to do.
Here's my perspective from someone who was raised in the suburbs of Florida her whole life and wanted desperately to move up north, and so got a job in Worcester and moved here a month ago with her boyfriend.
I like it. A lot. Yes, there are things that suck. I need to get used to the aggressive driving. The highways confuse me. And if there are so many pot holes and unevened pavement in the roads now, how am I going to drive through this in winter when I have never driven in snow before a day in my life? But, it'll make me tougher, I have a GPS, and I love the cold.
Everyone here compares Boston to Worcester. My dream all my life was to live in NYC. I've been to Boston, once. So far I'd still rather live in NYC than Boston. I'm thankful to be within driving distance of both.
Back to Worcester though. There is no more crime than what I dealt with in Orlando, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, and Jacksonville. Like any place, you have to learn where to go and where not to go, and keep street smarts about you.
The restaurants are great. And I've only begun to explore them. (Anyone want to name some more for me to check out btw? Maybe I'll start a new thread on that. lol) I LOVE the ambiance, the feeling of history when you look out your window, or in my case, even around my own apartment building which used to be a factory. The churches are so gorgeous it almost makes me want to find god just so I can go into them! lol The colleges look amazing and make me want to go back to school again, though I have no idea what for since I already have an MA. Part of what is so great about Worcester is that it is so close to all the places everyone keeps comparing it to. You can live here and go visit those other places. I have found the cost of living to be extremely affordable, yet I'm very near anything and everything I could want to do.
Bottom line: So far I love it here!
I guess I'll never understand why a Floridian would want to leave it for the cold New England, but you did state that you love the cold, so I guess that's a matter of preference.
Personally, never seeing snow again would be the world's greatest orgasm to me! Yet I'm perusing the forums looking for a small plot of land in New Hampshire; go figure.
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So far I'd still rather live in NYC than Boston. I'm thankful to be within driving distance of both.
In terms of Worcester, it's nearly 3 hours to NYC and one hour or so to Boston; maybe in FL, that's driving distance, but here in MA, that's what we call a road trip!
I relocated from Worcester to the West Coast last year, and just wanted to say that now, from being far from the city I had hated first but then had grown to love, I dearly miss and can not find a worthy substitute to the following two institutions:
Worcester Art Museum (terrific art workshops and knowledgeable instructors, not to mention the galleries and exhibits)
Worcester Public Library (amazing collection of books)
I also dearly miss my friends and family, and gorgeous colors of the flowers and trees in the fall and spring....
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