Mill city that recovered the most

[Space_League]

The title easily goes to Haverhill. After all it IS the Crown Jewel of the Merrimack.

[lrfox]

I voted for Lowell with Haverhill coming in a close second. I don't know much about Pittsfield so I'm excluding it from this statement; but I think the drop off on this list is pretty steep after Haverhill.

Brockton remains one of my least favorite cities in the state. There are some nicer neighborhoods near the outskirts, but the downtown area is one of the worst shells in the state. It's just dead. And with all recent development going up along 24, it seems Brockton is slipping further away from rebounding. A commuter rail in the city center was a nice thought, but they dropped the ball by adding the Montello and Campello stations nearby. Instead of creating a hub of activity around a central station which would help revitalize downtown, they split ridership between three stations diluting passenger volume significantly in central Brockton. Still, I'm not so sure Brockton would have rebounded well anyway. That downtown area is in rough shape. And unlike other cities (Lowell, Fall River, New Bedford, Haverhill, etc.) there is no geographic feature to turn into a focal point. No harbor, no river, no canal, no mountain, etc. It's unremarkable and I don't have much hope for Brockton.

Lawrence has some potential, but it's the poster child for mismanagement and corruption. It will eventually stabilize (it may never be a "great" place), but it'll be the third best of the Merrimack cities.

Fitchburg should eventually be OK. The college near the city center should help. Its distance from Boston should also help as it can sort of act as a regional hub. However, neighboring Leominster pulls business and resources away from Fitchburg. It's also small and is only surrounded by other small communities. Lowell, on the other hand has over 100,000 residents which will be an automatic boost to commerce in the city center. Fitchburg is in hill country and should be a nice gateway for Western and Central MA. It's got a long way to go, but I wouldn't count it out.

I don't consider Westfield to be a mill town either. I also don't think it's in that rough of shape. Still, it's difficult to improve much when it sits in the shadow of places like Springfield and Holyoke. Those places are larger and Springfield is considered the economic "hub" of the region. Having a college in town doesn't hurt Westfield, though.

Fall River's biggest enemies are its leadership and physical scarring. Location wise, Fall River is in a great spot. It is a small seaport which should open it up for potential seafaring business (passenger transit, shipping, ship building, etc). It's also a good recreational water area which is appealing to potential residents. What hurts Fall River is that local officials are not very welcoming to businesses and seem to continually shoot themselves in the foot. They have not endeared themselves to state officials (people who determine whether or not they get funding for certain projects) and don't work well with neighboring cities and towns (a good working relationship between cities and suburbs is vital for a healthy area). Beyond that, Fall River is probably the poster child for Urban Renewal gone wrong. Fall River has duplicated almost every major mistake Boston has made with urban planning. Demolish a downtown neighborhood for an ugly Brutalist City Hall and Plaza? Check. Carve a scar through the heart of the city for a central major highway? Check. Build tunnels with chunks of ceiling that fall on to passing motorists? Check. To amplify the problem, Fall River is smaller than Boston by a lot. These blunders stand out a lot more as a result. There is no Back Bay, North End, Beacon Hill, Financial District, etc. to counterbalance the mistakes. Central Fall River needs help (though it's still not as bad as Brockton). I still believe that with some work it can be a viable place to live, but I don't think it'll ever be on par with Lowell or New Bedford. I just don't see the potential there.

New Bedford is a good exclusion because it's not really a mill town. With the exception of maybe Westfield, almost every city on that list was designed as a factory town. That's why when you go into the center of those cities, there are big brick mill buildings all around. New Bedford was a seaport first and foremost. When you go into downtown New Bedford, you're greeted with an old-timey New England seaport with views of the harbor and fishing fleet. Not smokestacks and a swift flowing river. New Bedford did get into the textile game. Big time, in fact. However, the mills in New Bedford are well outside of the city center (mostly north of I-195).

If the list were just about any city recovery, I'd put New Bedford up there with Lowell and Haverhill. Downtown is very active with a college presence, and lots of great museums, restaurants, bars, shops and galleries. Like Lowell, there are still many parts of the city that need work. However, I'm fairly certain that New Bedford is going to be just fine.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by lrfox

And with all recent development going up along 24, it seems Brockton is slipping further away from rebounding. A commuter rail in the city center was a nice thought, but they dropped the ball by adding the Montello and Campello stations nearby. Instead of creating a hub of activity around a central station which would help revitalize downtown, they split ridership between three stations diluting passenger volume significantly in central Brockton.

I imagine this had more to do with the parking situation than anything else, and allowing for greater accessibility. It easily could have been resolved with a large Quincy Adams style garage downtown, and cutting out 2 stations would have greatly reduced the run times on that line. It is the same thing several other places like with all the Norwood stops on the Franklin Line. The majority of Commuter Rail riders arrive at the station by auto, it would be wiser to have fewer stations with larger lots. In-town stations with no room to build "out" could easily be built "up". Money is not an issue, I'm sure these garages could be built with mostly if not all private financing.

It's too bad the West Side development is coming at the downtown's expense. It doesn't have to be that way, it is a large enough city to support growth in both.

[homelesspat]

Ok, I lived in Lowell 2001-2008 and I live in Lawrence now (2008-2013), and we just tried to buy a house in Haverhill (ended up In Amesbury)

Lowell is definitely the best of the three. As far as the populace go, its got a good mix of rich poor and middle class. The restaurant scene is awesome, downtown is bustling, and I'm not scared to travel downtown.

Haverhill. I think it's on the way down. Don't get me wrong, the outskirts have some extremely nice houses but the gang crime is clearly spilling over from Lawrence and it's not getting better.

Lawrence is not going to get better. The schools have been taken over by the state, the government is corrupt, someone gets shot almost every day, I've had my car stolen once and someone tried to break into my house in the middle of the day while I was home. I've called the cops on people multiple times. Nothing here is good except for maybe Salvatores and Tripolis. The racial divide is terrible too.

[Space_League]

Do you really think Haverhill is on its way down? If so, why did you want to buy a house there >.<

I grew up in Haverhill and my family has been in the area for 3 generations, my grandpa worked in a shoe factory as a boy and my grandma still tells me about the cities' former charm. I know the city's not what it once was, but I think it's a shame to say that it's going DOWNHILL when the majority of US cities are going uphill, and I think Haverhill is no different...

When we were kids we used to joke about the paranoid yuppie types who would claim that Haverhill had a gang problem, in our eyes Haverhill was (and is) a solidly middle class city with some very nice areas and a few run down areas, but there has never been a serious crime problem and I've never felt unsafe walking around in any part of the city during the day. In fact there are very very few areas (we're talking one or two streets) where I feel uncomfortable walking around at night. Could I say the same about our neighbor to the southwest? Not at all, I don't feel safe walking around MOST of Lawrence at night. I'm not trying to knock the city you live in but YOU LIVE THERE you should be able to see the difference?

I'm not trying to say that Haverhill is a perfect city. It doesn't really offer any city ammenities except for a couple of train stations and a few nice parks. Lowell (while I feel it's a more run down and dangerous city) has many advantages over Haverhill like a University, cultural events, sports, etc. but the main difference between the other two cities and Haverhill is that in Haverhill the majority of crime affects people who are CLEARLY ASKING FOR TROUBLE. Even in the rougher neighborhoods, chances are you can walk up and down fifth ave or nichols street at any time of day or night and not get held up at gunpoint and robbed of everything you're carrying. As an outsider, you can park your car in those areas without local clearance and it probably WONT get broken into. This just isn't true in the bad parts of Lowell or almost the entire city of Lawrence.

Haha sorry for the rant, just trying to make a point

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by Space_League

I think it's a shame to say that it's going DOWNHILL when the majority of US cities are going uphill, and I think Haverhill is no different...

Large US cities are going uphill. Smaller cities in the northeast and midwest have been going downhill. There are exceptions but most smaller cities are going downhill because they've lost out as globalism gathers speed--places like Brockton, Lewiston, Manchester, Holyoke, Fall River, Pawtucket, Hartford, Waterbury, Bridgeport, Springfield, Holyoke, Schenectady, Troy, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Scranton, Wilkes Barre, Reading, Camden, Trenton, Newark, Paterson...

[btownboss4]

Originally Posted by missionhill

Large US cities are going uphill. Smaller cities in the northeast and midwest have been going downhill. There are exceptions but most smaller cities are going downhill because they've lost out as globalism gathers speed--places like Brockton, Lewiston, Manchester, Holyoke, Fall River, Pawtucket, Hartford, Waterbury, Bridgeport, Springfield, Holyoke, Schenectady, Troy, Binghamton, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo, Scranton, Wilkes Barre, Reading, Camden, Trenton, Newark, Paterson...

Then there are places like Burlington, VT, Manchester, NH, Portland, ME, Pittsfield, MA, Worcester, MA, and Albany, NY which are independent cities which have recovered nicely.

[Southcoastres]

100% Fall River. Trust me that 15% unemployment rate is going to drop and the commuter rail will arrive. Then everyone who voted for the other cities will be disappointed in themselves.