Long a College Town, Worcester Now Looks the Part

[magicshark]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

What does any of this have to do with Worcester?

Speaking of Worcester.....I have been spending time down there lately and I am very impressed. We are ready to move back to a city, I mean five years in a small North Central town is enough for me, and Worcester is a front runner for us.

[scoobydew]

Originally Posted by magicshark

Speaking of Worcester.....I have been spending time down there lately and I am very impressed. We are ready to move back to a city, I mean five years in a small North Central town is enough for me, and Worcester is a front runner for us.

I was there very briefly for some business recently, but didn't have much time to look around. Do you feel like sharing your thoughts on what you saw? Up and coming urban residential areas to take a look at? I hear Shrewsbury Street corridor isn't bad. Any other more vibrant areas worth looking at?

[magicshark]

Originally Posted by scoobydew

I was there very briefly for some business recently, but didn't have much time to look around. Do you feel like sharing your thoughts on what you saw? Up and coming urban residential areas to take a look at? I hear Shrewsbury Street corridor isn't bad. Any other more vibrant areas worth looking at?

What we want in a city is probably not what most are looking for, let me preface my answer that way. We are older (mid 40s) and have a couple kids. I grew up in Lowell and want something similar. We need to stay close enough to Lancaster. What Worcester has that we like is a diverse population, strong working class vibe, affordable houses, great highway access, a decent bus system, a train to Boston for special events and UMass Medical is a great hospital for what we need it for.

We have done the Shrewsbury ST thing and liked it but we do not go out much. When we do go we are more into the neighbourhood working class bar scene. What we have seen of that we have liked.

[scoobydew]

Originally Posted by magicshark

What we want in a city is probably not what most are looking for, let me preface my answer that way. We are older (mid 40s) and have a couple kids. I grew up in Lowell and want something similar. We need to stay close enough to Lancaster. What Worcester has that we like is a diverse population, strong working class vibe, affordable houses, great highway access, a decent bus system, a train to Boston for special events and UMass Medical is a great hospital for what we need it for.

We have done the Shrewsbury ST thing and liked it but we do not go out much. When we do go we are more into the neighbourhood working class bar scene. What we have seen of that we have liked.

Sounds good. Yeah, diverse is good along with a viable working-class community mixed with professional. If they develop smartly they can keep both. I noticed some decent single family homes online for 200K and under. I saw some nice new loft style condos downtown going for a song. I don't know what the downtown area is like though. Of course we saw those kinds of apartments built in downtown Lowell not too long ago too....but even though some of the units are nice, downtown Lowell has a ways to go before it's back.

[Dave120]

Bump.

Saw this opinion piece in the telegram. I definitely agree that it would be huge for Worcester to have this realized:

New locomotives should bring express runs to Worcester

"Currently, the MBTA runs local and limited express trains between Worcester and Boston, with 20 daily round trips. The goal of political, business, and transportation officials must be that additional trains added to the Worcester/Framingham MBTA commuter lines be true 46-minute express trains to establish 26 daily round trips between Worcester and Boston."

[MMS02760]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

- Some high draw colleges such as Holy Cross, Clark, and to lesser degree, WPI and Mass Pharm.

As a WPI alum, I take offense. WPI is without question very much among the top schools in Worcester. Many consider it the best and it is most certainly not a tier below either Holy Cross or Clark.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by MMS02760

As a WPI alum, I take offense. WPI is without question very much among the top schools in Worcester. Many consider it the best and it is most certainly not a tier below either Holy Cross or Clark.

I assure you, my comment on an internet forum did not devalue your degree. Also, please point out where I suggested WPI wasn't a top school? Did you see, when quoting me, the part where I wrote "Some high draw colleges such as ... " .

I listed colleges based on A) whether they respected local institutions, and B) do they have a notable student population in Worcester? I severely underestimated WPI's growth over the past decade due to the boom in STEM. So, forgive me for thinking WPI is still a humble little engineering school. It is not.

A much more egregious blunder was my decision to omit UMass med from my short list - another highly regarded Worcester institution.

Seeing as my excellent healthcare is subsidized by WPI, and the school contributes 11% to my fiancee's retirement ... well, I have nothing but love for WPI. I do hope you are a financially contributing Alumn