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Old 08-22-2018, 09:22 AM
 
Location: Pawtucket, RI
2,811 posts, read 2,154,189 times
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I was called for a phone poll the other night, mainly on Rhode Island races, but it also had a couple of questions on whether the team's move is the result of the state not doing enough or the team asking for too much. One of the questions said that one of the team owners owns a significant amount of land in Worcester around the stadium site and stands to profit from the move. Does anyone know more about this? I can't find another source for this interesting piece of information.
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Old 08-22-2018, 09:27 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,938 posts, read 36,724,941 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shrewsburried View Post
Providence has an abnormally robust arts/music scene for a city it's size, which why a segment of the population adores it - myself included. However, compared to Hartford, Nashua, Lowell, Manch, and other second/third tier cities, Worcester and Providence have notably more robust arts/music/restaurant scenes. In short, using Providence as your baseline sets a relatively high bar.

With the MA 'boroughs becoming a biotech core, Worcester stands to benefit. Providence has been dogged by the RI economy/politics, though in some regards that has made for a more interesting city.


Fair enough. I probably do have a pretty high bar. I'd much prefer a Chicago or Brooklyn scene, or even Boston, but you know, reality. I found SF pretty underwhelming as well, so.
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Old 08-22-2018, 10:14 AM
 
13,944 posts, read 14,832,144 times
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Originally Posted by timberline742 View Post
Fair enough. I probably do have a pretty high bar. I'd much prefer a Chicago or Brooklyn scene, or even Boston, but you know, reality. I found SF pretty underwhelming as well, so.
You're telling me that Chicago has a better variety of performance venues than Worcester?

holy crap. that's shocking.
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Old 08-22-2018, 10:22 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Originally Posted by btownboss4 View Post
You're telling me that Chicago has a better variety of performance venues than Worcester?

holy crap. that's shocking.


You shock easily.
But my point was (if it wasn't obvious, which it was), for a city it's size, I never felt the cultural offerings were that great in Worcester.
They're not bad, but meh.
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Old 08-22-2018, 10:58 AM
 
Location: Providence, RI
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timberline742 View Post
You shock easily.
But my point was (if it wasn't obvious, which it was), for a city it's size, I never felt the cultural offerings were that great in Worcester.
They're not bad, but meh.
I agree, and I don't think it's too hot of a take to have. Worcester is a city that both A) has had to recover from the loss of it's primary economic driver, and B) has long been caught in the orbit of a much larger/more significant metro area (Boston) in addition to dealing with competition and proximity to Providence. For a city its size, it's not the "hub" it could be, and those are largely the reasons why. Portland and Burlington are smaller cities that punch above their weight, largely because they stand alone in their regions as economic and cultural hubs. Worcester doesn't have that advantage. Providence has some of the same disadvantages (caught in the orbit of Boston, loss of industry), but still is a larger city and is still more of a regional hub. Your point is accurate, and i'm surprised it's bugged people the way it has.
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Old 08-22-2018, 11:01 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Originally Posted by lrfox View Post
I agree, and I don't think it's too hot of a take to have. Worcester is a city that both A) has had to recover from the loss of it's primary economic driver, and B) has long been caught in the orbit of a much larger/more significant metro area (Boston) in addition to dealing with competition and proximity to Providence. For a city its size, it's not the "hub" it could be, and those are largely the reasons why. Portland and Burlington are smaller cities that punch above their weight, largely because they stand alone in their regions as economic and cultural hubs. Worcester doesn't have that advantage. Providence has some of the same disadvantages (caught in the orbit of Boston, loss of industry), but still is a larger city and is still more of a regional hub. Your point is accurate, and i'm surprised it's bugged people the way it has.


I think you're spot on. I've lived in Burlington VT, and love Portland ME, they both hit right about where I was thinking, but they don't have the competition. The people I know who (sadly) live in places like Natick and Framingham (Etc) don't go to Worcester for fun... they go into Cambridge / Boston.


Providence has the advantage of Brown / RISD / Johnson Wales, the latter two which power a creative community.


If Worcester could really harness all its schools and make it a place students want to stay and prosper in for the 3-8 years after they graduate, things would really change.
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Old 08-22-2018, 11:44 AM
 
3,808 posts, read 3,102,154 times
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Originally Posted by lrfox View Post
Providence has some of the same disadvantages (caught in the orbit of Boston, loss of industry), but still is a larger city and is still more of a regional hub. Your point is accurate, and i'm surprised it's bugged people the way it has.
Any objective person knows Providence has bettered Worcester over the past 20 years in terms of public and private development - I don't think anyone's arguing against this reality. Likewise, no reasonable person would argue the density, commercial architecture, and waterfront of Providence makes for a better urban landscape. This said, painting Worcester as a lesser city because it does not equal Providence ignores the fact that it's still vastly more compelling than rest of MA's second tier cities and, thanks to MAs (somewhat) competent leadership and strong local economy, positioned well for future growth.
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Old 08-22-2018, 11:59 AM
 
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,938 posts, read 36,724,941 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shrewsburried View Post
Any objective person knows Providence has bettered Worcester over the past 20 years in terms of public and private development - I don't think anyone's arguing against this reality. Likewise, no reasonable person would argue the density, commercial architecture, and waterfront of Providence makes for a better urban landscape. This said, painting Worcester as a lesser city because it does not equal Providence ignores the fact that it's still vastly more compelling than rest of MA's second tier cities and, thanks to MAs (somewhat) competent leadership and strong local economy, positioned well for future growth.


Oh sure, Worcester is the best of the rest. But are there other second tier cities? Lowell maybe? Salem? More like third tier, but I guess we're splitting hairs.
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Old 08-22-2018, 12:07 PM
 
13,944 posts, read 14,832,144 times
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Originally Posted by lrfox View Post
I agree, and I don't think it's too hot of a take to have. Worcester is a city that both A) has had to recover from the loss of it's primary economic driver, and B) has long been caught in the orbit of a much larger/more significant metro area (Boston) in addition to dealing with competition and proximity to Providence. For a city its size, it's not the "hub" it could be, and those are largely the reasons why. Portland and Burlington are smaller cities that punch above their weight, largely because they stand alone in their regions as economic and cultural hubs. Worcester doesn't have that advantage. Providence has some of the same disadvantages (caught in the orbit of Boston, loss of industry), but still is a larger city and is still more of a regional hub. Your point is accurate, and i'm surprised it's bugged people the way it has.
Worcester is a city of 185,000 with a metro of like 300,000 it has 0 urban suburbs and like 2 suburban ones and the rest is rural. It's just that it's very self contained as opposed to Providence which has like 3 suburbs denser than Worcester.
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Old 08-22-2018, 12:17 PM
 
8,380 posts, read 4,438,864 times
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Originally Posted by btownboss4 View Post
Worcester is a city of 185,000 with a metro of like 300,000 it has 0 urban suburbs and like 2 suburban ones and the rest is rural. It's just that it's very self contained as opposed to Providence which has like 3 suburbs denser than Worcester.


And those factors will work against a new baseball park in Worcester consistently drawing big attendance numbers.
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