Recent comments in /f/WorcesterMA

your_city_councilor t1_iye5tkk wrote

Reply to comment by thisisntmynametoday in Paying Polar Park’s debt: For the second year, underwhelming tax collections were saved by a public property sale by outb0undflight

>Have you ever worked in the restaurant industry? Restaurants stay open for the hours that people show up.

Yes, I've spent years working in the restaurant industry. Restaurants change their hours around, experimenting to figure out what's best for attracting customers.

And the whole parking issue as an argument against Polar Park makes no sense to me. It's an argument for keeping the neighborhood unpopulated, aside from a couple of restaurants and bars that don't bring too many people. If parking is the issue, then the restaurants should petition the city to build a garage. One (at least) was built by the park already.

Lack of public transport is also an issue that can and should be addressed, but it's not an argument against the park, either. Worcester - including its businesses - either needs to resign itself to being a decaying mill town or it needs to be creative.

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lukewarm_sax t1_iye4uph wrote

Reply to Ease of Travel to New York City by 53mV3

I go to Brooklyn about 4-5 times a year, may start to more for work / honestly just considering just moving to New York next year, so I’ve done the trek quite a bit (also through Boston when I lived there too, deff easier from Boston even if it’s technically longer to get to from there)

Flying is the easiest way through ORH (though the carbon footprint!!!!!). And getting out of JFK takes far longer than the flight, I’m gonna try Delta to LaGuardia next time.

The Greyhound or Peter Pan from Union Station is honestly fine depending on the driver, though I avoid that method in the winter months if there might be snow.

Or if you have friends in Boston like I do (take commuter rail to get into Boston) I’ll stay over with them and then take an early morning Acela Amtrak train. I guess you could also drive down to Providence or New Haven to catch the Amtrak train, but that somehow in my mind seems like more work.

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your_city_councilor t1_iyduqqd wrote

Reply to Ease of Travel to New York City by 53mV3

I used to go to NYC each weekend. I've taken car, bus, and train. By far the best option was to drive. It didn't take nearly as long as the train or the bus. Take 90 to 84 then take that to the Merritt Parkway to the Cross County to the Major Degan to the Third Avenue Bridge (or Willis Ave Bridge) into Harlem, and take the Harlem River Drive to the FDR and you've got a quick trip (not during rush hour!) with no tells except for a few dollars on the Pike. If you really want to save, take Route 20 to Interstate 84, but that adds some time.

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zipzopzippidydoo t1_iydulwi wrote

Reply to Ease of Travel to New York City by 53mV3

As someone who drives to queens every week from Worcester for work. 84 and 95 both range from 3 hours at best to 4 and a half hours at worst. Winter seems to help with traffic, due to the beach/event travel is limited. **Edit my travel doesn't typically align with normal commuting hours.

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Nalek t1_iydqbr9 wrote

Reply to comment by CatumEntanglement in Ease of Travel to New York City by 53mV3

The West Haven Metro North Station is in West Haven CT and closer than the Stamford stop on the same line. Idk why you're bringing up driving to Boston?? Metro North doesn't even go into MA and is overall cheaper than Amtrak typically.

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jbcg t1_iydm30i wrote

Reply to Ease of Travel to New York City by 53mV3

My partner and I travel to NYC a lot for work and fun. ORH to JFK is super fast and inexpensive, and can be done round trip in one day. IMO the downside pain is getting from JFK to Manhattan, if that's where you're headed -- though I live <10 min from ORH which compensates.

Love Amtrak because you land in midtown, hate driving to the Rt. 128 station from Worcester. It's (usually) more expensive and takes longer than flying, but I can work on the train.

Another post also says driving is fine -- I totally agree, depending where you're going and timing. Traffic's reasonable except like the last 45 min into the city.

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New-Vegetable-1274 t1_iydly5k wrote

Reply to comment by masshole4life in What is something that if built would improve the city overall? by HRJafael

This seems to be a New England thing and it's been going on forever. We put up with never ending road work for three seasons every year. The odd stretches of smooth new pavement suddenly become new construction sites for laying pipe that could have been laid the last time the road was dug up. It's a scam, what else could it be?

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New-Vegetable-1274 t1_iydik9x wrote

Reply to comment by Kirbyoto in What is something that if built would improve the city overall? by HRJafael

I agree. The problem with most of the highways in New England is that they were built in the 1950s and 60s. They were built for 50s and 60s traffic, it was a time when most households only had one car. The number of cars has increased exponentially and these highways are woefully inadequate. It is difficult to retrofit these highways and so the answer is better mass transit or highway expansion that would mean bulldozing enormous swaths of land currently occupied by businesses and housing. That would take decades and in the meantime create a far worse traffic situation. I think the case for better mass transit is beyond argument. There are thousands of miles of abandoned rail beds throughout New England alone. There's something like sixty thousand miles nationally.

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