It’s always the older generation that lives in Worcester their whole lives. I never actually heard people in their early 20s hate on Worcester. It’s honestly getting so much better as a city that I really don’t understand where the negativity comes from sometimes. I run a housing group on FB and it’s always the people 40+ saying the negative remarks.

Yeah glad to spread the word on this, it’s a great idea

Bet thank you

I agree that high rent is a good argument for a city being a worse place to live. Worcester rent is high relative to what it was 5 years ago and in comparison to similar cities like Hartford and Springfield, but it’s not really much higher than any of the surrounding towns where a lot of the complaints are coming from. It’s not like towns like Shrewsbury, Auburn and West Boylston have very different rents that haven’t gone upon the same amount of time. And honestly one of the only reasons so many people are moving from Boston and elsewhere east of 495 is because rents are rising even more there.

> however, the city has definitely improved an extraordinary amount over the past decade or two

In some respects, yes. In other respects, not so much.

>It’s walkable

Worcester is absolutely not a walkable city. Downtown and some other places, sure. But lots of places lack well-kept sidewalks, if they have a sidewalk at all. There's been multiple posts here in the past about it. Look at the heavily residential North Lake Ave. Your options are "walk in the trash-covered grass" or "walk in the middle of the road." And there's plenty of other places in the city like this.

>shows, events

The Hanover is fine and gets an okay mix of stuff, but it's hit or miss. Some years you get Morrissey or Elvis Costello, other years you just get Waitress & Shen Yun again. It's very rare that the DCU gets anything good for concerts, which isn't really their fault, the entire live event industry has changed, but still. I nearly shit myself when Maiden announced they were playing there. And The Palladium, while it'll always hold a special place in my heart, ropes off a bunch of the seating now, charges an arm and a leg for tickets, and yet still has the worst sound system I've ever heard. I don't love Providence by any stretch but every single concert venue I've been to there puts Worcester's to shame.

>and it’s being built up and invested in

Debatable whether or not that's a good thing.

>Literally every city has some crappy neighborhoods, homeless people, gang activity, and higher than normal rent, so that can’t be an argument against the city.

My dude, are you seriously trying to say that "high rent" cannot be an argument for why a city is a bad place to live? There was literally just a study about how crazy the rents in Worcester are getting And yet the city's solution continues to be, "build market rate apartments to attract Boston transplants rather than housing that the people who live here can actually afford."

Ultimately, whenever people make posts that are like, "Worcester's got all this stuff! How can it be as bad as people say!?" it leaves out two things: a) the bad shit about living in Worcester and b) the second half of the equation which is, "Does all the good stuff about Worcester outweigh the shitty parts?" Ultimately that's a personal question, and people are going to come down either way, but it's not as simple as, "Look at all this great stuff, how can you not like living here!?"

Yeah, there's some cool stuff to do in Worcester, but I'd trade fucking Polar Park for halfway decent trash pickup in a heartbeat.

That was just a basic example of a simple task job lol

Indeed doesn't even show one open position for biotech anything in Worcester, nor does ZipRecuriter. I checked a few biotech companies located in Worcester website and they had very few positions open.

We are talking about easily accessible and currently hiring entry level positions or near entry level that pay enough to live in Worcester, that are in abundance that all pay average $25.

Walkable? No. And the bar/restaurant scene here is mediocre as hell. Same for the local music. Quantity does not mean quality. That said, Worcester is fine for what it is: a former mill town and current college town that's not too far from better cities and nature. But I wouldn't go talking about love. Worcester is tolerable.

Worcester has a great food scene

Didn’t even know these existed, i would’ve been adding stuff. Thanks for sharing

I think most people who say very bad things about Worcester, as in real hate, haven't spent much time there in last five to ten years. It's a good size city with real city problems. And it's slowly turning into a big city which will bring more problems but also more amenities and things to do. People in Worcester drive like drunken adolescents but other than that there is a lot to like.

Boston housing / rent rates

For 1920s built Springfield quality level housing in the hood.

It’s sad Worcester rent is $2000+ on average for a pest infested dimly lit dungeon that creaks and rattles with every step you take down your narrow hallway into your tiny living room that can barely fit a full couch, TV, and other furniture. With no off street parking, geto loud obnoxious neighbors playing trash music 20 hours a day.

The city itself is nice. I wish there were more things to do other than drink and eat. Woulda been coo to have a Dave and Busters type of place locally. Or more parks. It was nice riding my bike or walking and playing soccer until everyone kept bringing their dogs and walking with the leash stretched out 10 feet across the path so you have to stay behind them or wait for one to notice and move closer to each other. Or I kick my ball and it lands in dog shit

We need a dedicated dog park and we need more parking in residential areas. Since rent is out of control we may as well speed up the process and tear some triple decker houses down and build a mini parking lot driveway every few houses. Maybe this way pp can start rioting rent is getting too out of reach for the general population and they can regulate rent. Like keep it at a certain limit or not raise the rent for a number of years. It’s such a hazard when turning out of a street since ppl are forced to park on the very corner edge of the street. So visibility is terrible when pulling out.

I like Worcester though but it needs further logistical thinking with its infrastructure. The rotary on Grafton street by Pizza Hut is terrible it clogs up so much traffic. Ppl don’t know how to use a rotary and keep icing forward and stay inside. They block the inside so nobody can pass and stop the flow going, so everything is a stand still until the double traffic lights finally go green. Not to mention the school busses picking up the kids on the same street lol

There’s no room to pass anyone either. I remember a fire truck couldn’t pass by so it drove on the sidewalk. 18 wheelers do the same because they’re too big for the rotary.

I’ll stop ranting. But the city as a whole is very nice. Ask any local and they’ll say they been hearing the same thing for decades “Worcester has been on the up and coming”

Well I think it slowly starting to reflect that statement in the past few years. It’s gonna be constant progress I just hope they build and develop with more day to day use - type of thinking

I've resided in a bunch of different places, and that's generally true, except for New York. I've never really heard a New Yorker trash talk the city. Chicago, yes; LA, yes; but NYC, no.

Worcester is weird, though, in that many people seem actively offended if you say it's a nice place.

Yes you need prior experience or a degree, if you have nothing you get 25/hr. Nobody is turning screws on a line in biotech whatever you’re looking at it isn’t biotech. I’m speaking from experience working biotech in Worcester. Pay ranged from 25-45hr for techs depending on education and experience. Nobody was making 16.

I think people will always talk trash about their home town. I came from NJ and my family and friends down there feel the same way towards it just as the people of Worcester feel about Worcester. It's a love-hate thing haha.

got ours in athol. westbrook tree farm. was $45 for any tree. you can pick their selection or cut your own.

Ok apparently they have 4 locations

Fantastic Pizza, 910 Main St, Worcester, MA

The Printer Building, 44 Portland St, Worcester, MA

Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, 16 Brooks St, Worcester, MA

Union Hill School, 42 South St, Worcester, MA

The one in the picture is the one on Portland street.

Worcester is trying to gentrify, but the hood is still the hood.

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There are a few different fridges around the city! https://woofridge.org/locations/

Where is this? I’ve got a couple things in my fridge that I won’t be able to cook before it spoils

Nice try, T&G

If you are up for a drive! Heritage Gardens in Sandwich, the gardens of glow! It’s absolutely fantastic, we make the drive back and forth from Worcester once per year for the season and hit the Lobster trap in Bourne for dinner with our kids. It’s a nice night. They are closed this Friday for weather, and I think my wife gets the tickets beforehand so I wouldn’t just do the drive without calling or checking availability.

We were only talking about options inside of Worcester city limits.

Marlborough

Jays Smoke shop on Grafton St. $28 for 5%. They only have mint