Although it’s the second largest city in New England, Worcester is often overlooked. Most people aren’t even sure how to pronounce the metropolis of about 208,000 residents, and the Massachusetts Turnpike skips it completely. Phonetically ‘Wuh-ster’ – or ‘Wuh-stuh’ to locals – the city boomed during the 19th century, producing textiles, wire and machines. The gray and gritty city was hit hard by the decline of the industrial age, and despite redevelopment efforts, many Massachusetts residents hold clear memories of the empty storefronts and high crime rates of its past. But Worcester is on the rise, and officials are working to create a more vibrant and economically sustainable city. The city finally renovated the centrally located Union Station, a neoclassical train station that lay dormant for 20 years. It demolished a desolate mall downtown. New apartments are popping up. And Polar Park, a minor league baseball stadium that opened in 2021, has transformed the trendy Canal District. Plus, Worcester has a growing life science and medical industry thanks to its eight colleges and the UMass Memorial Health Care system. Richard Collins, a lifelong Worcester resident and owner of the café-bookstore Root & Press, says that much of the city's improvement can also be accredited to locals. “Worcester is unique in that the vast majority of people are working class,” he says. “For the most part, everybody works towards a middle ground by doing things like supporting small businesses and understanding that not everything needs to be bought online or in a big-box store.”
The Worcester Union Station provides a hub of transportation options for Worcester.
Modern apartments in worcester are a result of redevelopment efforts.
Polar Park is known around town as the WooSox, affiliated with Red Sox minor league team.
Grab a book and coffee at Root and Press in Worcester.
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Hanging out in the Canal District, eating out on Shrewsbury Street, working in Biotech Park
“I think the city does a lot better when it lets the residents, entrepreneurs or small business owners build up the neighborhoods,” Collins says. “Like the Canal District where they just built the ballpark, I think a lot of the appeal of that area was that small businesses started from scratch there.” The Canal District is one of the city’s fastest-growing areas, with shopping, dining and entertainment venues. The neighborhood’s Polar Park hosts the Worcester Red Sox, or WooSox, a Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Fans first crowded the stands in 2021, and since then, the baseball stadium has become a cornerstone of the city. “With the way people love the WooSox, you’d think Polar Park had been there forever,” Collins says. Converted warehouses host city staples, like the Worcester Public Market indoor food hall and Crompton Collective, a vintage retailer.
Throughout the city, there are shopping centers with everyday conveniences like grocery stores and pharmacies, while 6 miles south, The Shops at Blackstone Valley has big-box stores, chain retailers and restaurants. Meanwhile, if people are eating out in Worcester, they’re most likely going to Shrewsbury Street. Often called “Restaurant Row,” this district offers quirky diners, upscale eateries and laid-back dives. “Any type of food you want is on Shrewsbury,” Collins says.
Shrewsbury Street is just south of the Biotech Park area, a hub for life and biomedical sciences. Anchored by UMass Chan Medical School, the area has a high concentration of biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical companies and institutions, hosting some of the city’s major employers like AbbVie.
Locals are found walking outside at The Canal District.
Baseball groundskeepers take great care of Polar Park's baseball diamond in Worcester.
Shrewsbury Street is known as Worcester’s ‘Restaurant Row.’
UMass Chan Medical School is the only public academic health sciences center in the Commonwealth
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Worcester's parks, arts and events
Worcester experiences cold, snowy winters, warm, humid summers and mild, cool conditions during the spring and fall. People enjoy boating and paddling on the city’s two major lakes – Indian Lake and Lake Quinsigamond. Quinsig, as the latter is locally called, has an adjoining state park with picnic tables, tennis courts, a swimming beach and a 2,000-meter rowing course where regattas are held. Locals get lost in the 500-acre Green Hill Park on lazy afternoons, bringing their kids to the petting zoo or teeing off at the 18-hole municipal golf course. Elm Park’s steep, storybook bridges and manicured landscaping are prime for romantic strolls or quiet conversations, while Worcester Common is in the heart of busy downtown, hosting food trucks throughout the work week.
The Worcester Art Museum holds a small but impressive collection, with works by Warhol and Monet. In downtown Worcester, the Palladium concert hall has hosted performers from Wiz Khalifa to the Foo Fighters, while DCU Center houses the Worcester Railers ECHL hockey team. The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts sees local performers and traveling Broadway shows, and the EcoTarium showcases science and nature displays for all ages.
Worcester residents can also enjoy community events throughout the year. The Taste of Shrewsbury Street festival closes the street for a day, and local restaurants hand out samples of their signature dishes to hungry visitors. The Elm Park Summer Concert Series brings live music to its namesake green space, while the Shrewsbury Street Italian Heritage Parade celebrates the area’s Italian population through food, music and streets painted the colors of the Italian flag.
Worcester residents have access to Indian Lake via boat.
Elm Park is one of the best spots to relax and enjoy some peaceful moments in Worcester.
The Worcester Art Museum holds a small but impressive collection.
Hockey player practices at Fidelity Bank Worcester Ice Center.
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Triple-decker houses and single-family homes
Worcester’s biggest architectural contribution is the triple-decker home. Conceptualized in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these densely packed multifamily properties were built near factories and housed mill workers. They still stand throughout the city, particularly prevalent in neighborhoods near downtown like Grafton Hill and Franklin Plantation, and serve as apartments or investment opportunities. Developers are also building new apartment complexes throughout the city, mostly near downtown, where the Worcester Center Galleria, a vacant mall, was torn down. The streets get quieter away from the city center, and triple-deckers are replaced with single-family homes. Worcester’s West End offers shaded suburban subdivisions and handsome historic districts, while the East End has ranch-style and Cape Cod homes a short drive from Lake Quinsigamond or Shrewsbury, the town across the water. The city’s median home price is about $443,000, close to the national median of $430,000.
In addition to the city of Worcester, the larger Worcester County area includes small, outlying former mill towns that often have historic New England-style architecture, commuter stations leading to Boston and acres of conservation land.
Worcester offers opportunities for multi-family investments.
Worcester's median home price is about $443,000.
A lovely brick Colonial-styled home in Worcester.
Forest Grove consists of several different types of homes.
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Worcester Public Schools and eight colleges
Worcester Public Schools serve about 25,000 students. The district receives a B from Niche and has an average student-teacher ratio of 14:1. School assignments are based on the child’s home address, except for schools with magnet programs where admission is lottery-based. Central Massachusetts employers and chambers of commerce emphasize workforce development, specifically for fields like manufacturing and health care, and the Worcester Public Schools have programs to address these needs.
There are also some private school options in Worcester. Notre Dame Academy is an all-girls Catholic school educating students from seventh to 12th grade; Bancroft School serves prekindergartners to high school seniors on its 30-acre campus; and the coed boarding school Worcester Academy is the oldest school founded in Worcester, serving sixth to 12th graders.
The city of Worcester is home to eight colleges. At Quinsigamond Community College – or “Quinsig,” as some students call it – workforce development is a priority. The school offers degrees in nursing, social services and hospitality management and models programs to meet the needs of local employers. Worcester Polytechnic Institute was one of the country’s first engineering and technology universities, while the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School educates about 1,200 future medical professionals. Assumption University and College of the Holy Cross offer faith-based higher education options.
Notre Dame Academy is located in Worcester.
Welcome to Bancroft School, located in Worcester Massachusetts.
Worcester Academy is a co-ed day and boarding school for grades 6 to 12 and postgraduates.
UMass Chan Medical School is the only public academic health sciences center in the Commonwealth, and the first of its kind.
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"This car survived Kelley Square"
The Worcester Regional Transit Authority operates a bus system that extends into suburbs like Shrewsbury and Oxford. But most people get around Worcester by car—even though the city doesn’t follow a grid pattern, and traffic-related issues are common. For example, Kelley Square, a seven-lane intersection, consistently ranks in the state’s top 10 crash locations. Though the city added delineated traffic lanes to the intersection in 2021 and increased safety, residents still proudly place “this car survived Kelley Square” bumper stickers on their cars. Parking in the Canal District and downtown is metered, but the city’s residential areas have free street parking. Union Station, a French Renaissance-style transportation hub with Amtrak and commuter rail service, offers train service to Boston and places in between. Train rides to Boston, about 50 miles east, take about an hour and 40 minutes.
Worcester’s main highway is Interstate 290, roughly cutting through the city's center. Drivers can take I-290 south to connect to the Mass Pike or north to connect with Interstate 495. The business highway State Route 9 begins in Worcester and runs through the suburbs of Shrewsbury and Westborough before ending on Huntington Avenue in Boston, while State Route 146 provides a direct line between Worcester and Providence, Rhode Island. Driving to Boston takes just under an hour, and the ride to Marlborough and its biotechnology companies takes about 25 minutes. When it’s time to fly, the small Worcester Regional Airport offers limited domestic flights, while the Boston Logan International Airport offers service to more than 80 domestic destinations and 50 international destinations.
Crime
Worcester experiences higher-than-average crime rates, with 929 violent crimes and 3,635 property crimes per 100,000 residents in 2023. This exceeds the 2023 national average of 364 violent crimes and 1,917 property crimes per 100,000 residents. Over the past decade, crime rates in Worcester have generally decreased, with violent crime falling 11% year over year in 2023. The city continues to work towards addressing crime, with the Worcester Police Department creating initiatives like the Crime Gun Intelligence Unit, focusing on reducing illegal firearm possession and gang activity.
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