Worcester CitySquare Is Moving Forward

CitySquare and a Hopeful Outlook for 2014

For anyone that is interested in the fate of CitySquare in Worcester, it can sometimes be challenging to find any news on the subject and so I am writing my own update about the progress. Despite the numerous delays that have plagued CitySquare so far, it seems as though 2014 could be the beginning of a more vibrant time for the city.

CitySquare

While Worcester has yet to create a downtown district that is shown in the above picture, CitySquare is definitely on the move. I noticed the other day that the old mall, the Worcester Galleria / Worcester Common Outlets, is finally being demolished in it's entirety. For years the mall has languished in a state of partial demolition, but the last bits are finally being torn down. 

2013 brought a few new key features to CitySquare, but it seemed for a time as though the progress may stop there. Last year, Unum opened it's brand new building downtown, and St. Vincent opened a new cancer treatment center as well. Front Street and Mercantile Street were both opened to the public and Union Station saw the creation of a new WRTA bus terminal. And then everything seemed to stop.

Now that the snow has melted, 2014 projects can begin. Quinsigamond Community College is renovating a building a 20 Franklin Street and moving more than a thousand students downtown. Two hotel deals have been approved, one at the site of the old mall and another at Gateway Park near WPI. There is even talk of a new 350 unit apartment complex being developed downtown. While far from complete, the project is definitely amping up this year!

Other Development

Aside from CitySquare, Worcester is seeing tons of new business development!

Restaurants

A major source of excitement in the city is the proliferation of new restaurants. Over the past year or so Worcester has seen the following new restaurants (as well as others that I probably haven't noticed):

• Volturno
• Sweet 
• 7 Nana
• Shabu
• Crust Artisan Bakeshop

This year promises even more restaurants. So far I know of a burger restaurant opening on Shrewsbury Street in the former Mezcal location and the addition of Wormtown Brewery to Shrewsbury Street. 

Blackstone River Bikeway

The city also seems to be getting serious about developing the Blackstone River Bikeway, intended to link Worcester with Providence. A new visitor center has been designed and there is talk of revitalizing the Canal District of the city as well!

Lincoln Street

Normally I find road projects to be pretty boring, but this one is worth mentioning. If you have ever needed to travel up or down Lincoln Street you know what a mess it is. The city is in the process of rebuilding the entire roadway to reduce traffic, level potholes and create rotaries to allow cars and pedestrians to coexist more easily than they do today. 

Worcester Should Take Cars Off Main Street

Main Street Worcester Should Be Pedestrian Only

Downtown Worcester

If you have ever driven through Worcester, MA, you have probably experienced many frustrations. Roads seem to twist and wind in every direction, traffic lights change colors seemingly based on their moods and pedestrians largely ignore crosswalks and walk signals. It can be really challenging to get between any two parts of the city, particularly if you are traveling from West - East as highways tend to serve North - South traffic. Sure, the city is old and has made plenty of mistakes over time, but it could do one thing to help improve the current situation: take cars off Main Street!

Downtown Worcester Map

Okay so fine, not all of Main Street, just the portion that runs between Highland Street and The Hanover Theater. This ten block area really represents the downtown portion of the city that is shown in the first picture at the top of the page. While this may seem just like a whimsical idea, I feel that I can present a solid case for why this is a good idea.

Main Street Is Inconvenient For Cars

If you are a car, you probably have no desire to drive along Main Street anyways. The main reason for this is that Main Street tends to have one lane of traffic in each direction, at least in the area that I have flagged for closure. Making you way down this narrow street brings you just about nowhere in either direction; it does not connect well to highways or other routes for getting through the city. Just one block to the East, Major Taylor Boulevard is a higher capacity street that readily brings traffic to I-290 and Route 146. If you are trying to get on the highway, you would normally be directed this way. West of Main Street is a primarily residential area where residents can either walk to work downtown or will likely take the highway out of the city. The North end of the street is meaningless; you have to navigate a six-way intersection to enter the street and sometimes when you try to turn off Main Street you are forced to make a U-Turn. To the South of The Hanover Theater the neighborhood deteriorates a bit and you are no longer in downtown.

Main Street Is The Heart of Downtown

Most areas in Worcester really could not support pedestrian friendly development because they are not dense enough. But Main Street actually has more than a handful of mid to high rise residential and office buildings. There is enough of a critical mass of people and businesses here that it would be feasible to be within walking distance of most everyday needs. I'm not trying to say that you could be fully car independent here as you could be in Boston, but you could free yourself from needing it to get everywhere. If only pedestrians were allowed to walk on the street, they would be more likely to actually do so without having to fear getting run down by a vehicles that notoriously run red lights!

Walkable pedestrian friendly zones tend to increase property values and encourage new businesses to move in. Worcester is in the midst of trying to recreate it's image and attract new commercial and residential tenants downtown. It's CitySquare project is trying to build mixed-use development just off of Main Street. Bringing pedestrians to the area is a great way to increase the likelihood of the success of this project. 

If Worcester wants to really become the world-class city that it aspires to be, it should adopt some forward thinking measures such as creating pedestrian only zones downtown. 

Worcester City Square

Worcester Redevelopment Effort

Despite having spent most of my life in central Massachusetts, I always thought that Worcester was one of the worst places to go. I viewed it as a run down, shrinking and lifeless city where nobody would want to live. To my own defense, for most of my life Worcester really did not have a lot to offer. It's train station served no trains, it's mall had more rats than stores and despite being the second largest city in New England, it was difficult to access from almost any highway.

Fast forward 20 years. From the time I was born in the early 90's until now, Worcester has begun to make a dramatic turnaround. Some major steps: trains now use the train station, JetBlue is operating at the airport, the horrible empty mall has been torn down and the city now connects to another highway. If you are not from around here, you may read these things and think "what's so exciting about that?" Let me tell you, it's exciting because nobody ever expected it to happen in a city that was once so bleak.

Over the next three to five years I expect the city to continue it's transformation, moving from it's current shall I say average status to an ideal place for young people. But why you ask? A project called CitySquare is planning to revitalize all of downtown Worcester. By the way, its going to cost over 500 million dollars... But it's going to turn this

Into This!

In all reality, the city is tearing down the decades empty mall to build a mixed use and pedestrian friendly development area. At first, I did not believe it would happen, but many buildings have actually been completed. So far, the hospital downtown has opened a state of the art cancer facility and a brand new huge office building has gone up for Unum. 

Looking towards the future, the city has plans to continue this buildout over the next 8 or so years and fully demolish and rebuild about 12 acres worth of land, which explains the high price tag. Even outside of the immediate downtown area, Worcester continues to build many new buildings and employment prospects are looking bright, particularly in the health sciences field. 

I really hope that my predictions are accurate and that CitySquare continues with it's great progress, because this will make Worcester a really great place to live.

If you want to learn more about Worcester, check out some of my other articles about the city!
Worcester or Boston: Space vs. Appeal
Why Does the Mass-Pike Avoid Worcester
How Worcester is Keeping College Students