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The following responses and comments to "What do you like about Worcester?" were submitted by members of the Holy Cross community. Post your own reactions >>
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I like the location. There are a ton of things to do just in the city, yet also we're centrally located in New England. If you do decide to head out on a day trip, you can reach any state in New England easily so you can go swim in the ocean in Rhode Island or go skiing in Maine without having to plan for weeks in advance!
Thomas Gordon
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Bill Densmore. And Jim McGovern. And Barbara Haller, Michael Angelini, Fran Manocchio. There's Yary Jaen from the Main South CDC, Evelyn Dutton from College Hill, Colin Novik from the Greater Worcester Land Trust, the Webster House's Chris Liazos, Mother Nancy from St. Matt’s on the corner of Southbridge and Cambridge Streets and Jane Petrella, who is Quinsigamond Village. And then, of course, there’s Ms. Brenda Jenkins who stands guard at the YMCA’s Central Branch in her black spiked-heeled boots and who won’t let you through the door until you make a contribution to the Y's summer camp scholarship program. (She’s collected more than $5,000 so far.) These are the people of Worcester, and it’s the people who set Worcester apart and make it unique in a wonderful way.
Worcester is a small town wrapped up as a City. It’s a place where all you have to do is hold out your hand and you’ll be part of the family. In Worcester, you need to budget 30 minutes extra for a trip to the market or a run at the gym simply because of the people you will run into and the conversations you will have.
Worcester is a collection of wonderful folk who care about the quality of life in the place they call home, and who commit their time and energy to make it better. It’s a passionate political town full or ardent environmentalists, community activists, educators and artists. It’s always possible to find a niche, no matter what one’s interests and inclinations.
I first came to Worcester as a college student, and returned when my son became school-aged. In Boston, where I was living, I was anonymous, despite having a relatively high-profile position with the state. I could spend the day outside the office and not run into a single familiar face. It took me three months to become connected in the City of Worcester, and each contact I made led me to another and those contacts to still more.
Last week, I was cutting through the back roads of South Worcester and Main South to get from the College to the YMCA on Main Street. Barbara Haller, a City Councilor and friend, waved me to the curb outside the Crescent Café. There was a celebration going on inside. Stacey DeBoise Luster, a former City Councilor and now Human Resource Director for the Worcester Public Schools, and her husband, Charles, had bought a problem property and had converted it into a soul club. Charles plans to open a barber shop next door. Steve Munoz, assistant principal at Sullivan Middle School, was playing guitar. Former Mayor Ray Mariano, who now heads up the Worcester Housing Authority, dropped by, as did assorted elected officials, business owners and neighborhood residents. The food was fantastic and the friendship better.
That’s what I like about Worcester. That’s why I chose to live here. And that’s why I’ve chosen to stay.
Katherine Robertson
Special Assistant to the President, Community Affairs
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My Top Ten Favorite Things About Worcester:
- Just like Rome, it’s a city of Seven Hills (with fascinating neighborhoods atop each of them!
- Elm Park, the nation’s first public park (designed by Olmstead, no less) is a wonderful destination any time of year
- Summer Shakespeare in Green Hill Park, courtesy of Redfeather Theatre at Holy Cross
- Residents have a long tradition of public service and are committed to taking care of each other
- Ed Hyder’s Mediterranean Marketplace
- You can go to a terrific theatre or concert at Hanover Theater, have a meal at a first-class
restaurant – and not have to pay a fortune to park or endure a drive home on the Mass Pike
- The promise of the Canal District and the Blackstone Valley Heritage Corridor
- Amazing urban architectural gems – like the 19th century homes on Crown Hill
- Robert Benchley and Stanley Kunitz were both born here
- Beautiful Lake Quinsigamond… and the fact that Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg isn’t too far away
Ellen Ryder
Director of Public Affairs
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So much has changed favorably during the past 10 years in terms of the relationship between Holy Cross and the Worcester community—in particular with our closest neighbors in the College Hill area.
When I joined the Holy Cross community in 1997, I vividly and painfully recall the tension and hostility that existed between the College (especially around student behavior) and our neighbors. I remember attending many meetings of the neighborhood Civic Association as the official representative of Holy Cross, where I heard very few kind or endearing words from the most vocal of the neighbors about our students or about the College. Rather, I heard that students were disrespectful, undisciplined and destructive. I heard that the College really didn’t care about its immediate neighbors and their quality of life or about the community as a whole.
It didn’t take long for it to become obvious that significant change had to come. Several people—including myself, many of our students, and number of our neighbors such as Evelyn Dutton, John and Jackie McNamara, Lisa Villa, Rachel Bromage, Rob Bellin, and others—decided that this was just not the way for any of us to live and that we needed to take some action to bring about much-needed change. Our goal was to create a forum where we were not always reacting to problems that cause stress and negative relations, but where we worked proactively as a team, to create a community committed to building healthy and productive neighborhood relationships. This, we agreed, would benefit all of us.
As a result, in 1998, the Holy Cross Community Alliance was established. Today, the Alliance membership consists of Holy Cross administrators, students, faculty, representatives of various neighborhood associations—College Hill, South Worcester, Quinsigamond—representatives from Worcester City Council, liaisons from the Worcester Police Department, and neighborhood landlords. The Alliance meets several times a year to keep open the lines of positive communication; to work together to identify and address common concerns; and to collaborate on projects designed to enhance the environment of the College Hill community.
Jacqueline Peterson
Vice President, Student Affairs and Dean of Students
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Worcester was and is a great place to raise a family. It is a somewhat hard place to visit but a wonderful place to live.
Frank Vellaccio
Senior Vice President
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