It is so ridiculous to me to that the city won’t do WHATEVER IT TAKES to improve the WRTA. Granted, the powers that be at the WRTA also have to do the work to get what they need to improve (hint hint: get more federal & state funding. Baker vetoed a bill that would increase RTA funding BTW)

The WRTA ain’t perfect, but if it ran more frequently and late into the evening that would be transformative for this city.

We would 100% take the bus to polar park (for us it would be a 5 minute walk to the bus stop, 5 minute ride, and 8/10 minute walk to the park). The only reason we can’t is it doesn’t run in the evening. So instead, we drive 7 minutes, pay $10 for parking, and still walk that same 8/10 minute route.

It’s so much nicer to experience the Canal District without having to think about parking the car.

Went to the Evergreen Room in Hudson last night for the first time and it was WONDERFUL!

I look at these types of places and I do realize that a good chunk of the price is the additional on-site amenities (Bike Room, Coworking Lounge, Dog Park, Fitness Center, Picnic / Grill Area, and yes, parking).

And yet. My sister rents a studio in an old but well maintained building in a nice but average neighborhood in Queens, NY and pays $1400.

Like, come on.

Their breakfast burrito is incredible! They do a really nice job.

I would definitely use this once in awhile!!

Not in Worcester, but check out Wild Birds Unlimited. They have a store in Sudbury, but you can shop online! Love them.

https://www.wbu.com/

Oooh I forgot about that venue! Yes, beautiful outdoor spot. Looks like concerts are typically May-October though.

Ooh one more since you said you also like classical. My husband and I recently came across the Groton Hill Music Center up in Ayer. Looks like a beautiful venue and they have some really neat musicians coming:

https://grotonhill.org/

First check out who’s playing at Ralph’s, Vincents, Steel & Wire, and Electric Haze. Also, The White Room is a wonderful event space/art gallery and the couple who run it have just started a community series on Sunday nights that’s going to be a variety of programming. Follow them on IG to keep tabs on what’s coming up.

Deadhorse Hill. So delicious and great drink options too

But yes, communication is not very widespread when a change or cancellation is made, so that does result in people getting stranded - which is not great.

Even when they announce runs will be canceled on certain lines, they never say which ones specifically. It’s crazy.

Also depending on when you were waiting on Monday, they activated their “snow routes” in the afternoon so I know that results in some rerouting so the buses avoid hills.

And I know the City doesn’t have power over the WRTA admin in terms of hiring/firing but Jesus, the WRTA needs an admin team the cares about, and dare I say, TAKES the bus.

I know! It makes me so sad. They can’t even do basic things - like promoting their service!

They hired a new marketing person a few months ago and I saw a slight change in their Twitter presence that promoting using the bus.

But that seems to have fallen off again and all we see are canceled buses.

Also, I looked at that marketing role out of curiosity (as a former marketing person), and it was a very bloated job description for like, pretty low salary.

One of two things would happen: they either get 2) someone young out of school who will just use it as a stepping stone and move on quickly or 3) someone with slightly more experience that will burn out quickly and get tired of the BS - and move on

Right. And listen, they also complained that they are having a tough time finding drivers (although they are not advertising at all.) they say they pay the best of the RTAs, but I found the salary at $41k, which…oof that’s not great.

So they need more money. They are sitting on millions of CARES act money which could be used in some way but they won’t use it and also won’t be clear as to why??

Seems to me if I owned a company that provided a public service, and the service was failing, I’d be screaming from the rooftops for help and find any viable solution rather than pointing my finger at my workers.

This whole thing just feels super fishy. I dunno, of course I understand the complications that come from workers calling out. But if workers need to use PFML, they need to use it and they are more than entitled to. The administrator basically saying “it’s my workers’ fault because they are taking time off (they are allowed to take)” ain’t it.

If they really cared to fix it or improve, the WRTA admin would be shouting from the rooftops about what they need (money obviously being one). They aren’t doing that.

Inclusionary zoning hasn’t passed yet, so these developments will all be market rate. It makes me sad.

This is a little hard to answer because I think it depends on where you are going and what kind of flight itineraries/airlines you like. I’ve flown out of both for completely different reasons. Obviously since Logan is bigger they have the most options.

When we do Logan, we usually drive to the Framingham Logan express and park there as it’s only $7/day. Buses leave every half hour and it’s always been smooth and on time.

TG Green Parking is $17-32/day but I know they also have coupons that can get it down to $12/day.

I only use ORH when flying to NYC.

Went there once on a whim a few months ago after I got my haircut across the street, it was nice! Google says 12-9 for their hours? 🤷🏻‍♀️ Maybe they cut back bar hours but didn’t update online.

Whoa! That’s a great hire! Very intrigued to see what transpires from this new department.

My sister lives in NYC and we visit each other regularly.

Flying is awesome and it’s a 35 minute flight. JetBlue & American to JFK and Delta to LGA http://flyorh.com/

There’s also Peter Pan bus which goes direct between Union Station and Port Authority and is about 3.5 hours. One bus a day but it rally has always worked great and been on time. Definitely not as painful as NYC-BOS buses. https://peterpanbus.com/

There is also OurBus which is newer so I haven’t tried them yet: https://www.ourbus.com/

The train is not really a decent option unless you have an easy way to get down to Providence. (There is shockingly no bus from Worcester to Providence). Going backwards to Boston is silly.

This came out in the paper in September:

https://www.telegram.com/story/business/2022/09/01/worcester-memorial-auditorium-plan-would-create-esports-venue/7952386001/

But not sure if the plan is totally confirmed. The building is wonderful, it really deserves revitalization, but I have very mixed feelings about this idea.

That is a very good point! Would love to continue to see new faces on the city council that are smart and take the job seriously.

Also in favor of time limits for councilors speaking as well. If you can’t make your point clearly in 2 minutes - your mic gets cut. 😂 The usual suspects blather on forever with no direction. It’s exhausting to listen to.

Totally agree here. This form of government is just not working well for Worcester.

I was incredibly disappointed in how this all played out and it really puts a cloud over Eric. No shade to him, he seems nice, but we really don’t know much about him and what his vision is.

The City Council should be ashamed that they didn’t do their job to look for a new manager the standard way. It would have been so valuable to see Eric and others with experience in city management show their fresh ideas for managing Worcester. I realize this is now the third time they’ve abandoned one of their major duties, instead pushing a guy through from the inside. It feels so icky.

I certainly hope the best for Eric in this role, and absolutely hope he might be able to make good recommendations for progress. But I also think if you live in the district of a councilor who chose to not do their job, you should start looking elsewhere for a representative who actually cares and is fully committed to the job of being a city councilor.