Same Time Next Year
-
It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about the problems that come from
having 11 bosses who are not on the same page about anything, as well as
suggestion...
6 months ago
August 06, 2008
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46 comments:
In the back of mind there are businesses that I drive by regularly....old line Worc locally owned businesses................and i wonder to myself...........how long before they are gone................but out of fairness....I would never speculate on a blog that they might be closing in the not too distant future.............I know that's not what youre asking for.........we're looking for closed businesses..........
I ask did the Millbrook Diner close.....I heard it did................Gallo Saturn bought the property a while back... I heard.....speaking of which............is the old Gallo site on Shrewsbury St still vacant?
This truly another sad, dark, overcast, dreary, rainy day in Worc's history of demise.
Just a reminder that back in the mid 90's Allmerica (f.k.a. State Mutual) brought a Boston big wig in to clean the place up, dress it up, put the bride on the stage, and peddle her.
Luckily for Worc the stock market stars didnt align properly for that to happen....(Tech bubble)plus the Boston bigwig basically almost sank the ship selling fiancially flawed investment products with unusually high guaranteed rates of return. He's gone but Hanover Ins as it is now called is still with us...................for now...BTW State Mutual was origiannlly based downtown until they built their Lincoln st campus and moved there about late 50's or so.
I'm not into updating the business closing lists (being the half-full kinda guy that I am) so let me bring to your attention a new business. In today's T&G it was reported that Aeropostale Inc. (a NYC based clothing store) has opened in the Greendale Mall. They already have stores in the Auburn and Solomon Pond Mall.
Easy with the periods Jahn.
You only need three periods after a disjointed sentence.
Your Woosta schooling is showing.
Millbrook is closed.
Dave Z, new nail saloon opened in Tatnuck Square called, I think, Colors
I can tell you that we have a 30+ employer (most employees live in the "real hood" begging down my way left begging-customer base high end (do we have many business like this in the city).. begged for 17 months to get the fire hydrant reinstalled (I was at every meeting)...has begged along with me to get the riff-raff and long standing troubled houses at Dewey & Winfield next to their satelite lot straightened out to no avail (mucho meetings again on this)- last week a customers car was destroyed...employees parking next to my house because they are afraid of the rifraf hanging non-stop in front of the houses:>)
Oobladiooblada..life goes on in Woostah
Fire hydrant reinstalled??
Is this John Kerry deal?
Was it to be re-installed or moved??
If it's a hydrant that used to exist and now doesnt..........then call Raffa or Courtney or Dio.....that should get it done fast. Afterall Buddy needs his places and turf, too.
Paulie concerning businesses in your area.............what exactly does the MLK Center do ......other then spend my tax dollars
David, does the new function hall to be opened by the Maxwell Slivermans people (re-opened?) at Union Station count as an addition.
Bill, If the likes of a Gallo Motors basically buys out an existing business, closes it, and immediately expands their business on the old site.........is that a busines closed/lost.........or is it a wash....btw I am assuming that is Gallos intent???
Frankly I am not sure??? could be viewed 2 diff ways??
Anonymous, sorry i never got higher than B in English courses. But at least that was back when a B meant that I no Howe two spell and punk-chew-ate..........when kneeded [g]
Ok enough i need to get some work done here.......weatehr forecats & the local news has me in the dumps
A 12 pack of Jahngameister maybe in my immediate future here today
Jahn, IMHO, the new venture by Maxwell Silverman's at Union Station is definitely considered a new business. Not only are the plans to book the main hall for functions & business meetings but he will be reopening the former Union Station The Restaurant under a new name. It will be called Luciano’s Café that will cater to the commuters during the day and feature a Martini bar at night with outdoor café seating. As for the Millbrook, yes they closed and sold the property to Gallo Motors who will be expanding. I would think that the Gallo move will actually increase the value of the property which in my mind will be another win for the city.
Living Earth is the biz I was speaking of..the hydrant was hit by a car and capped..sat capped for 17 months..
Funny Kerry story..few years back when he accepted the nomination in Boston Garden..he wanted to have a concert at the Esplanade..was turned down cause of Homeland security reasons at the time (only in Massacusetts)..I had a existing permit for the Jerry Garcia Memorial River Run a few miles down the rivah....thought I was gonna have the permit yanked..anyway it wasn't...1000+ showed...we had Coast Guard choopers all ovah the scene wondering what was going on..I got to have my event and John Kerry was denied:>) I knew he was doomed to lose after this:>)
Dave Z..I like your enthusiasm for the city..we need more of it mate
Dave Z:
Enthusiasm is good, think we all have it. Pointing out serious trends, however, I would not consider as being unenthusiastic or negative.
Losing UNUM is a huge loss to the City of Worcester. Make no mistake about it, they are gone.
Bill
Bill, St. Vincent Hospital was gone too back in the early 90s and look where they are now. UNUM will not be leaving the city unless they decide to consolidate operations in Chattanooga or Portland. I predict a City Square jump start with the new local headquarters of UNUM being the catalyst.
Dave:
Trust me on this, they are gone. Actually not the fault of Worcester.
They have been downsizing for years and want to consolidate in Chattanooga and Portland. Portland was UNUN's HQ while Chattanooga was Provident's HQ.
Paul Revere is being worked into both operations.
Bill
Bill, unless you have information that none of us do, I stand by my original prediction.
David, I dont see how Gallo taking over the Millbrook site will increase the value of the property (& property revenues?).
Mere speculation here....but Gallo will most likely raze the structure...which generates about $5,000 in yearly property taxes...and then just pave over the lot......again mere speculation at this juncture.
On the other hand we're futunate that Gallo hasnt just moved out to the Rte 9 Auto Mile in Shrewsbury/ Northboro/Westboro
Dave:
I remember when Paul Revere was bought out and all the employees went to Mechanics Hall and they were told no to worry, everyone will keep their jobs.
Flash forward they workforce has been cut in half. Dave, I have no inside information, they are gone. Unlike a hospital which has a base to service if you were UNUM, why would you stay here?
This is just part of the business plan when they bought the company.
Bill
Maybe we should change the group from Choose Worcester to Stay In Worcester?
I was with someone in the know the oher day who told me that what is left of Med City has slowly been drying up...any word on this? It was over a hour chat at Home Depot in the 2x4 section:>)
Paulie, my primary care physician is in one of the medical offices at “Med City”. I recently had an appointment there and all of the office space I saw was fully occupied so I don’t quite understand what your inside source told you. As for “Med City”, it is not really marketed under that name any longer. In fact, St. Vincent Hospital rebranded themselves under the St. Vincent name quite sometime ago. And they recently brought the bell from the old bell tower at the former site on Vernon Hill and are undertaking a capital campaign to place it back on the roof of the present site.
The only thing that did not work out was their initial plan to take a significant portion of the first trigger building at City Square. If they had done that when the project was first announced, the former mall would already be torn down and City Square would be taking shape right now.
By the way fellow bloggers, I’m going on vacation next week so I’m hoping that Gabe or someone else runs with my positive energy on this board while I’m away.
Dave:
I am very positive. Believe me I am. Don't mistake realism with being negative.
Bill
By the way, I do realize when you read these comments that they do look negative.
For the record I do believe Worcester can be a great place to live, like ORH could be a great airport, but we miss so many opportunities. Mayor Murray did a great job changing the attitude and the City on the Move was great but it has stalled and now is starting to slip back.
Call me negative but that is how I see it.
The City desparately misses Tim on a day to day basis....no one on the Council has stepped up to the plate..Joe campaigned as the "Quiet Man" but to be quite frank they are all to quiet for me:>)
He was always driving around the city...Mayors Walks in the toughest parts and not one a year but three or four a year..at the events and not just the to be seen at ones....there is something to be said for solid leadership and we had it in Tim..it is more than a check for him or a status chip.when the chips are down..sometimes a rah raher wih something to say can go along way.
We have a issue down here on lower Chandler....I sent an e-mail out to many ciy officials..state included! Only one response and it wasn't let's get on this problem it was "hay quit bashing me" (I wasn't or didn't mean to)..Tim would have stopped by that day to look into...a real difference in style if you ask me.Pols used to be a little tougher or maybe it is just cause I am from Boston and things are a litle different...anyway Murray can make it anywhere as a Pol cause he has a lot of the intangibles that most in the city right now do not have..
Pualie & Bill .......you guys are both smoking Left Handed Luckies.......
B/c Tim is gone...........the city has bene in a freefall????
.......surely you both jest !!!!!!.......the guys only been gone 18 months..........and the problems that we are experiencing have been on going for possibly decades now...
City on The Move was a euphemism that Murray used work his way down to Boston........one person does not a city make
Worcs only hope maybe that Murray moves up further in the political world (Altho Coupe Deval swears he's in Mass to live out his term)..............and Tim can send us lotsa money.....if he realizes his political ambitions.....maybe he can fill Teddy's shoes.if not and it's one & done...........Tim will end up on the Pike somewhere or ther Port Authority........
Let's remember all these CDC Low Income Pajama Peeps Projects left the drawing board years ago and are now just coming to fruition...............all on Tims watch...........and prob with Tim's photo ops on Hollis St....
Same for the Airport under Massports auspices for what 9 yrs now...........and 7 of these 9 yrs with Tim on the council and what.....3 of them as Mayor???
Now he thinks he's going to push CSX around too..........State may get what they want eventaully...but wait until they see what it will cost....messing with CSX is analogous to Messing with St Gobain.............the big boys push back hard.....it's not like pushing around some small local developer or running a bunch of Ho's out of Main South
i JUST TUNED IN TO LEVY AT 315PM.......expecting UNUM to be the topic........topic is Glouster and the teen pregnancy story up there............specifically about a closed door meeting and the open meeting law.
Was it you Paulie who said Levy s/b replaced with your dog Buddy.or did u mean Buddy Cianci?
Ops wait......Jordan says stay tuned for Chief Gemme...shucks but it sabout police detaisl at bars...........and not about Payroll problems
Damn Jahn, stop the exaggerated punctuation.
What is that supposed to mean anyways?
Read Strunk & Whites, Elements of Style before you post again ok?
Senor Jahn..I nevah expect to find pols that I completely agree with..shit I haven't found anyone yet who does..took me 40 years to find someone who could not bear to live without me - Buddy the Beagle:>)
That all being said..Tim led the Council..who is leading who today-all trying to out do each other..others just sitting with their hands under their arses?
We have problem property after problem property in this urban core of the city driving all but the losers, me, Gabe, Will and those are trying like hell to get ahead away and it spends hours on hot dog stands and still no consensus!
Tim had a vision..may not be yer vision but it was a vision-we can do better, we can be a big city, we can lead Central Mass as the economic engine..he could make folks feel good..don't discount this in a city that has a huge chip on it's shoulder! I have owned a few properties in the city ovah 17 years..got three now..I remember how bad we were 17 years ago thru 5 years ago..as some one stated "are we better off today than we were 17 years ago".."yes"
Tim moved this city..sure there have been some failures..who hasn't had em' but I'll take the wins cause we have had so few before him:>) Mick O'Brien was a huge success..name a better city manager in the state with as few aces in his hand? Bob Healey of Cambridge is the best but he has aces to spare:>)
I'm no puppy dog..I have no problem blogging my opinion or stating in person..we have few GIANTS for leaders locally..Tim is one:>)
Sorry about that punctuation.
Haste makes for poo rpunctuation
Paulie you dont think when Tim was on the council that he was trying to outdo others? Speaking of the current Mayor, didnt Tim basically treat her like ++++.
Plenty of problem properties existed while thsi city was under tims watch,too.
I do agree that hot dog stands s/b a non issue. SO should little yellow Boxes, useless resolutions, in fighting, and some of the other trivial baloney the council avails it self of. They do this in an attempt to avoid the hard issues that are facing the city..... e.g.:
a. an unfunded pension liabilty that is in the 100's of millions and growing daily or
b. the airport O.T. this month),or
c. 13% of the city work force out injuured on duty status,
d. 10 sick days per year per employee
e. Carpet bombed streets
f. uprooted sidewalks
Having a vision and making folks feel good??..........that's long on intangibles and short on reality. If I want to feel good, I'll leave town (j/k). If I want a vision.........well never mind.
Paulie, please dont give credit to politicians for things that just happened to have occurred on their watch....b/c when you do that you have to give them credit for all teh things that didnt happen on their watch.
If I decided to build a 25 story sky scraper on Tim's watch.....he'd be there for the photo-op even though he just happened to be lucky enough to have it occur on his watch.
IMO Murray and the mayoral post are way overrated & impotent and Mayors in Worc should stick to pinning medals on pretty babies, attending wakes & funerals, cutting ribbons, letting the City Manager manage, and staying out of the way of the progress of private business.
Paulie is right about Tim Murray. For a while he (along with Mike O'Brien who still is) was making a huge effort to change peoples attitudes about the city, which really do need changing.
Like I have been saying, and Jahn kind of echoed this the other day, we need to take all of this money we spend on research and development studies and all this hoo-ha, simply pool it all, hire a top notch marketing firm to market the city and market it well. This needs to stop being an insider's city. There are people who live here for YEARS (4 years to be exact, if you know what I mean) who have no clue of the different things the city has to offer them. Honestly what we have as a foundation in this city is pretty good, but before we build on that foundation we need people who are on board with what needs to be built.
Hire a full time team to just be in charge of the city's website and update it and let it be a comprehensive guide to the city, it's neighborhoods and all you need to know about Worcester.
Lastly, we have thousands of 18 year olds with minds ripe for the molding who come into Worcester every year and try us on.
I remember a couple years ago the first year Start on the Street was on Park Ave I was talking to a business owner in the area and I asked him if he was going to do a sidewalk sale or anything that was going to tie in with the thousands of people that were going to be walking by his store that day and he just shrugged his shoulders. Said that no one was going to buy anything. If thousands of people come into your business and then don't buy what you are selling you need to check yourself and figure out why.
It's the same thing with Worcester. These kids aren't staying here. And you can say it's because of jobs, or you can say it's because of taxes in Massachusetts and you can come with a myriad of reasons to tell yourself what it is. Those are your problems though, not theirs.
At 22 years old you could give a shit about the tax rate. Do you think kids (for the most part) are moving to NYC, Baltimore, Austin, Portland Oregon, Chicago, Boston, Seattle and San Francisco for the jobs?
They are moving there because living there is a kick ass good time.
If you are between the ages of 22 and 32 years old, your prime years of being single with expendable income this city absolutely sucks to live in. It is steadily improving but it absolutely blows for the most part.
Every year we lose thousands to these other cities because we can't even compete. It's like the New England Patriots versus the Oxford Pirates. Those of us that are insiders know that we can compete a litte, but shit, as an individual I just can't get to every Clark U or Holy Cross senior every year who doesn't even know Ralph's or One Love and all the businesses like this exist.
The thing is that the council, because they have their heads up their asses don't get this. And to anyone who might disagree with all the objections to discussion about bars and hot dog vendors, this is where people like me, and Brendan over at Radio Ball and anyone else who gets in an uproar about this kind of thing is coming from.
I remember what it was like to travel the 45 minutes down 146 to see Quicksand at Club Babyhead in Providence and know that afterwards I was going to get a slice of pizza from the guy that was always always always outside never fail. I thought to myself, wow, why can't Worcester be like this.
Youth is what makes a healthy vibrant city people. And we just flush thousands of young people away every year. Thousands of young people that do us the honor of trying us on for size for 4 years. Paulie, you are constantly referencing Davis Sq. What makes Davis Sq tick?
These consortium alumni are all over this country right now, laughing at the shithole city that they went to college in.
I agree with Bill, Paulie blue letters and black letters, Gabe, and Jahn for the most part. Also I try to be popsitive like Dave Z but it gets harder every day.
Worcester has the potential to be a real city but it can not get past its second rate city feel. I don't want to be negative either but when can we begin to see some real change. NO more 10 or 15 year plans of a new funky city, although I like the trolly idea,I will be in a rest home before the tracks are put down.
Maybe a strong mayor(Mayor Mike O'B) with less city councilors(1 per district) will help Worcester out of its funk. Can we vote on that next election?
I would hate to see a company such as Unum leave.
Long day working in Worcester, huh?
Let me take a step back. Good to see that there are people like us who actually care about the future of Worceser!! Makes me feel better busting my ass very day here.
Now for the comments. I like them all. There is alot of truth to all of them. Here goes.
Jahn, you are right about the 1) injured on duty and 2) the pension liability. If you ask me that is Mick O'Brien and his team's job more then our elected officials.
Paul. I agree 100% that Mayor Murray set a great positive tone. Do I agree with everything he did--NO. I will never agree 100% with anyone. The momentum he created has stalled.
Tim, you can only be postive so long until you need to finally ask where's the beef? It ain't there but you ever increasing tax bill, water and sewerage bill is.
My man Dave Z, when the hell is EMC stock going to go up again? For what it is worth I am felling postive by all these comments from peope who actually care.
Now for Welcome Back Gabe.. Man, your last comment was pretty unbelievable.
In closing, can we all agree on one thing--NO MORE LOW INCOME/AFFORDABLE HOUSING!!! Putting that aside I want to thank you all for some great comments today and here is hoping Worcester finally realizes its potential.
Bill
one last comment
I do not think Dave Zimage should be allowed to go on vacation until EMC stock starts trading at least at $20 per share.
I totally agree with the stopping of the low income housing Bill.
Can we come up with some sort of unified front to stop this from going on?
I agree it needs to be stopped but what as citizens can we do about it?
Gabe;
I understand the need for the vendors and pubs aka nightlife..I also understand the need for regulation in this city because without it as many business have shown in this city-they are unable to police themselves thus they cause a lot of "quality of life issues"...alot of this also has to do with who is living in the city -responsible people do not live the way many do in the urban core of this city..and being poor and uneducated has nothing to do with it.
A lot of the nightlife in this city is supported by very young kids who have no control once they drink to much-at least at many of the pubs in my hood..and by bad folks...thus we have these repeated instances of violence and civil disturbances coming from them..we also have a lot of quality establishments that are supported by folks who know how to be responsible..
Right now I see alot of divisiveness ovah the bar detail issue..do you really think Chief Gemme wants to curb nightlife in this city? I doubt it and I am sure he has looked at this issue pretty closely..I do know that he intends to crack down on the pubs that serve to underage kid's, allow drug sales and have constant meles after folks leave their bars..these are not businesses..they are free for all's...we are finally seeing more and more citizens stepping up to the plate to voice their opinion..we definitely need more especially in our hoods Gabe as you well know...most of the conversation still comes out of folks who live outside the urban core and that is okay but until we get more wihin our area jumping in to speak up-we will have a tough road to walk as far as I can see..I've experienced gentrification as a property owner, business owner & resident..it takes time especially when we hold few aces-lack of good transportation, crappy urban core housing stock, low educated urban workforce, crappy urban schools...no direct route here from major connector.
Davis Square in Somerville at one time was a very blue collar square in Somerville..it fell into terrible shape in the early 80's....Somerville Theatre was closed, McDonalds left..few business..then the real estate boom of the 90's changed this..still no one ever thought it could compete with Harvard Square..today it is a mecca of entertainment, food, cafes, theatre and just plain people watching..I had 3000+ toe the line at my St Paddy's Day race this year..15 pubs involved in the post race festivities..folks from all over the country and Ireland particpating..if you asked me if I thought this was possible in 1992 when I put on my first event of 62 in Somerville..I would have laughed at you!
Take a trip to downtown Haverhill and see what is quietly happpening up there..you will want to move there tomorrow Gabe & Will..I may:>) Close proximity to rural areas, ocean..off major route.and still a small city feel.
I just got wacked on my blog by someone asking me aka not wondering why no one was responding to my recent blog about putting many of the folks in this city who are receiveing assistance to work...well that is a huge problem in this city-few speak up about anything..we can not support the huge amount of folks who are on the dole in this city and I am not talking about mentally ill, the elderly, those who have had a bad stretch and need assistance for a period of time until they get it back together..I am talking about the huge amount of folks who have been on the dole for years and are killing our neighborhoods..these are not neighborhoods in the urban core..few in my hood talk to each other except the banditoes....the proof is in the pudding via the census report, drop in car registrations, lack of educated minds staying put,few if any stores to shop at-I have to travel miles to get to a Staples (all major retailers are on the outskirts of town-none..few in the uran core. Sure no one is responding on my blog about my statements..but they are responding about the situation via the roads out of here...most just leave they don't leave a note on a blog stating why!
I'm hanging in a wee bit longer before I make a decision on where I am going to live..I personally like the challenges of the "new" Worcester to a point (the City on the Move tag has become tiring)..that recent issue of a gang surrounding a home bothered me cause I have been vocal to my hood rats that the bullshit is ending..I've had many physical confrontations that the WPD has been most helpful with..a reason I am less confrontational over police issues and I have had em':>)But I am not looking to get me, a family member or friend hurt ovah urban core issues:>)
Anyway, I am with you Gabe and Will..I live in the core-it aint easy and it can harden one-I hope our Pols understand this..you listening Kate this aint personal:>)
"Can we come up with some sort of unified front to stop this from going on?
I agree it needs to be stopped but what as citizens can we do about it?"
>>there seems to be a thought that these low income housing rehabs are going to pave the way for more development..private development doubtful...more low income development most definitely.
The West Side surrendered the urban core a very long time ago..keep the peasants housed, clothed, fed, medicated and hopefully they will be happy and not stray beyond Park Ave:>) Anyone remember when the Youth Center relocated to Beaver Brook??? The concerns coming out of the west side neighborhoods were loud & clear..same thing when they tried to locate a women's wet shelter at the rotary on June Street..new neighborhood group sprang up! "Responsible Neighborhoods" or something like this..modern cities do not think like this anymore..folks living in them expect the same quality of life-clean streets, good schools, safe neighborhooods, reasonable social service providers sitings & services..folks behaving responsibly (meaning music doesn't blast out a window day and night, sidewalks are meant for walking- not trash, drunks and dog shit, gangs of people do not occupy a yard for hours on end).
The way it ends Gabe is when Worcester Urban becomes desirebale to those who have jobs and educations and wish to invest...I am doijng it with my properties..I disagree with Bill regarding 93 Grand Street..it could be a viable private project if there were folks willing to pay top dollar...we have condos in Somerville now selling for $500+...these are units in rehabbed three deckers..granted they have been rehabbed in grandiose style but they are still units within three deckers...this city has few options..let a building rot away or let a CDC rehab and hopefully something good will come from it..I'll say this..when I bought my first house in the city it is here on Chandler..I saw Living Earth and it's clientel and said "I am the next building block"...well 17 years later the path of progress has barely made it to my front door:>)
Paulie
How did Davis SQ bounce back? Did the entertainment venues attract more people or did an influx of people attract the entertainment venues?
John;
very basic - Boston and the area smaller cities became safe, clean, governments more transparent and efficient with more folks involved, more efficient transportation modes, took advantage of the pluses like education and environments (you can walk,run,bike,roler blade around the Charles River-can't around Lake Quinnsigamond:>)
Boston and surrounding smaller cities are very desireable places to live now and very welcoming to all walks of life..I lived outside Harvard Square for 13 years..two gay guys lived next door to me..good guys always friendly-cordial and me back ..house always emaculate..yard beautiful:>) Boy do I miss those guys:>)
Women right now run 2-1 over the men population wise in Boston and the area smaller cities ..biggest reason is because Boston and the area smaller cities have become safe/clean cities..I poll them all the time..my customer base is 70% women at my events...few women dare walk in my neighborhood
I remember a letter to the editor in WOMAG years ago..."boy are we lucky we didn't let the gays in, look what they did to Northampton":>) Anybody been to Northampton lately??
I disagree with you Will II....this blogging is a start and Wild Will and I do more than blog-we are quite involved in our neighborhoods down here on Chandler..as more get involved it will be those 5000 signatures you speak about and I agree on ....I have been fighting these problme properties in my neck of the woods for years..few helping out but the city..now more are sarting to get involved-Will I can attest to this:>) Will ya attest Wild Will I??
If there is one Gabe, One Me, One Will in the urban core there are 2 of each waiting to get involved..the heat just has to stay turned on and high!
I'm on vacation for the entire month of August other than small litle events on Thursday nights of 100-200..tonight I have a Irish night on the Charles..live music, food and running:>) All welcome
www.baevents.com/mickcollins
I'll have Ronan plays some Roger Millah for you Will II:>)
BTW..I know a business that is flourishing in Worcester
Westside Vet on Mill Street
Buddy is up for his yearly shots and to show how much I believe in the city Dave Z..I decided to switch vets..former one was in Brighton, MA...anyway I need to get the check up and shots cause I plan to board him in Paxton this weekend while I head to the Catskills for a 100K relay that she is racing in Catskills 10Km Relay..so I went in yesterday figuring I would get an apppointment for today..nope not unil August 18th and the place was packed with folks having med checks on their pooches and cats..so I found a place on Mountain Ave that will see him tomorrow at 9:45AM...and this is being done as a favor from a friend...so the VET BUUSINESS in the city is flourishing.
Why are you afraid to post this Bill?
"Caring" and then doing something about Worcester are two different animals Bill Randell.
What exactly is all this blogging gonna lead to?
First you need an agenda, then you go politicking in Boston or Woosta City Hall, you’re wasting their time.
Now if you could get 5,000 concerned citizens signatures for an issue, they just might listen to you.
Sorry to be a party popper Bill, but it has to be said.
Hey Will,
The blogging does a lot in my opinion. If it weren't for Jeff over at Wormtown Taxi and Bill I wouldn't have had the inspiration to start writing in mine as much as I do and I look at them and realize I can still do more.
To bring up the insider city thing once again, the more what's going on in Worcester can be publicized the better. Other than the Telegram (a very very sorry excuse) and Womag all there is here is word of mouth. If someone searches places to eat in Worcester and comes upon an entry about Spoodles well that is a good thing right?
See where I come from on this thing is only from personal experience. I have fallen in love with the city through constant good experiences. Whether it be at a gin mill, a restaurant, with friends, alone, on the streets or in the parks over the years I have had many many many many good times here in the city. Due to this I deal with the negatives because in my opinion the positives out way them. It blows my mind when I talk to people outside my community of people here in Worcester that enjoy the same things I do but have never been or never even heard of many of the things the city has to offer. To me there have always been two reasons for this.
1. Attitude about the city.
I think there is a sentiment out there that if it is in Worcester, it must not be that good. What is sad is that for the majority of things this pretty much rings true, but the thing people forget is that things of quality for the most part ARE rare these days. For years during my life time there were no distinct neighborhoods in the city so there was no starting point. Now if you want to have a beer you go to the Canal District, if you want to eat some food you go to Shrewsbury Street. Most people Central Mass know about Shrewsbury St but the Canal District is still gaining steam. Which leads me to #2.(By the way even though I am not fond of the name I am going to refer to it as the Canal District from here on out and without any snide comments. It is what it is and the fact that we make jokes about there not being a canal only have to do with everyone knowing that it's in the works for there to be a canal. There is no reason it can't be called the canal district simply as tribute to the fact that the canal is what built that neighborhood in the first place so long ago. There are so many pigs in Pigtown in Baltimore right? So many jeweler's in the Jewelry district in Providence right? The anger towards the name "The Canal District" is a perfect textbook example of the Worcester negativity. Complaining about a name when there is soooo much good going on down there.)
Number 2: Marketing
I am willing to bet there are people who live here for five years and leave that have never seen a band at Ralph's, never seen the Polar Bears at the Ecotarium, Never had a sandwich at Finally Big Joe's, a canoli at Wholly Canoli, or taken a walk through Broad Meadow Brook.
These are the things that make a place feel like home, give you community pride and make you want to stay in a city and do good by it. To a lot of people that rent in the urban core, not just the pajama people but the students and the people from the suburbs and the immigrants our city is just a stop over, something temporary until they can move onto bigger and better things. No one gets involved because there is no stake, this isn't home to them. It's a temporary stop over until they either move to the burbs or move to a bigger nicer city or stay here and take advantage of the fact that they can live here on the dole as Paulie likes to say.
Aside from Shrewsbury St I cannot think of one powerful neighborhood association in the urban core at all. Do you think this would be the case if people envisioned themselves in their neighborhoods for the next 20 years?
In nine months in Baltimore I pretty much had a grip on the entire city, the good neighborhoods, the bad neighborhoods, where to get good food, where to go see good music and where not to go. I never bought the Sun once, nor did I watch much TV coverage about the city. I got this all from the local alt weekly, the internet and word of mouth. I am sure there was still oodles to explore and I am sure I didn't experience the best of everything down there but I had a great time while I lived there and it was because it was easy to figure out how to have a good time. As a friend who is a Worcester expat who now lives in Chicago said to me recently, "I got sick of having to go out and find my good time, I wanted my good time to come to me.
I am an urban explorer by nature so that is why Worcester appeals to me so much, because there is so much to explore. At the same time I get frustrated that most people who live here don't see it.
The Central Mass tagline, "It's all here" is actually pretty dead on it's just that it seems there's not a lot of it because it's so spread out. Clearly define the neighborhoods in Worcester and this all will change over time.
People aren't falling in love with their neighborhoods and with the city in the way they should be. When that happens when people see their urban Worcester neighborhoods as their homes and not a temporary stopover between their childhood and the rest of their adult lives we'll see a change and hopefully with the writing and trying to enlighten people as to what exists in the city I can be a part of that change. Until then it will continue to be an insider city that you can't experience to it's fullest unless you know someone in the know who will show you around. This is something that is within City Hall's power to change and they need to remove their head's from their asses and do it.
Per Paulie ... "I'm on vacation for the entire month of August " Geez, it must be nice to have money !!!! Pauliepalooza on the 31st should be reallllllllllly good seeing as he will be WELL rested...
:-P
Harry T
Carol & I made our first batch of Andoulle sausage & Chicken gumbo Wed night..came out real well..next week we practice on the jambalaya
Will;
I am not sure how long you have been in the city or how old but at my wee age of 45 and 17 years of owners ship and 6 years living here I can telll you that the ciy is 500% better cause of more within the urban core banging the gong..I credit Barbara Haller & her gang for a big chunk of this cause of their efforts in Main South..finally a coordinated effort from folks with roots saying NO MORE! And then folks like myself on Chandler scratching and clawing that we wanted our streets cleaned weekly NOT yearly..our cross walks painted yearly NOT only during a bi-centennial...our parks cleaned regularly..more police patrols..you know the things they expect in the nicer parts of the city..I used to clean Chandler from Park to Mason every Sunday morning for two years cause the gutter was so F'm dirty ..look at Chandler gutter today..spotless and the ciy is to be rewarded for this..this city was not used to folks en masse from the urban core fighting back & they still aren't:>) Wait till some more folks with more in their pocket then the welfare office address on a PIP Shelter napkin in it move into the urban core and expect the city to clean up the urban schools:>)...my taxes are very high now in Worcester and I have put mucho dollars into my urban city properties..not to mention deciding to live here-no one should be surprised that I am expecting more with my investment..it has to be a win win for all not just the city..I remember 6 years back calling the police to complain about the loud noise next door..the police officer showed up and said to me "whadaya expect in this neighborhood"...now they respond and they deal with the issue much more professionally-new attitude from the police about the neighborhood and this is trickling down from the top:>)
Am I he only one who read the WOMAG piece this week on the changing demographics??
Doesn't sound good..even with all the money pumped into the schools..select groups of minorities are still underperforming?? 1st Generation kid's of immigrants are not learning English...schools and urban core still getting poorer..again high up officials stating his is not just Worcester (again high up officials comparing us to low end cities)bah hum bug!!
We can add all the new pubs and restaurants we want..until we change the demographics of our neighborhoods nothing will change in the urban core..guys and gals who get up in the morning to go to work, take pride in their homes, make sure their kids do their homework and get enough sleep..substitute their 40ozers for good pulpy OJ for their kids are not gonna live next door to the many in the urban core of this city who do not do this..it aint culture to sit home all day doing nothing while another does it for you:>)
To quote the (in)famous Newman from the classic Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld "MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM ...JAM-BA-LA-YA !!!!"
Harry Tembenis
Worcester,MA
That quote should be ...
"MMMMMM JAM-BA-LA-YA"!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2lfZg-apSA
Harry Tembenis
Worcester,MA
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