Because it’s really difficult to afford rising rent prices on top of college debt and entry level jobs.

because most people want to go live in a big city like Boston or NYC. Worcester is awesome, but if you're asking a 22 year old to choose between Worcester, Boston, or NYC, you're going to have a hard time finding people to choose Worcester. It isn't even that there aren't jobs or fun things to do. But at that age people want to live with their friends. Easier to get a group to commit to Boston or NYC than Worcester

As a former Worcester college student, all the engineering jobs relevant to me are clustered around Boston. No way I’m sitting in traffic on the pike, even if rent is a bit cheaper. I’d love to live in Worcester, and I miss the huge number of nature trails and paths, but it just isn’t feasible

Plus, most the best jobs in the state are out east. A lot of the people moving here are either working remote or getting priced out of the Boston area. Why stay in Worcester when you can make twice as much an hour away?

Before reading: Is it jobs?

After reading: Yes, it's jobs.

Surprise!

I stayed and I don’t regret it. The city is getting better and as I grow on my career it seems like the city does aswell. I just wish there were more incentive to stay, like rent being cheap but its not the case. The rent and house price are stupid right now and I can only imagine a recent graduate trying to find a place to live… Like average graduate probably get $50K a year first job on average but then rent is 2K a month. Thats half their salary in RENT!!! Something has to be done.

Same here. Worcester has practically no good engineering jobs. But even beyond engineering, Worcester has very few good jobs of any type for young people at growing, dynamic companies.

If you just spent the previous 4 years of your life living in the areas of Worcester where the majority of the college kids live would you stay here? At least in places like Boston and NYC you can live in a shit hole and walk or take public transport somewhere awesome. You cant really do that here.

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Because, honestly, there are other cities that are more attractive on the surface. Worcester is a great place to raise a family, but when you are in your early 20s, that's not what you are looking for.

Same reason Fitchburg students don’t stay in Fitchburg

Life long Worcester resident who moved to Boston 4 years ago. For context I am a college graduate now in my early 30s and make an above average salary. This is my opinion on the matter, not fact.

My move was 100% for work and lifestyle improvements. Worcester is great but it really doesn't compare to Boston for young professionals especially ones making a high salary in engineering or other fields. There are more jobs in quantity and almost more importantly, the jobs are with more prestigious company's that young professionals want to work for. These company's are the same ones that are going to WPI and other universities in the area and recruiting on campus so the students get internships or jobs through college so the natural progression is to move closer to work. They likely are also going to be making a high salary both due to their profession but also due to the Company's name and location which is most likely in or immediately outside of Boston which is considered a very HCOL area so they dont mind spending a little extra on rent due to the below:

There is simply more to do in Boston and more people in their demographic. I go out in Worcester on occasion with friends, there isnt one bar I've gone to that is comparable to the least crowded boston bar on a Friday. Hell a Tuesday at some of my local places are more filled than Funky Murphy's on a Friday. Combine that with the terrible commute and it makes sense why these individuals are willing to live with roommates or "downgrade" their living situations to make the move. They want to have more options for everything - shopping, dining, going out, entertainment, even the beaches are closer to boston than they are to Worcester.

Worcester is a great city, my fam and friends are largely still in the area and I will always love it and come back often but the lifestyle it is not really comparable to Boston in anyway and staying in Boston will usually lead to more advantageous career paths either through networking or the natural progression from working at prestigious companys.

IMO If worcester really wants to fix the problem one of the big things they need to do is attract more publicly traded company's to setup headquarters here. These Company's typically employ more people and have the brand name and other benefits to retain the students locally. A good example of this would be Unum. They were here for a couple of years and left, and that is a summary of why we cant keep student. This is not to say that private Companys cannot be good employers or employers of many people but simply an example. I am well aware that Hanover is public and is headquartered in the city and that Polar and company's like Math Works in Framingham are both private but seen as generally good employers.

This is exactly the issue. We have all these biotech companies (not as much as Boston) in worcester and the surrounding towns, but they either aren’t hiring ever, or they hire for crap pay and benefits. I don’t see it changing much for engineers and scientists. Nurses though, make a killing

Bingo. Worcester needs to figure out how to attract high paying jobs to it rather than watching all the jobs end up in Boston.

Arguably, the state should help with this through incentives but it doesn't.

Agreed. I’ve been looking for a job in worcester for 5 years, and the only way I can one is if I take a huge pay cut.

I wonder/hope the increase in remote work will help change this. I’d be much more willing to commute 1-2 a week than every day

Lack in public transit and even walking in the city can be a issue. No dedicated bike lanes. Lack of food access most of the city is labeled as a food desert. Where most have to go way further then needed to find a grocery store. Massive gentrification. I have seen first hand those who grad from Worcester try to travel near hour every day each way. Because they can't get a proper one bed room apartment. Then leave after six months finding something closer to home.

Answers in the title.

>Worcester

Specifically the fact no jobs are around here.

We're going to need a truly working airport for that. It's been great to see ORH coming back to life, but will need far more flight selection and amenities there in order to bring business people quickly in and out of town.

What would we DO?

I work for a state agency and it is incredible Boston-centric. Work meetings and events with the higher ups are always in Boston. One of our benefits is discounts to stuff but everything is in Boston - none of the museums in central MA are on the list. Worcester is an after-thought at the state level.

It might be more expensive to live in Boston but there’s SO much more to do there, especially if you’re a new grad.

For new grads looking to settle down they will quickly discover that Worcester is not really a kid-friendly city. There aren’t a lot of great options for daycare inside the city (there are a couple fabulous daycares/preschools but most are on the west side). There’s very few stores left in the city so you have to go to Auburn or Fitchburg or Millbury to buy sports equipment, party supplies, teachers gifts, kids clothes, etc… And good luck if you need baby gear or a last minute birthday present for a kid - its Walmart or the Worcester target, which is shit compared to Westborough or Millbury.

We only have one pediatric emergency room and there are very few peds beds. Waiting lists for pediatric mental health services are miles long. When my kid needed a pediatric occupational therapist there were very limited options in central MA so we had to drive to Hudson once a week.

It might be more expensive to live in Boston but not much more nowadays with rent and real estate being as expensive as it is, and there’s more opportunities there that simply do not exist anywhere in central MA.

You can pay less than 2k rent easily in Worcester lmfao

The state only cares about the boston metro

I stayed. I love it. Healthcare jobs are a plenty

The lack of retail in Worcester is truly astounding. There are 200,000 people here and literally zero stores where I, a pretty normal sized person, can buy well made clothes that fit me right and look decent. There are also no places where I can buy camping gear, quality kitchen tools, or lots of other things. We have way too many barber shops and smoke shops, and not enough basic retail where stores sell the things people need to buy.

As a former Worcester college student, I moved back home (small town in MA) during COVID for the job hunt. Once I got a good job in my industry, I've been able to work remotely and just can't justify the higher rent to live in a city when I don't need to.

It’s a decades old problem. It will take decades to solve and may never get better. Worcester brags about its colleges but does nothing to energize the college experience for the students. The city needs to embrace the student population. Zoning changes, permitting process, incubator space, music festivals, etc.

The state needs to do more to accelerate job growth in cities other than Boston. Better infrastructure, more support for 21st century public transit, and more public-private partnerships.

It’s hard for any of this to occur without the help of the city council and a long term commitment from the state. The colleges are are a nuisance and after thought to the city council. Anything west of 128 is flyover country for Massachusetts’ state government.

I did. It sucked driving an hour to Waltham for work even though the rent was cheap.

Yah, living in an attic with a heater from 1952. We all have different standards.

They wrote a whole ass article to just say everything anyone living in Worcester knows.

Cool.

I pay nearly half that and my apartment is great. Sounds like a skill issue for you.

Lmao 🤣

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Or you could chain your grill and table to the deck on ward st.

Not really seeing the lack of clothing stores. There's a Marshalls, a Kohl's, a Burlington Coat Factory, a Gap Factory Store, and a T.J. Maxx, all in Worcester. All we're really missing is a J.C. Penney and a Macy's, and the latter mainly isn't here because there's one just up the road in Auburn.

Admittedly most of my kitchen stuff is from the Worcester Target and is cheap. HomeGoods might have some nicer things but it's hit or miss. For what it's worth since Sears died I haven't really known a brick and mortar store that was great at kitchen supplies anywhere.

And the Dick's Sporting Goods was basically the only place for camping stuff and that closed down, yeah.

I came back after a few years and I wish I just stayed. For one thing the house I got would have cost me 1/2 to 2/3 as much.

The restaurant and bar scene have improved significantly, as have the parks and downtown. The biggest things I miss are Higgins Armory, Showcase North, and Greendale Mall. The northern part of the city has gotten pretty sad.

Haha, your list is exactly why I specified well made clothing. Those places all sell junk that wears out after one season at best.

Lots of similar sized cities to Worcester have kitchen stores, whether chains like Williams Sonoma or better yet, independent shops that carry similar products. I really wish Worcester had one of those, an REI or similar, and a couple clothing shops that sell higher quality items than the kohls, tj maxx, and millbury outlet stores do.

Hah, maybe I just live a more sedentary life than you, then. That said, if that's a failure on Worcester's part it's also a failure shared by most American cities or towns. Higher end clothing stores than that tend to be limited to actual metropolitan areas and some wealthier suburbs.There are independent clothing shops in Worcester but they tend to cater to suits specifically.

Same here. I made it two years, but couldn't handle it any more and moved.

I moved here in the late 90s and stayed 20 years. Looking back, don't move here. Go to another mid size city or Boston. Worcester is great because you are centrally located to get anywhere else, but not to live. Many massholes reside here, run away.

They've been saying that for at least 30 years. Worcester is bostons poor ugly cousin. Sorry, I'm jaded

I just went through all the replies to this thread. I have to agree with most, there isn't a motivator for young adults to stay. I grew up in the area, and have lived in other areas of the country (from coast to coast). I came back to be close to family. Rent is not exactly "cheap", and if it is. I like the comment someone else said, "you'll be living in an attic". Its more affordable than other places like Boston, but at what cost?. Out this way, people settle. Either through relationships or learn to live within their own (by yourself). Its unfortunate, but dont think its anyones fault other than being everyones fault. Ask yourself this, if you had no friends, can pay to go out to bar and restaurants everyday, do you really talk to anyone? Trust me, I have spent going out nightly, in a very happening area of downtown, putting myself in those positions to meet other like minded individuals. But after so many times, you lose interest. After a while, and with people being more to themselves, no one has the desire to spark a conversation. If you think Im overthinking, or exaggerating, I would love to hear your suggestions. It seems like after 7-9 pm, everything becomes like a ghost town here. And for the nurses, sit down. ; ) Everything around is a damn hospital. Where do you go to have fun? (I bet not here) Joking aside; it is very important for the city and the state to see this as an opportunity for growth at cost. Worth it in the long run. Worcester has the potential to be great! But nothing is great just there. As is, we need some influence to get people (both individuals and groups) out and about. Organically feel like there will be others seeking the same. Live life a little. Work hard and play hard. Im optimistic. I don't like to see how it currently is. Back to the nurses, Im gonna go fake sick and head to UMASS medical or St V's, maybe ill find someone to chill. We are lucky to have what we have, only a matter of time for the right people to make a change. Damn I wrote a novel. Thanks for coming to my TED, lmk if you have any questions. lol (i did not revise anything, so dont @ me)