Comments
NativeMasshole t1_j1jsjkj wrote
Downtown is going to be a disaster once all these new apartments are built. The roads can barely handle the traffic load now. Plus, the lack of parking you mentioned. The city is going to have to make some massive infrastructure investments if they really want this revitalization effort to work.
homeostasis3434 t1_j1kosp0 wrote
I agree the city needs investment in infrastructure but I think the sticking point is that to reduce the traffic issues, they'd have to redesign major portions of the city that were never built with cars in mind in the first place. We're talking 1950s Era urban renewal, razing large sections of the city...
So, we can say that the city shouldn't allow more density because of traffic issues, but the issue isn't actually that people are living in the city, the issue is that the city is an employment/education center people commute in and out on an everyday basis.
To me, it stands to reason that adding density near the employment centers won't impact the traffic issues the same way that building the same number of units outside the city, for people that will be driving to the city.
This apartment is walking distance to the employers downtown, Union Station, restaurants/entertainment, schools, medical centers (although notably no grocery store).
If the city is going to improve, I think they do need improved public transit, not prevent desperately needed housing.
Lots of cities around the country that are around the size of Worcester are investing in rapid bus transit, I think the city should really look into that option.
https://www.itdp.org/library/standards-and-guides/the-bus-rapid-transit-standard/what-is-brt/
AceOfTheSwords t1_j1l9mry wrote
How many of those nearby employers pay enough to live in one of these shiny new apartment complexes?
I suppose if they are former Boston residents that still work in Boston, it would be a convenient spot for using the commuter rail. So in that sense at least, they wouldn't be adding to commute traffic.
The structure of our current bus system isn't terrible, it primarily suffers from not hiring enough drivers. This is most noticeable with service being reduced on some Fridays, etc. Beyond just hiring enough to guarantee basic functionality, a hiring increase could extend hours of service and increase bus frequency (possibly alongside a one-time purchase of more buses). All of this could happen without reinventing our roads, and could be funded for years on what citywide BRT implementation would cost. There are a couple key spots where I agree BRT could be especially useful (Main St, Shrewsbury St) and maybe these could be implemented earlier, but for the most part I'd like to see these more basic improvements to our bus system first. If the city lacks the political will to do even that, then big projects like BRT are a pipedream.
[deleted] t1_j1nhimu wrote
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Easy-Working-7 t1_j1ooyu5 wrote
28 Water st got filled with. Mostly people still working in Boston and barely have any parking so that may be the point
AceOfTheSwords t1_j1q7cgr wrote
In that case the apartment complex would be at best neutral in its impact on local infrastructure.
2tuna2furious t1_j1k7fl8 wrote
Ya nothing ruins a city like more housing
eljeffrey1980 t1_j1jgh5d wrote
Worcester is a city of grand ideas with piss poor planning. Love the ballpark, but it has been a boondoggle. Tenet and 'Med City' 🤑🤮... the Galleria/Fashion Outlets.. sky bridges on Maj. Taylor Blvd.... so many examples
swoldier_force t1_j1kj4tm wrote
The brand new stadium with a garage door too small to accommodate 95% of live performance stages/trucks/equipment.
Easy-Working-7 t1_j2du3rs wrote
Where did you see that? Looks like. Big garage
swoldier_force t1_j2dv2by wrote
Strike out the band? Why Polar Park has yet to host big-time concerts: http://archive.today/2022.09.29-134454/https://www.telegram.com/story/news/2022/09/29/after-two-years-still-no-large-concerts-held-polar-park/8124099001/
"the only way to get to the center of the park is through a rolled-up doorway at center field that you can drive a vehicle into but, unfortunately, that is only 12 feet high, and large trucks that carry concert production are always 13 feet high or so,”
tl;dr, besides baseball, we were told to anticipate up to 125 large events per year including big outdoor concerts, and instead we really haven’t had any.
Easy-Working-7 t1_j2e04jo wrote
Well that sucks
lucidguppy t1_j1mda5i wrote
They're building the city expecting the highway to be removed...
AceOfTheSwords t1_j1jc0ke wrote
At least it's mixed use. But it still astonishes me that people who can afford to pay new luxury apartment rents would willingly choose to live that close to the interstate. Especially not being guaranteed a parking space, despite the state of our infrastructure basically requiring a car.