I second Charles River Greenway, if you just take the commuter rail into Boston, you can get off at the Boston Landing stop and an entrance to the trail is not too far of a walk from there.

It sounds like you're looking for specific paths to skate, but if you're looking for a communal skating experience, here's some recommendations (I'm a quad skater!).

I have not yet been to any of their gatherings (I keep meaning to!) but there's Worcester Area Skaters that I believe meet every week rain or shine, either in local parks or if it's rainy/snowy in parking garages. More info on them here: https://www.instagram.com/woo_skates/

And if you're open to traveling out to the Boston area, there's SkateBoston that is more blade friendly, I went to a couple of events a while ago when I was still living in Boston. Here's their Facebook private group with info organizing each of their meetups: https://www.facebook.com/groups/6281411823

Just want to point out the line in the article about how "important it is and how big it is for not just our residents but our businesses."

Worcester has become so car-dependent and I see these cool businesses pop up from time to time and then fail and need to close down, usually because they have no dedicated and plentiful parking, only on-street parking or expensive parking garages/lots nearby. And everyone I talk to these days just complains about the traffic and there is NOWHERE to park or parking has become so expensive, so people don't want to make the effort to venture out and give their money to the businesses here.

I would love to see in addition to the continued free fare is frequent buses on all routes, better sidewalks to be able to safely walk to and from the stops, benches at every dedicated bus stop, and an effort to destigmatize public transit so that it's not seen as something just for people of a certain income level but something that literally everyone and every business can benefit from.

TLDR; literally the entire Worcester economy would improve if the overall infrastructure for public transit was higher quality and used by way more people. /endofsoapboxrant

You’re right, I think they are 3.50 at both Steel&Wire and Ralph’s. I lived in Boston for 11 years (but born in Woo) and I remember having sticker shock when I moved back to Worcester recently, cause you can barely get a Gansett for $4 anywhere in Boston.

Steel & Wire has $3 Narragansetts, that's the cheapest I've seen in Worcester in recent times in a nice vibey setting. I'm sure some of the really divey places have similarly cheap beers, I bet Ralph's Diner has comparable prices but I haven't been in a while.

seconding the White Room!!

The White Room gallery during their more public events

If we had better public transit to get to areas where nightlife is happening, people wouldn't have to drive drunk and these kinds of checkpoints wouldn't be needed

their rink is great, I just wish there was a spot in town/closer to me!!!

Mechanics Hall actually used to be a roller rink in its early days!!! Honestly it would be kinda iconic to host roller skating nights in there as it is

If I had the money and the time, I would LOVE to open a roller rink in Worcester.

How mobile is she? I'm assuming this would be the cheapest option but if she can do a little bit of walking and she's not carrying around heavy luggage, you can drop her off at Union Station to take the commuter rail in ($12.50 one way on a weekday, $10 on a weekend) and then at South Station she can take the Silver Line (+$2.40 for subway fare) straight to her terminal at Logan. I've done that method a few times in the past but I am in my 20's so it works ok for me as I can get around pretty easily and don't mind slightly longer travel time if it means I don't have to awkwardly interact with a van / car service driver haha.

MassBike has also been doing ride-outs in the Worcester area lately! Check back frequently to their calendar on their website for any upcoming group rides https://www.massbike.org/events

I'm fine with projects like this being built, but in tandem with it we need:

1. Affordable / low-income units, and programs that make sure low-income Worcester residents can continue to live and thrive here.
2. More robust public transit / make the city less reliant on car infrastructure
3. More condo units for sale so there isnt an oversaturation of """luxury""" rentable units or just competitive single-family homes.
4. More culture and institutions that are genuinely interesting and edgy and cool but uniquely Worcester. Why pay New York style prices and not even get the tip of the iceberg of the type of amenities of that city? I'm so ready to move out of this city to NYC (was born here, lived in Boston for 11 years, and just recently moved back to the Woo) because between the shit public transit and lack of stuff to do, I'm at my wits end here, and if the city is going to start costing just as much, might as well be somewhere worth the high price.
5. More than just $15 an hour jobs outside of the medical or tech field. I've been scouring Indeed for the past few weeks for a new interim job, and the pay wages these days are abysmal if you're not in med or tech (real estate is maybe the only other field I can think of here that pays well but THEY are the ones who are part of the problem of gentrification/high cost of units and homes).

Agree. Bagel Time is a well-loved institution in my heart, but it's more realistic for me to pop into Market 32, and their jalapeno asiago is incredible

Honestly good for them!!!! And I will be knocking on their department door every week begging them to build a robust public transport infrastructure so everyone here can stop complaining about the lack of parking :)

I was living in Boston for a while and had an Indian roommate who would take me to Patel Brothers in Waltham a couple times a month. I've heard good things about the Patel Brothers in Shrewsbury especially to get good prices on spices, but I still haven't been to the Shrewsbury location.

Ed Hyders and Bahnans are both just a block away from each other on Pleasant St. Both have great food + drink. The freshly made hummus and baba ganoush at Bahnans and their baklava are a staple in my household. I pick up all my specialty wines and beers from Ed Hyders.

This is more Scandinavian as I'm of Swedish heritage, but The Bean Counter on Grove St. has some recipes from the old Crown Bakery (Swedish bakery that closed a few years ago), so they have some options for amazing Swedish baked goods. This time of year they might not have the stock as readily available, as I think all the local Swedes are tapping into their food roots for Xmas, but if you go on their website you can place an order ahead of time for pickup. Highly recommend their cardamom rings with cinnamon, if you're looking to pick up something for a small crowd.

also want to add that what I'd do with my family in winter time is go to the Auburn rink and skate for a while, then we had inner tubes and would go sledding on the hill behind the rink, to make a whole fun wintery day out of that location, so if it snows during the holiday, you're golden for a perfect day. I have so many fun memories doing that growing up.

Tons of ice skating options in and around town if that's your thing, great for all ages imo (and if you're worried about the 3 year old, honestly, start em young!!! I started skating at 4 years old and honestly it helped build me into a confident skater).

There's the Worcester Ice Center, the Buffone Arena, and there's the rink outdoors at the Worcester Common this time of year that's small but sort of chaotic if it's at a peak busy time, but is very cute and quaint. I grew up going to the Horgan Arena in Auburn as a kid, so I'm biased toward them, but haven't gone in years + it's farther away than these other options in town. All locations should have rentable skates.

Check the websites for these places when public skating is and if they might have extended public skate hours cause of the holiday.

My mom has told me this story that when I was a baby in the early 90's, just before Christmas, she was doing some holiday shopping at Spags and walked out to the parking lot with me in my baby stroller, and realized not until she was at her car putting me into my car seat (after trudging across the lot when there was bad wintery weather happening) that I had snuck like 3 pairs of mittens from the store into my stroller without her noticing. Since she was in a rush, had a baby with her, and just needed to get out of there because of the slushy snow coming down, I believe she ended up in a moment of frustration not going back into the store to return the unpurchased mittens I snagged, but later she donated them to a local shelter to equalize her karmic debt for enabling my baby crime.

Wondering the same thing, anyone know of any DJ nights that focus on 70's funk/ disco, or 80's new wave that typically has a 20 to 30-something age crowd? I already know about Gimme Gimme Disco, I know they come through town every once in a while. But if there's others I don't know about, would love to know them!

true! I would say I've been fluctuating between 2 camps of thought as a late 20 something who just moved back here after living in Boston for the past 10 years. I see a lot of the potential in the city I was born in and would love to be a part of movements to create more robust culture here and advocate for better overall infrastructure, but I also am constantly frustrated at the speed of progress and how the aforementioned frustrated old fogies often block progress from happening, so then I end up researching apartments to rent in other cities across the globe that I'd gladly hop on a plane to and set up camp there because what I dream of in a city to live my life already exists elsewhere. Like, no one place is perfect and every city in the world has its problems, but idk, how much longer do I want to throw my energy into a place where the people on average might not want the same things I want out of life.

I think because the 20 somethings who actually had the foresight to move elsewhere usually do so, the ones who stuck around don't mind the glitter covered shit, where as the older generations who had frustrations since the beginning didn't believe they had the option to move.

"People in Worcester really seem to hate progress."

Truer words have never been said.