View story at worcestermag.com
By Walter Bird Jr.
First things first: yes, Worcester has a tax rate problem. Residents aren’t happy, commercial property owners even less so. Relief is needed and city planners (hello, city councilors) must roll up their sleeves and get it done.
If you are a naysayer, or not used to good things in Worcester, or you believe “The Machine” is running amok, you can find things to criticize. This space has said it before: it’s OK to find fault. It just helps if you bring some solutions with you. It also helps if you’re not entirely blind to the positives. And in Worcester these days, there are positives aplenty.
As we get ready to slam the door shut on 2017, we first acknowledge the positive direction the city has charted for itself. Even if the Pawtucket Red Sox don’t jump ship in Rhode Island and nestle themselves into Worcester’s Canal District, the future is bright here in the Woo.
If you ascribe to the belief that change begins in the downtown core and spreads out from there, it is impossible to ignore the positive impact brought on by CitySquare. Now in its final stages, the project has reshaped the downtown image and recast its fortunes. Don’t look now, but even north Main Street is slowly coming back to life. The Roseland apartment complex at Front and Foster streets is set to start leasing. The new hotel behind Roseland is also getting ready to open. Mercantile Center has been holding public events, generating excitement for its future. The open space atop the Worcester Common underground garage may well see vertical development. While the future of the old Notre Dame remains uncertain — a deal with the developers of the Roseland complex fell through recently — there are now just two undeveloped parcels in CitySquare, according to City Manager Ed Augustus Jr.
OK, you say, that’s downtown. What about the other neighborhoods? One of the biggest movements on that front was the buildout of the long-languishing South Worcester Industrial Park. Table Talk Pies opened a new production plant there, and now all the parcels at SWIP are back on the tax rolls. For those who complain about non-taxable property, this is good news. The city certainly has a large amount of non-taxed property; it is good to see usable land generating much-needed tax revenue. Over in Quinsigamond Village, Imperial Distributors returned to Worcester from Auburn. Off Belmont Street, the city obtained land at the old state hospital for a biomanufacturing park. The introduction of two dog parks — one on Vernon Hill, the other at Beaver Brook — was welcome news after years of a ridiculous ordinance banning dogs in all city parks. A third one is expected soon.
“We’re paying attention to all parts of the city,” Augustus said recently on The Worcester Magazine Radio Hour on Unity Radio.
Not everyone may agree with that, but the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Is there more to be done around the city? Yes. But make no mistake, Worcester is unquestionably — and unhesitatingly — moving in the right direction. Now, about those PawSox…