And this article has no mention of The Dive... Not that The Dive wants to be mentioned in Pulse, but give me a break. How can they talk about the Canal District without mentioning The Dive....

But I've only lived here a year and a half so what do I know. The article seems like PR spin for Pulse advertisers, from bars/clubs and restaurants to condos. I'm sure they will rewrite the same story every six months to cater to their advertisers missing the real story the whole time.

But I've only lived here ayear and a half, so what do I know!

Where's the retail?

You also can't forget about all the property laying vacant/undeveloped in that neighborhood.

Build it and they will come.
Common question is who came first the people that form the nighborhood or people invested in a neighborhood to make it one people want to move to. I think some of the best REDOING of neighborhoods would be in Denver.
You take LODO and FIVE POINTS both were very much like MAIN SOUTH, now boast 100's of lofts and restraunts and pubs. Colfax Ave once pegged as the largest commericial road in the US, with the most Hookers and Johns has in the last 10 years became the happening place to set up shop. Then with the most parks per sq mile in the country all over the neighborhoods are built around them. I have always tried to live near some sort of open space, at least within walking distance. In Denver you have lots of small neighborhoods... Congress Park, Governers Park, Cheeseman Park, Capital Hill...etc... You know you want to head to the Snake Pit or Buffalo Exchange then Capital Hill it is.. You want the diverse GLBLT neighborhood you head to Cheesman...
But the neighborhoods developed around open space and then the people came.
I think that for the Canal District to be just that there needs to be an open Canal. How lamn is that being named for water that is not at the surface.
Worcester has a long way to go, but I feel the right people moving forward and some of these older stuck in their way people of this city just backing off for a bit it could get there.
I would love nothing more to have an area that I could go bum around shops all day and grab a bite to eat..

Interesting. Why?

I can't believe I am actually acknowledging you but did you read the rest of my post where I agree with you or do you just want to have a pissing match for no apparent reason?

Okay cool. What's your idea?

Wow, so what does the boutique sell? Hours?

Children's clothes judging by what I saw.

Answer the first question, what is your idea?

Shrewsbury Street

Now we are chatting about Shrewsbury Street.. I would like funky fun shops not overprices shops that no one in the city itself can afford. A boutique that is just a copy of its Westboro sister store and a fancy bakery that is overpriced. I want some more welcoming places that I can afford and just relax.. I use to work at this cute coffee shop years and years ago in Providence that was full of HUGE oversized vintage couches and had a loft area that you climbed up a ladder to sit on and there was poetry slams and music every Thursday Thru Sunday. That is the type of places I am talking about.
Bring on some down to earth locations that someone could walk their dog to each weekend, grab a coffee and at the same time the owner decides to give a big bowl of water to the dog and you run into the same people each weekend. That is my type of place...minus the dog :(

Hello??? Gabe??? Are you talking about the Canal District?? or Shrewsbury Street.

Yeah I am the same way, these ridiculous stores like Spolied and Rio are not for me, I am not a toothpick and at some point if someone starts cattering to someone other than their personal idea of "perfection" maybe they will get my business. I prefer the funky filled to the rims antique and crafty stores myself. Someday if people allow it Worcester can become that type of city....
And I agree there is a place for the higher end stores but I think catering to the cities demographics first then moving on to potential touristie finds would be best. Also the Canal District really needs some more life too it, still far to many boared up buildings, it is fine at night because you do not see the blight of the area just flashy lights from all the bars.

Agreed Lincoln,
I hear my moms stories of her Sunday morning drives as a kid to Kelly Sq. I wish all the bakeries still exsisted that there once was.
I am not from Worcester only here just under 2 years, so I come with this eye of a girl that has lived in a hand full of "real" cities and I take a bit of each, the things I loved the most and sit and daydream that a city I can afford to own in would become this also.
Excuse me while I go and daydream some more...... :)

First off, your fucked with Harding Street. It's ugly and ain't nothing moving in there in the forseeable future that'll change that. Unless a meteorite hits it and daylights the Blackstone and Madame Rhubarb.

Green Street needs more traffic lights on it to make a walkable street as you have too many assholes trying to relive "Bullit" there. Needs to have more retail.

Water Street is OK, but needs more retail and 60% of the places there are closed early making it look like 1 side of the street is happening the other abandoned.

Shrewsbury Street needs more retail, a destruction of the Consumer Auto Parts store, and a loosening of a grip that East Side Alliance for the Better of Our Own Egos has on the street.
(As a personal aside I would also vote for a strict noise control on the street for all the asshole cyclists that need to have the loudest bike.)

Also, I can say more retail until I'm blue in the fucking face, but if you don't have the people stop shopping at the malls and support the local retailers, your retail won't be sticking around.

So there you have it, that's where I would start. Have at it.

The "Canal District" was a designation given to the area in 2002: http://www.worcestermass.org/news/Press02/#may1_02 , how's that for branding?
Much of the new investment in the area was essentially founded on the false premise that the canal would be unearthed. Condo and restaurant owners thought they would have waterfront property by now. The Pulse article makes no mention of this.

Funny how every discussion about Worcester becomes circular.
Retail was the dominant business in the Canal District before the Canal District became the Canal District and now the Canal District needs retail to make the Canal District viable.

Boring, yet crucial, aspects of the C.D. (parking, traffic control, on/off ramps for I-290, etc.) will ultimately dictate what the limits are down there. For now, everyone seems relatively happy with the area despite it's many empty storefronts/facilities. I'm guessing that it'll stay pretty much the same for the forseeable future and the health of individual businesses will ultimately be determined by the level of quality they provide in goods/services. Not their location. Getting all wrapped up in some grand Central Planning Commitee scheme is usually the death of projects in Worcester. The opening of the canal is really just a pipedream, at least for the next decade or two, so concentrating on other things is probably wise.
On a side note: There is something about the area that I've always noticed. There are NO clean streets. Maybe it's the proximity to the highway or the fact that the vacant lots are trash magnets, but look around next time you're there in daylight. Trash everywhere (Water St. isn't as bad as the others).

Dirty area it is, maybe some shrubs and landscaping of the area would help. I think the intersection for Kelly Sq needs to be fixed at some point, that is a nightmare to people who live here, never mind people who would come to this GREAT city. The on and off ramps are their own nightmare.
Has anyone ever heard of traffic lights..Simple Solution for a crazy problem.
But yeah I think cleaning up the area would help. I know all of us on this forum are in the same boat with what direction the city should go, it is just getting the city to realize that it will take money to make the city grow..

Well, considering the majority of consumers spoke LONG ago about where and how they spend with the proliferation of malls, and have not the desire to wax nostalgic about the good ole days of "bustling Main Streets" and all that, it's never gonna happen. Not alot of younguns loving a sense of community anymore, because it's not instilled in them from the get-go.

It's just not a "destination" unless you really cater to a narrow demographic (like a hipster / boheme / SoHo area) , same as malls cater to a larger demographic.

venti or grande?

wow.. I go to a few meetings and come back to 40 posts... this is great. I am glad to see all this discussion... this is what I am talking about though... very passionate people here in Worcester. Great stuff here... I am still reading..

great catch on the for lease sign in the window jamie... that is friggin hilarious.

i dont always agree with gabe but you make some good points here.

regardless of what this article says, the reality is there is more content about the canal district for the casual reader on this page.

Another "problem", so to speak, with people's expectations is the economic reality. "Funky shops" are swell and all, but how many people do they generally employ? A half-dozen? Bars and restaurants are cool, too, but they generally pay typical service worker wages. These are not economic drivers.
Worcester seems to support Shrewsbury St. pretty well, but I don't know if there is a large enough consumer base (with disposable income) to support both the CD and Shrewsbury St. The "For Sale or Lease" signs make me think that at least a few local developers must have passed on the opportunity to do business there. It's been touted as the "hot" new neighborhood for a few years now and I'm sure many entrepeneurs have looked into it and decided to pass.
The best thing the City could possibly do for the CD is to stay out of anything that isn't their direct responsibility (cops, roads) and let the healthy businesses thrive and let the weaker businesses die off. If the area is going to prosper, it's gonna have to be on its own merit, not on the back of some "all things to all people" subsidization/redevelopment plan. As we've all seen, even a half a billion dollars of funny money wasn't enough to kickstart the downtown plan, let's not make the same mistake (relying on government largesse) twice.

Marketing? Everything and everywhere could use some more marketing. But it's not a solution. Real developers aren't gonna be swayed by glossy brochures and happy talk (again, see the downtown plan complete with City Hall rallies, years of boosterism, etc.). When it comes time to write a 7 or 8 figure check the only thing that matters is reality, and most marketing is about everything but reality.

If the goal is to have the CD become a "spin-off" kind of place (serving the needs of customers who make their money elsewhere), then there has to be something to spin-off of. At the moment, Worcester is not exactly packing in the major employers so patience is a must.
I'm sure that whoever the people are who own all of the underutilized space down there have been trying to sell for years to no avail. Some of those buildings have been empty since long before the recent real estate price fluctuations, but there's always the chance that the recent collapse of prices in the area will lure some investors.

Everyone should join in a moment of silent, non-denominational prayer to ask that God save us from "Central Planning" in the area. Nothing squashes businesses more rapidly than a "well-intentioned" buttinsky City Government.

I disagree with Scott on this one....
I have never loathed a place I live like Worcester, there is nothing to do here unless I want to go out and drink everynight. I never felt this way in Denver(lived there for 5 years), or San Diego (I Lived in Hillcrest, and always believed the Gaslamp District was very much overated) or in Providence (I lived on Camp St on the East Side, lower income back in the 90's and lived in the Armory District across from Dexter Park a few years ago). These places had places for me to be, hangout, meet people without it having to be at a drinking establishment.
I have traveled alot and I honestly think to myself on a weekly basis- "If I never had been to Worcester and I was just visiting as I do other places would I be interested as an out of towner in this city?" and the the answer is always "NO"
There is no neighborhoods where I can just explore and see something other than run down 3 deckers and boarded up storefronts. I have had more excitment in Detroit.
So yes I believe Worcester has a LONG way to go, I would just be happy to see an honest effort to build up this city to be something other than drab.
I spent 2 years in Americorps traveling to some rather unexpected places, I had a better time with the 3 months I was in Tulsa, Ok than I do here in Worcester, Why you ask? Because there was neighborhoods and ones that catered to the things I enjoy.
Has nothing to do with nostalgia and everything to do with the city having things for me to do, other than drink...See Tulsa is 1 step away from a dry city...lol Only serve beer.
Do I plan on staying in Worcester long term, no... But if I saw something that made Worcester explode or become something that would make my free time enjoyable then I would have more reason to want to stay longer than it will take us to sell our home....

Well I'm not poo-pooing any possible renaissance in downtown "destination" retail with my ramblings, and my "hipster target market" comments were just that, citing a demographic that could be catered to with revitalization efforts...

I for one am not "jaded" to the possibility of things working, but you have to admit between malls and instant online shopping and a general "gotta have it now, don't wanna wait" mentality amongst the majority of shoppers / spenders who are unwilling to wait for something to be ordered, the small storefront era is kinda doomed as the face of retail is indelibly changed....hence my question who wants to go there (demographic) and who has the money to spend repeatedly to make it work? And what do you do over the top that gets those people spreading the word? Not saying it can't be done, but that's a pretty tall order.

Because you probably won't be able to pull in a wide customer base in that CD area that isn't an "attractive alternative" to a day-trip to the Cape or something where you "happen upon" that cute little bric-a-brac shop (and it's usually never the locals keeping the places open, moreso tourists)

...unfortunately we "young people" aren't THAT young anymore, and it's at the end of our "youth" that we romanticize how nice it would be to have the cool downtown retail areas to walk around.... while the REAL "young-uns" (the 17-28 year olds that don't have all the homes and kids and whatnot) that are only concerned with the latest cellphones because that is ALL that is being marketed to them (and where do you find all of it? the MALL) could care LESS about the Mom & Pop shop downtown that MIGHT have what they are looking for. I wish that wasn't the case but be honest. If the city can't even support their own mall (twice), what're you gonna do with this area?

Sorry if I sound like a naysayer, I know I do...don't hurt me.

That is awesome. I have ideas too, and I'm not even a resident....I'm sure tons of people have excellent ideas, but those ideas at some point must reach outside selfish ideals (not saying yours do at all, but oftentimes, they do because the alternative isn't as attractive...I mean no youngun wants to open a pipe supply store or a lamp shop, hahaha) and that is the tough part, no so much what do you envision, but what does the city NEED. That's the real juggling act. Identify and answer the need and let the people know you're around for that need and make them realize they need it. All the while better than the next guy. Repeatedly.

Oy, tall order.

Gabe, most (if not all) of those buildings have real estate company signs/phone numbers on them, so I think people are trying to sell. Why pay taxes on a huge empty building if you're not making any money off of it?

As for the drinking thing, it's kind of funny. The majority of people who post on websites like this are of the age appropriate opinion that "nightlife" is an end-all-be-all for a City. In reality, unless you're doing business in a resort town or a tourist destination, nightlife is a side benefit of the local economy. Just putting up an OPEN sign is not gonna be enough to bring people in. Worcester also has a terrible problem with the fact that the average per capita income is only $18,500. Even if people want to barhop all night, the majority can't afford to.
The City gives out liquor licenses like candy, so many people open bars/clubs, etc. and saturate the market with places to go. When they realize that their "theme" or their location isn't working they revert to the lowest common denominator (18+, dollar drafts, etc.). Despite the huge number of bars in the City, the Bud distributor (some of you who are bar people, ask your sales rep.) I spoke to a month or two ago says that for a few years straight the sales in the area have been going down. More bars and less beer/liquor being sold? Seems odd, but it's true.

Anyone know if any of the buildings in the area are currently City/State owned (due to property forfeiture, etc.)?