Worcester Exploring the Importance of Urban Renewal

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Monday, September 08, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

As the Worcester Redevelopment Authority and the City of Worcester work to establish an urban renewal plan focused on the downtown area, the Worcester Research Bureau has placed a lot of effort in informing the public about the importance of urban renewal to the city.

In addition to their recently released Bureau Brief on the topic, the Research Bureau will be hosting a forum on September 8th, titled “Urban Renewal: An Owner’s Manuel” where a panel of experts will discuss the powers potential of the Massachusetts urban renewal program for cities like Worcester.

“Urban renewal is one of the most powerful, and possibly controversial, local public initiatives,” said the Worcester Research Bureau in their brief. “Urban renewal empowers government to act when and where the private marketplace fails.”

The panel will feature Vincent Pedone of the Worcester Redevelopment Authority, Kevin Morrison of the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Carol Wolfe of the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, and Mayor Lisa Wong of Fitchburg. The forum is open and free to the public.

Renewal Projects

Worcester is no stranger to urban renewal projects; there have been a total of six throughout the city already.

These six projects have helped to eliminate blighted buildings throughout the city, constructed new road networks and water and sewer infrastructure, provided land for commercial activity and parking, renovated Union Station, and more.

The city of Worcester and the Worcester Redevelopment Authority hope to have the latest urban renewal project approved by December 2014.

“To realize this potential and maximize the benefits of this renewed interest in downtown development, the City retained VHB to initiate the next series of planning efforts for the North Main Economic Development Strategy Area,” said Vanasse Hangen Brustin, Inc., who won the bid for the urban renewal project. “VHB’s planning and economic development strategies will enable the City to grow the under-utilized areas within the North Main Street district in a coordinated way so that its broader community of residents, businesses, local leaders, and stakeholders will be the benefactors of additional city and private investments.”

Importance of Urban Renewal

Worcester has many tools and resources available to create a great city, but has long struggled with pulling everything together to bring the city to the next level.

Many efforts have been made to retain local college students, increase small business friendliness, work on the city’s economic development, and overall improve the city. The Worcester Redevelopment Authority says that many of these efforts highlight the potential of Worcester and the downtown area; a well thought out urban renewal project focused on the Downtown area could ultimately help and benefit many of these other initiatives.

“The city of Worcester has undertaken significant planning in the Downtown area, including the Gateway Park Master Plan, the Washington Square Redevelopment Strategy, the North Main Economic Development Strategy, the Beacon-Federal Neighborhood Revitalization Plan, and the draft Theatre District Master Plan,” said the Worcester Redevelopment Authority. “These plans highlight the potential of the Downtown and adjacent areas as vibrant live-work-visit communities. The Urban Renewal Plan will build on prior plans and initiatives to propose a program of targeted redevelopment and land use controls to capitalize on both private and public initiatives in the Downtown area.”

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