Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon236
So.....where is everyone going to park?
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I'm guessing in the garage at Gateway park with a shuttle service running. It's about a 3/4 mile/15 minute walk each way along Salisbury Street.
Land around here is too valuable to build surface parking lots; they've been replacing them left and right with buildings and amenities over the past few years. Rumors have it that the Library parking lot may be replaced with a "Senior Quad" in their long term goals as well.
Now if Worcester was smart, what they really need to do is to
rebuild a few key lines of their old streetcar system (a few hub/spoke lines that merge in the downtown CBD/Union Station). Trying to drive anywhere in Worcester between the hours 7am-9am and from 4pm-7pm is a nightmare. All the major roads are literally parking lots; I've walked to the grocery store faster (it's a ten minute walk) than the average speed of traffic on multiple occasions. There are buses here, but well, they're buses; no one really likes riding them and no one really knows where they go and/or how often they come.
But if Worcester was to follow the lead of cities like Portland, OR; Washington, DC; and over 80 other cities across the country and start building its streetcar lines, you'd eliminate the need for a sizable chunk of parking. And the parking that would remain could be consolidated into parking garages, freeing up valuable real estate for economic development. Combine that with the high population densities throughout much of Worcester (thanks to the thousands of
Triple Deckers) and 30,000+ college students in Worcester (each college is conveniently located almost evenly spaced around Worcester, thus providing an "anchor" for the end of each of the streetcar spoke lines) and a cheap student discount for the streetcar system, and you'll see high ridership.
I also think Worcester/WPI/Some developer should also convert the old
Worcester Memorial Auditorium, (which currently isn't being used for anything, but is located directly between the main WPI campus and the WPI Gateway Park) into an iMAX theater. It could be used by the Worcester Art Museum (located right next door), as well as for general release films, and would really help liven up the neighborhood.