Worcester highly rated as one best "value" cities

[Lowerdeck]

On the front page of Yahoo this afternoon, an article in Forbes about the best value cities in America. Ranks average salaries, unemployment rate, crime rate, culture. Worcester was ranked fourth in the nation on the list, ranking top in culture and 9th in avg. salary.

I guess it forgot to mention cost of living, but then again Worcester is a far better bargain than Boston.

Nice to have some recognition for Worcester. However it counts the entire MSA in the survey - so if it's Worcester or all of Worcester County (including Webster, Leominster, Fitchburg, etc...) is another question.

Top on the list was Manchester, NH. The only other New England city was Springfield at 46.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/13/cheap-cit...eap-places.html

[oliver]

Thats wicked funny. I wonder if the forbes guys who wrote this ever visited Worcester (or maybe they have real estate for sale there). I cannot imagine any place on earth less disirable to live in than Worcester Mass (and I lived there for almost 9 years).

- Population: 783,800 - thats not Worcester, thats about whole New England

- Average salary: who cares, there is nothing in Worcester to spend your money on. No shops downtown, nothing to do at all. To spend your money you have to drive at least to Boston or better to NYC.

- Crime: I don

[Lowerdeck]

Thats wicked funny. I wonder if the forbes guys who wrote this ever visited Worcester (or maybe they have real estate for sale there). I cannot imagine any place on earth less disirable to live in than Worcester Mass (and I lived there for almost 9 years).

[oliver]

Detroit?

Don

[cloudship]

Don

[oliver]

Providence is not really smaller than Worcester. Area wise, population maybe, but Providence itself is more of a city. Worcester is much looser - more of a collection of people than a real city mindset.

[Lowerdeck]

CVS and Walgreens are everywhere, and strangely enough always near each other. On Stafford St., they're down the street from each other. On Lincoln St., they're across the street. Park Ave., same thing. You'd think they could separate a little more. But they grow like weeds. But that is anywhere...

CVS was next to the Price Chopper in Webster, then Walgreens moved in to a new building where Kunkel Buick once was... the next block over from the CVS. So CVS had to get their new shiny stand alone store.

A little further south, they're building a CVS in Putnam. I'm expecting a Walgreens to sprout up shortly nearby. And in Dayville just the opposite. Walgreens is being built now, but I wouldn't be surprised if CVS took the old McDonalds on Route 12.

The pharmacy problem is everywhere, as New England continues to succumb to the box store philosophy that plagues the rest of the country.