The right to confront your accuser, as granted by the MA state constitution, is vitally important and is one of those things that might seem irrelevant until it’s you or your loved one being accused.

https://www.riaclu.org/en/news/traffic-cameras-if-you-arent-mad-about-them-you-should-be

CA and UT both found that the traffic camera companies charge per violation and therefore are incentivized to increase profits (makes sense).

RI allows them. The car’s owner is fully on the hook for the cost of the ticket ($95) regardless of who was driving the car. Your friend/kid/husband/roommate/mom borrows your car and scores you 3 tickets on a short drive but you can’t afford to pay them? You’re sent to collections and there goes your credit. Wage garnishment is not fun.

Fear of the sky falling is not a reason to never leave the house. Rents will do what rents do regardless of whether it’s a general tax increase or a utility rate increase. The burden won’t be borne by renters alone and many renters, very many, won’t bear it at all because the increase is negligible compared to all the other costs that are increasing.

Additional funding to make Worcester better by funding affordable housing and nice parks and good schools really is a good thing for all residents.

Their username checks out 😂

We tried the Y and Worcester fitness and finally wound up at the JCC. They have the best aquatic program in the city. Kelly, the aquatics director, does a lot of the level one classes and she is absolutely amazing with young kids.

We switched from Fords to Colonial. I would 100% definitely recommend them over Fords.

My neighbors did as well.

Edit: they were threatened with a fine for keeping their leaves in a pile in their yard. So they raked them into the street instead.

Our leaf pick up isn’t until the end of the month, so my neighbor tried to be a good citizen and rake their leaves into tidy, but rather large pile in a corner of their backyard (visible from the street ). They fully planned to put them in the street when the street signs went up.

They got a letter from DPW saying they were violating city ordinance or something AND threatening a $200 fine if they didn’t remove the leaf pile within 7 days. It was deemed “excessive yard debris”. So they raked them into the street instead.

Jay Fink and the other people who at DPW are a joke.

I might be wrong, but I think you’re going to have to cook it yourself or head to Chinatown in Boston.

Worcester has been a dumping grounds for years because of the city’s insistence that residents transport their bulk waste to the drop off center and also pay a fee for each item.

Mattresses are apparently still accepted at the bulk waste drop off in Worcester (but our city’s government has never really been at the forefront of change). Residents have to have a way to get it there though because the city doesn’t offer any pick up options for bulk waste that don’t cost $$$.

Creative folks seem to have found a solution - they just dump them in random spots all around the city - it’s free and you don’t even have to be Worcester resident!

You can take a folding bike on rush hour trains. There used to be several regulars on the Worcester line who used them.

People in North Adams would rather drive on dirt paths 😂

Seriously?

Boston is the economic engine for the state. If you live in the Brookfields or Great Barrington, or if you have never driven farther east than Marlborough, you have still benefitted from Boston’s economy. It stands to reason that reliable transportation for Boston’s workforce is beneficial for every single resident of Massachusetts.

I work downtown, right around the corner from 145 Front st. and the Grid. Neither residential complex seems to add noticeable weekday foot traffic.

We lost some good lunch options to Covid and inflation has definitely impacted the ones that are still kicking. Not everyone has $15-20 to spend on lunch. And people would probably be more inclined to spend time and money downtown if there were actual stores (e.g., a gift store that isn’t Worcester-centric, toy store, small market, city Target, whatever).

Also, for all of the “walkability” improvements, Main st. and the surrounding streets are still majorly oriented to car traffic. Things might appear close on a map, but it’s deceiving because you wind up stuck waiting 2-5 minutes at every single intersection for a walk light. And you’re walking past ugly parking lots and empty buildings, so even a short walk feels like it takes longer than it should. (Speaking as someone who used to walk a lot more when working/living in Boston.)

There is so little reason to vote no it’s laughable. We’re talking an extra $40-100/year on property taxes. If your house is valued at $700k you likely won’t even notice that extra $100 tacked onto your $8k property tax bill.

This is free money from the state, but only if we put in our share. We need more affordable housing. Our kids need nice parks and fields (since there’s not much else for them to do in Worcester). I don’t get the reticence in Worcester to actually contribute to making this city better for everyone.

We love to turn out to vote Democrat in national elections and then sit back and let the provincial white haired voters do everything in their power to screw the city in local elections.

The waitlist is sooooo long. I know a couple of kids in Worcester who have been waiting for over a year. There’s a lot of need for big brothers - and it’s a perfect volunteering opportunity for college students. Play basketball, video games, help with math homework…there are kids in Worcester who don’t have older siblings or parents with spare time to do these things with them. I was a big sister in Boston, sometimes I spent a little money on a treat or special outing, but mostly all you have to give is your time and attention. It really does mean is everything to them.

There’s a lot more help for people in shelter than those who are housed. That’s because the state pays a lot of money to ensure all families have access to shelter so they’re incentivized to come up with ways to move those families into housing. The ones below your client likely moved out of homelessness through one of the housing subsidies put into place to move them out of shelter. It’s highly unlikely they have a section 8 voucher (thru HUD) if they are all truly undocumented. Possibly MRVP or a short term subsidy like HomeBASE.

And no one is illegal. That’s a dog whistle for racists.

I also go to Shustak. I love Sally, she’s a fabulous hygienist who puts you at ease. Mary Ellen is also awesome. Dr. Shannon has a very calm demeanor and would probably be good for someone with anxiety.

We’re not ignorant enough to waste our time being kind to someone who thinks we’re ignorant.

Are you selling a house there or something? There have been so many posts pushing Holden, it’s almost like they decided to start a tourism bureau or chamber of commerce or something.

The shooting was at 10pm. It wasn’t during the school day. Should the school have known? Sure, but this doesn’t feel like a major failure. And I say that as a parent of an elementary school kid at a different school in Worcester. I’d be unnerved if it happened near our school (mostly bc I live very close to the school) and extremely concerned if it happened between 8am and 4pm. But a call to the district to question their decision here is probably more impactful than complaining on reddit.

Edit: just to add, the new Superintendent doesn’t seem to be as quick to make district wide phone calls. It’s hard in the wake of Binienda, who utilized them often. Especially since some (most?) WP schools aren’t exactly forthcoming with information. I often complained about how often Binienda sent out district wide calls, so there needs to be a happy medium between too much and not enough communication from the district. Hopefully they figure it out 🤷🏻‍♀️

Am from MA. When our state police aren’t too busy faking their OT they definitely ticket for driving in the left lane.

How does Treehouse in central MA relate to the vineyard and Marblehead?

Worcester’s paratransit is super-trash compared to Boston’s. They’ll only go to places on a bus line, which is absurd given how many areas of Worcester and surrounding towns aren’t serviced by a bus line. The Ride in Boston isn’t amazing, but it covers almost the entire metro-Boston area without question.

Good luck with that. The flights are limited out of providence. Maybe not to JFK, but they cut back most options for other places that used to have non-stop flights from Providence (Oakland, Orlando, etc).