1. Clark University
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Education
Telephone: (508) 793-7431
Address: 950 Main St.
Description: Clark was founded in 1887 as the country’s first university dedicated to graduate studies. Clark’s programs leading to master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology, physics, and geography are nationally recognized. More recently Clark was one of the 40 colleges featured in Loren Pope’s landmark college guidebook Colleges That Change Lives. Clark is particularly credited with promoting the development of psychology as a discipline. In 1909 Sigmund Freud delivered a lecture series on psychoanalysis at Clark—it was the only time he spoke at an American university. The Robert H. Goddard Library is named after Robert Goddard, the “father of the American rocket program”, who received both his master’s degree and PhD in physics from Clark. (A true Worcesterite, Goddard received his undergraduate degree from WPI.) Today Clark is a liberal arts, research-based university, but considered small in size with undergraduate enrollment of 2,300 students and graduate enrollment of 1,150 students. Its undergraduate program offers 32 majors as well as a very attractive accelerated BA/master’s program with the fifth year of study tuition-free. Located in Worcester’s Main South neighborhood, Clark has been nationally recognized for its exceptional effort at urban revitalization of its community. Since 1985 Clark’s University Park Partnership has worked to renovate local housing, offer adult education classes, and provide free-tuition scholarships to neighborhood residents.
2. College Of The Holy Cross
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Education
Telephone: (508) 793-2443
Address: 1 College St.
Description: Holy Cross is a small, exclusively undergraduate liberal arts Catholic college. Founded in 1843 by the Jesuits, the school has a reputation for academic excellence and ranks as one of the country’s top Catholic colleges. The leafy 175-acre campus is set high on a hill overlooking Worcester and features an abundance of buildings with gothic flair—it’s all very Hogwarts-esque. Holy Cross enrolls about 3,000 students and offers more than 27 majors with the social sciences, English, psychology, foreign languages, and history among the more popular majors. The Holy Cross Crusaders are members of the NCAA Division I Patriot League, and in the tradition of former Crusaders and Celtics Basketball Hall of Famers Bob Cousy and Tommy Heinsohn, Holy Cross is especially competitive in basketball. There is huge school spirit at Holy Cross. These students bleed purple—the basketball games especially bring out huge crowds.
3. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Education
Telephone: (508) 831-5286
Address: 100 Institute Rd.
Description: Founded in 1865, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, better known as WPI, has an attractive New England–style campus on a hill on the outskirts of Worcester. The university offers 50 undergraduate and graduate degrees and is focused on cutting-edge science and engineering. It’s a small university with 3,849 undergraduates and 1,929 graduate students. Among its most popular majors are mechanical engineering, biology and biotechnology, and robotics engineering. The translation of WPI’s German motto, Lehr und Kunst, is “Theory and Practice,” which reflects the school’s learn-by-doing approach of project- and presentation-based course work. WPI graduates typically land jobs right out of school, recently ranking No. 6 among all national universities for average starting salary by Payscale.com. WPI’s selective and small (200-student) part-time MBA program is technology focused and is consistently ranked highly by Businessweek.
4. Umass Memorial Medical Center
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Health Care
Telephone: (508) 334-1000
Address: 55 Lake Ave. North
Description: It’s tough to compete with the big Boston hospitals, but in many ways UMass Medical holds its own. Affiliated with UMass Medical School, this is the largest health-care system in central and western Massachusetts, with 3 campuses in downtown Worcester, 4 community partner hospitals, and a network of community health centers. Virtually every department provides high-quality care, among its strengths cardiology, diabetes, orthopedics, cancer, emergency medicine, surgery, women’s health, and children’s medical services.
5. Worcester Telegram & Gazette
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Media
Telephone: (508) 793-9100
Address: 100 Front St.
Description: Worcester’s only daily newspaper, T&G covers Worcester politics (its editorial offices are located in the shadow of Worcester City Hall) and happenings on Beacon Hill—especially those that affect residents of Worcester and central Massachusetts communities. T&G coverage also includes business news, sports, and lifestyle features. Its Sunday edition features the Entertainment and Travel sections that come from the Boston Globe. Established in 1866, T&G has been owned by the New York Times since 1999 and like the Boston Globe, it is currently up for sale.
6. Kenmore Diner
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (508) 792-5125
Address: 250 Franklin St.
Description: Home of the now-defunct Worcester Lunch Car Company, which manufactured more than 600 diners during the first half of the last century, Worcester is still a city of diners, with several classic boxcar diners in the area. The Kenmore is a new reconstruction diner; it literally rose from the ashes in the wake of the next-door 1999 Worcester Cold Storage Warehouse fire, which took the lives of 6 firemen. Open all day and night, this is the place in the city for late-night eats. You’ll still find retro portion sizes and prices—the raved-about spinach, sausage, and cheese omelet with home fries is just $5. Cash only.
7. Lucky’S Cafe
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (508) 756-5014
Insider Pick:
Description: The 40-seat place in a subterranean space at Northworks in the old wire mill complex may not look sophisticated, but the food is exceptional: thick-cut pork chops with apple rum sauce, Portuguese fish stew with fennel in an orange broth, rosemary polenta with fresh mozzarella. Regulars come for breakfasts that feature omelets and there are sandwiches and salad for the lunch crowd. Friday and Saturday nights feature live music; take advantage of the BYOB policy and bring a special vintage to enjoy with your meal.
8. Union Station
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Address: 34 Washington Sq.
Description: The marble vastness of Union Station is where 2 regal lions preside over traffic and an ever-shifting sea of people still does much to heighten the excitement of arriving in Worcester. Behind the station’s 1911 marble facade are the platforms that service Amtrak and the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) commuter rail line. Next door is the terminal for the Greyhound and Peter Pan bus lines and the Worcester Regional Transit Authority local city bus service.
9. Worcester Art Museum
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (508) 799-4406
Address: 55 Salisbury St.
Insider Pick:
Description: First opened to the public in 1898, the Worcester Art Museum’s collection (more than 35,000 works) has a depth and breadth that is unrivaled among small American art museums. In particular, the museum is strong in American, European, and Asian art. Come here to see masterpieces by some of the world’s most famous painters: El Greco, Gainsborough, Gaugin, and Monet, to name only a few. The treasure of the museum is the Renaissance Court with its 500-square-foot mosaic dating from the 6th century. Named the Worcester Hunt Mosaic, the highly patterned scene was discovered in the 1930s at a villa in Antioch in present-day Turkey. The Worcester Art Museum Cafe is well regarded for its soups (the pear and wild mushroom soup is fantastic), salads, and sandwiches. It can get busy, as it is as popular with the downtown workforce as it is for museum visitors. Open Wed through Sat.
10. Elm Park
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (508) 929-1300
Description: It is easy to imagine earlier days when parents strolled baby carriages and couples promenaded along the winding footpaths and over the bridges that cross the 3 pretty ponds of this park, designed by the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted in the mid-1800s. These days Elm Park is still a favorite destination for Worcesterites because of the excellent variety of activities it offers, including playgrounds, tennis courts, winter ice-skating, and a concert series in the summer.
11. Mechanics Hall
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (508) 752-0888
Address: 321 Main St.
Description: Mechanics Hall is considered by many to be one of the finest concert halls in the country. Built in 1857 by the Worcester County Mechanics Association, the concert hall represented the cultural aspirations of the skilled workers who made up its membership—which would have been practically every family in town. Inside, the visual centerpiece of the hall is a 3,504-pipe Hook organ dating from 1864. Today, in addition to concerts and lectures, the hall is often used for recordings because of its excellent acoustics.
12. First Night Worcester
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (508) 799-4909
Description: First Night Worcester is the second–longest running First Night (after Boston’s) and is easily the largest New Year’s celebration in central Massachusetts. It’s a community- and family-oriented (alcohol-free), multicultural festival of the arts featuring music, dance, comedy, puppetry, theater, and magic—more than 100 events in all! Activities generally run from late afternoon on Dec 31 and culminate with midnight fireworks. Events take place at locations throughout the city including the Worcester Common, Mechanics Hall, the DCU Arena, National Guard Armory, Hanover Theater, and everywhere in between. It’s a free event but buttons are needed to enjoy most of the events at the indoor venues.
13. Ecotarium
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (508) 929-2700
Address: 222 Harrington Way
Description: The Ecotarium in Worcester is a wonderful science and environmental museum that stresses conservation and appreciation of the natural world. The weekly Wednesday drop-in program is ideal for ages 3 to 5, where kids can listen to a story, make a craft, and discover the unique features of one of the Ecotarium’s small mammals, birds, or reptiles. The Budding Scientist program on the first Thursday of the month introduces fun, hands-on science activities for kids ages 4 through 6. Both programs are designed for kids and parents to enjoy together. The Ecotarium is also home to an impressive number of animals, including fun-loving otters and a pair of beautiful red foxes.
14. Ralph’S Rock Diner
City: Worcester, MA
Category: Tours & Attractions
Telephone: (508) 753-9543
Address: 148 Grove St.
Description: The heart of Worcester’s indie rocker scene, there are three separate rooms within this old diner car/factory space—a burger joint, a bar, and an upstairs live music venue that lines up an eclectic calendar of local bands Thursday through Saturday nights (usually with a cover). Sunday night is movie night. Open nightly.