Report Ties Worcester Housing Needs, Growth
The Worcester City Council will be presented with a study tonight that calls for the upgrading of the city's housing stock that can help strengthen Worcester's economy.
City leaders today were to receive a 200-plus-page report that includes a recommended "housing strategy" from the city's economic development office focused around three central themes, one of which is to connect the housing and job markets. That part of the report offers a series of recommendations, which include:
- Designing a program for local businesses that encourages residency or homeownership for local employees. This effort should be spearheaded by business officials and should initially target the education and health care sectors, the report said.
- Designing a program for new employers to work with the state's Workforce Central Career Center to make Worcester residents aware of and competitive for new jobs. It also recommends the city restructure its economic development incentives to encourage new employers to undertake stronger efforts to make new permanent jobs available to residents.
- Promoting new training programs to support expanding industries. It suggests that the Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board (CMWIB), in conjunction with state and federal partners, should develop a policy document indicating growing industries and job needs, and identify resources - including Worcester Technical High School - to train or retrain city residents for those jobs.
- Encouraging housing development around transit-oriented job centers, such as the downtown and along commercial corridors. This housing should be compatible with business activity and support economic growth, the report said.
- Supporting industrial job growth in such areas as Worcester Regional Airport and the Pullman Street Industrial Park.
The report also focuses on eliminating blighted housing units through a "reduce, reuse and recycle" strategy that includes renovating vacant or underutilized properties that are in poor condition. It also calls for the stabilization of city neighborhoods through the promotion of home-ownership opportunities, job creation, infrastructure improvements, and community needs in targeted, high-risk neighborhoods.
In a message to councilors, City Manager Michael V. O'Brien said the city "is positioned well for the future with a new wave of urbanism (a new focus on cities and living in them), strong economic development, a positive quality of life … expanding mass transit options, smart-growth practices and so much more."
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