The economic development strategy put forth by Worcester’s leaders has focused on attracting outside investment from places like Boston, which has increased land values, rents, and the tax base, with new developments replacing older ones. Bill Shaner provides a counterpoint to this strategy, by giving voice to negatively impacted groups, who are mostly low-income and/or long-time city residents, and decrying the loss of cultural resources, such as when the Bridge Academy & Community Center was shut down in favor of 21 new apartments.
A former Worcester Magazine writer, Shaner quit in 2020 after WoMag was acquired by the Telegram & Gazette, which would no longer let him mix his opinions with his reporting. Through his Substack newsletter Worcester Sucks and I Love It, Shaner provides a voice of critical dissent using his unique brand of opinion journalism.
He was unabashedly in favor of the Massachusetts Nurses Association union during its 300-day strike with Saint Vincent Hospital, investigated when the city government destroyed a homeless encampment near Walmart, and provided a voter guide for the 2021 city council election.
What sets the Central Mass. business community apart? Central Mass. has long been a place where people without access to massive sums of capital have been allowed to take risks on business ventures. When creative individuals are allowed to do interesting things, it enriches a city’s culture. As housing and commercial space becomes less attainable due to an unchecked real estate boom and parasitic speculators, we risk losing that creative spirit.
We, at WBJ, are 82% certain Shaner is joking here: Cursed long ago by a vampire’s kiss, I am doomed to walk this wretched plane for eternity.
CORRECTION:Â A previous version of this story incorrectly said Bill Shaner provided the only voter guide for the 2021 Worcester City Council election. The Worcester version of the website Patch.com also published a voter guide for the election.
