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To experience New England 's best-kept secret,
find yourself here.
With nearly 176,000 residents, Worcester is the second largest city in Massachusetts, and in New England. It offers an enviable quality of life, at a fraction of the cost of Boston, and is within easy striking distance of Boston, Providence and Hartford. Worcester has the fastest growing population and housing market in Massachusetts, with a surrounding market area of one million people within 25 miles.
Worcester's museums - the Worcester Art Museum, the Worcester Historical Museum, the Higgins Armory Museum and the American Antiquarian Society - are known internationally for excellence. The city's entertainment venues include Foothills Theater, the 14,000-seat DCU Center, the Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, and the acoustically-perfect Mechanics Hall, home to the Worcester Music Festival since 1858 and host to luminaries such as Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. Smaller clubs like the Palladium and Ralph's Chadwick Square Diner attract national acts and support a lively and eclectic local music scene.
Education and health care are a big part of Worcester's appeal. The area is home to 35,000 students at 15 colleges, including Clark University, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and UMass Medical School. Worcester's world-class hospitals and health care systems have helped to attract leading biotech firms (Abbot Bioresearch, Athena Diagnostics, Astra Zeneca, Charles River Laboratories and more) at the Biotech Research Park and the WPI Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park. Part of Worcester's vibrant research community is 2006 Nobel Prize winner Craig C. Mello, Ph.D., of UMass.
Worcester residents enjoy sports and recreation at the city's many parks, and they also rally behind their college and professional teams, which include an AHL hockey franchise (the Worcester Sharks), a professional baseball team (the Worcester Tornadoes), and an indoor football team (the New England Surge). The city's dining scene offers scores of restaurants and a wide spectrum of choices - from quick breakfasts at classic diners, to elegant dinners at award-winning upscale restaurants.
A city on the move.
Whether recently completed or currently underway, numerous successful projects are contributing to a renaissance in Worcester.
- Union Station has been renovated into a modern commuter rail station - one of the busiest in the state - serving MetroWest and Boston and offering Amtrak service. The station also has a state-of-the-art regional bus terminal.
- The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Worcester campus features a bustling onsite Living and Learning dorm and study facilities, home to hundreds of pharmacy and nursing students.
- The grand new Worcester Regional Justice Center is nearing completion and the neighboring new Hilton Garden Inn is open.
- Saint Vincent Hospital, a 348-bed full-service teaching hospital, is directly across the street from CitySquare.
- The Worcester City Common has recently undergone phase one of a beautiful $8 million refurbishment.
- The nearby WPI Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park is under development as a joint venture of the Worcester Business Development Corporation and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
- The 2,300-seat Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts is being renovated into a magnificent facility that will host full-scale Broadway touring companies.
