Want to have your business advert seen by over 500,000 people per month? Email us at Turtleboysports@yahoo.com for more information, and check out our website about types of advertising we offer
Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook
Check out our stuff on GoLocalWorcester
GoLocalWorcester: On average, 1,500 commuters leave from Union Station in Worcester heading inbound to Boston each weekday. According to a report from the MBTA, more than 11,000 people ride on the Worcester-Framingham line into Boston each day.
On Wednesday, the MBTA announced that 24 trains on the Framingham-Worcester Commuter Rail line will be shut down for the remainder of the week. Over the last few weeks, due to the severe winter weather, the Commuter Rail has seen cancelations, lengthy delays, and abbreviated schedules.
“Other than the delays that have caused my commute to double, the behavior of those taking the trains is like a real life version of the Hunger Games. If you’re not paying attention you will literally get trampled. Grown men will push woman and children out of the way in order to make the next train. I’m not kidding. I’ve seen it happen. If you’re not at the right spot when the train arrives you have little to no chance of making it on the train and you’ll be stuck waiting 20 plus minutes for another shot at making it home,” said Alanna Richards of Auburn. Richards travels back and forth every day on the Commuter Rail from Worcester to Boston.
“It’s been very tough. I’ve had to work from home a couple times a week which is hard being a manager at my company, said Joe Hughes of Worcester. Hughes works in Natick. “The delays have been horrible. You never know how bad it’s going to be every day. I have to wake up hours earlier just anticipating the delay. There are times I don’t even know the delays until I’m on the train.”
“All and all the entire system is a mess. It’s not only an inconvenience to commuters but is becoming almost hazardous. I will be much happier when I can get on the train without having to fight my way on,” said Richards.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) may need up to 30 days to recover from the recent snowstorms and get back back to full service. At a press conference on Monday, MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott said, “As long as we don’t get hit with another storm like the last one, it will be back in 30 days. This last round really crippled our infrastructure and our vehicle fleet. It created operational challenges and created severe damage which will take time to recover from.”
“What’s that? You’re shutting down trains into Boston for the week. Oh OK, it’s not like I had to pay my bills or anything.”
That’s what I would be saying if I was dumb enough to work in Boston. You couldn’t pay me enough money to commute to Beantown everyday. It’s insane that people still do this. Is time worth nothing to you people in the rat race? How bout your sanity? We have people waking up HOURS early for the mere possibility of getting on a slow train to Boston so they can play dress up, feel like they made it in life, and sit in a cubicle all day. How are you even supposed to find the time to blog when you’re working hours like that?
I love it when you talk to some dooshnozzle who lives in some town east of 495. Worcester might as well be Mexico to them. Most will refer to us as “Western MA.” Guess what ding-dongs? We get the last laugh. First of all, Worcester is cheap as hell. You can get a 4 bedroom house with 1,700 square feet in Worcester for under $200k. Meanwhile, pick a Boston suburb. I looked at a map and the first one I saw was Arlington. Here’s what a 978 square foot, 2 bedroom house costs in Arlington:
Sign me up!!
Basically the only reason to live close to Boston is to tell people you live close to Boston. That’s the only possible advantage I see. When you factor in traffic Worcester is pretty much as close to Boston as any suburb, except without all the bullshit and Whole Foods.
And if you think Worcester’s DPW has been incompetent with the snow, how’d you like to deal with the nudniks who run the MBTA?
“When are you morons gonna have the trains moving again?”
“Ummm, like 30 days or so.”
“Oh OK, because I wasn’t trying to get to work or anything. Take your time. I guess I’ll just drive into that cesspool and find a parking spot. Because parking in Boston is easy and cheap!!”
“As long as it doesn’t snow again.”
“Well, luckily it’s February in New England, so chances of it snowing again are slim to none.”
The bottom line is if you’re not leaving and working in Central Mass then you should probably reevaluate your life choices.
Want to have your business advert seen by over 500,000 people per month? Email us at Turtleboysports@yahoo.com for more information, and check out our website about types of advertising we offer
Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook
Check out our stuff on GoLocalWorcester
16 Comment(s)
Everyone belittles Worcester yet so many that leave always come back. Because affordable housing, good healthcare, good schools, big green yards, adequate parking, single family homes, family neighborhoods, short commutes, cheap beer and good food, sound aweful right….. I would love to live in Boston tho; splitting rent with 5 roomates, each paying what a mortgage would cost in Worcester. Spending all your paycheck on rent, overpriced booze at stats, shitty coke and molly, uber surcharges and absurd covers. For the privlage of drinking in crowded bars full of yuppies, hipsters and dusty cunts chasing the UMass glory day dick. All just to end up buying a house in “the nice part Dorchester” to say you got out of Worcester. Realizing Dot, Roxbury, Mattapan are all 10xs the hell Main south will ever be…But the Grass is always greener I guess….. (Will say if I had to commute to Boston and was under 30 I would 95% live there but don’t belittle Worcester)
I used to work in Cambridge and hated it, money wasn’t that good back in 1992 either. I’d go in early and leave early so the commute wasn’t bad. These days I commute from Rutland to Foxboro. You have to go where the work is and there’s nothing for me in central MA. These days I would demand an extra 20k to do it in Boston and I don’t come cheap as it is.
1. I work in Boston. I like the city and the cultural aspects and diversity.
2. The pay is hell of a lot better as well.
3. When I come into Worcester from the west – in one of those quaint little towns where they don’t plow, but rather create mashed potatoes for all.- I shake my head at the “folks” walking around Worcester downtown in their best pajamas.
4. You couldn’t pay me enough to work in Worcester. Its a dirty city with absolutely no soul. I would rather eat my animal droppings than tell someone i work in worcester, never mind live there.
5. At work, I use the word “hee haw” a lot. They understand. No whole foods, hardly any good restaurants, shit bars, and whats with acid wash jeans? who the hell didn’t give Worcester a television showing new programming. Cosby Show is not new.. just a fun fact.
6. The T sucks and has sucked for over 20 years. Nothing has changed.
7. I’m moving back. Rather sit in local traffic than wonder if the yahoo in front of me with gun rack and their 1980 truck will break down.
And after you are done “hee hawing” to you co-workers they all talk shit about you behind your back because you are obviously a HUGE loser.
Someone hit a nerve
Spencer revenge attack?
“You couldn’t pay me enough to work in Worcester.”
Pfff, everyone has a price.
The worst of it is that EVERYONE in Worcester is forced to pay for the MBTA, as are ALL THE PEOPLE in the towns that border Worcester. The legislature, in their “wisdom” decided to spread the burden to the people who don’t use the MBTA. We have to pay for the privilege of having Boston in our state.
And if people think it’s bad now, just wait for the Olympics. The Olympics will pretty much be in the summer, but all that means is packed trains full of sweaty people. You won’t be able to get on the train, but you will be made to pay.
I live here BECAUSE it’s where I work. Don’t get me wrong, I love it here, but having a short commute is important to me from a quality of life stand point. For me, can’t speak for everyone, having the greater accessibility that a larger city affords you is the biggest benefit…though it’s hard to even type that with a straight face given the current state of the MBTA. It’s nice that you likely will have several bars and restaurants walking distance even in the city’s more outlying neighborhoods. This is the greatest appeal to me, after having grown up in the Worcester area. I can go out and grab a few drinks and not worry about who has to drive or getting a cab home, in most cases. To be honest, I’ve never walked the freedom trail, rarely go to Quincy Market, or the Aquarium…I only find myself doing touristy things when people visit….so fun is relative, you can have fun in both Boston and Worcester. The walkability was definitely the thing I missed the most when I was commuting from Worcester to Boston (though I drove, because fuck the commuter rail), and since I loathed sitting in traffic for an hour and half each day it made much more sense to move to the city for a better quality of life where I now have an 8 minute commute. Worcester still holds a place in my heart though, and I would be tempted to move back if it weren’t for the commute, especially given the insane difference in property values.
Lived in Worcester and commuted to Boston everyday for 6 years. It was the biggest time suck of my life. On the up side it was great people watching and I read a ton of books.
I went through a library’s worth myself!
Maybe people want to live in Boston to be able to actually do things that are fun? Not everyone is as poor as you, TurtleBoy.
What is actually fun that requires living in Boston? A sporting event, concert, or theater show is a day or an overnight in the city. A day trip to MOS or the Aquarium does not require a residence. The trip to Quincy Market or a Freedom Trail walk, the duck boats, all day trips. Never mind the restaurants, back and forth in a few hours.
The only “fun” I can think of are overpriced clubs and bars which you apparently think are a privilege to go to on a regular basis and get fleeced. I can drink for less back this way, and even less when I buy it for home.
i didn’t say the fun of boston requires you to live in boston. but it certainly makes it much easier, than planning a ‘day trip’ as you suggest. being able to go to a sporting event at the drop of a hat rather than planning in advance because you have to drive all the way from worcester, pay for tolls, get stuck in traffic, pay for tolls, etc, etc. eating in the north end blows anything on shrewsbury street away – and i don’t have to set aside an entire day for it.
If you choose to live in Boston simply because it’s “fun”, you need to re-assess your life. Boston is the same numdane crap Worcester has, it just was attacked more because it was a port city. Boston is boring, just as boring as Worcester. That is why there is such a long line, a bunch of Boston yuppies moved west into Worcester for cheap houses, raised all of our property taxes, and now it is impossible to live in Worcester because of them! So Worcester born people move to suburbs and west towards Springfield, which is like moving out through the Oregon Trail!
Ah, I remember those days. First job out of college had my commuting back and forth to Boston every day. Had to take a 6:20 train in order to make it in for 9 a.m. and it made every stop between Union and South Stations.
Of course, at the time, it saved money on gas, tolls, and parking in Boston. Couldn’t beat $1 parking on Grafton Street.