My DD seems to be interested in Holy Cross. But I am concerned about the city of Worcester. I’d love to hear any feedback about the school and how safe the campus and it’s surroundings are. Thank you!
HC parent here. Worceseter is not an unsafe city, it is just a bit economically depressed in parts as manufacturing left the city. Holy Cross however is in one of the nicer parts of town and is very safe. It’s situated in a residential neighborhood. We at first viewed Worcester as a negative, but have been pleasantly surprised. It’s a college town with 6 or 7 other schools nearby, so lots of young people. Shrewsbury street is full of fun restaurants and is a safe part of town. The DCU center is also in Worcester, host to concerts and other event.s The train station has been totally refurbished and provides easy and quick access to Boston. There are several malls and big box stores close to campus and Worcester being an Uber city is easy to get around from campus.
@wisteria100 thanx for the great feedback!
Another HC parent here. I agree with @wisteria100 . Worcester is on a steady upswing economically. We ran across this NYT article when we were researching colleges for our D, and 2 years later the effort is going strong with more hotels, restaurant and public art installations etc. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/realestate/commercial/long-a-college-town-worcester-now-looks-the-part.html
Of course all common sense city safety procedures apply, but Worcester is not particularly dangerous or sketchy. It’s a nice college town.
The campus is on a hill, overlooking the city, which is a nice vantage point to be. Close to the city, but still a demarcated, gated campus in a residential area. Campus is well lit at night and the blue light security boxes are all over. Campus Public Safety officers are all sworn police officers from Worcester PD or neighboring towns. Even some of the van drivers are retired Worcester PD officers!
Thank you for the great article and your input @HCPP20
Another HC parent here and I concur with @HCPP20 and @wisteria100. We were never concerned about safety and feel it’s a great college town (Holy Cross, Assumption College, WPI, etc) that just keeps getting better. The Uber drivers make a killing taking kids to/from restaurants and other places. My son is involved with Working for Worcester, which is similar to Habitat For Humanity. It’s a great way to give back and get engaged with the local community. My son is having a very positive experience.
So great to hear such positive reviews @jackson345. Thank you for your input!
When my daughter went there she never felt unsafe and loved the free transportation on weekend to Providence and Boston (if they still do that) She did grow up in a large city in CT so maybe it took the edge off a bit. There are many opportunities to help in the community also.