In today’s daily 5 Things You Need to Know feature, ThisWeekinWorcester.com explores five important items and stories that Worcester and Central Massachusetts residents should keep a close eye on.
These five things can cover a whole range of subjects and issues that we feel are pertinent to understanding what’s going on in the city and the cities and towns surrounding Worcester.
In today’s edition – Friday, November 4 – Worcester’s Planning Board is holding a public hearing next week on the inclusionary zoning amendment to the city zoning ordinance, check out the pre-election trends in Worcester County, Worcester receives a $25,000 grant from the Massachusetts Downtown Initiative, the Downtown Worcester BID hosts its monthly meeting next week, and Worcester Chamber Music Society presents “Soundscapes in Time” this month.
Planning Board Hosting Public Hearing on Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance Amendment
The city’s Planning Board is hosting a public hearing on Nov. 9 on a zoning ordinance amendment to include inclusionary zoning in multi-family developments of 12 or more units.
Projects will need to include at least 15% of the units for households at or below 80% of the area’s median income, or 10% of the units for households at or below 60% of the area’s median income. The maximum rent of the affordable income units cannot exceed 30% of the annual income of the qualifying household and the Fair Market Rent rate.
The hearing is at 5:30 PM in-person at the Levi Lincoln Chamber at City Hall. Participants can also access the meeting virtually or via phone here:
- Use the following link to join the meeting via computer: https://cow.webex.com/meet/planningboardwebex
- Call 415-655-0001 (Access Code: 160 171 4991)
Pre-Election Issues Trends Released by Google
Google announced accessible, local voting information available to users by a simple search. Googling “how to vote” provides local voting information at the top of the search results with links to further information from state government sources.
Google is promoting the feature along with its search trends data heading into the last weekend for election day on Nov. 8.
The top 5 Google searches by users in Worcester County are wages (29), Social Security (28), health care (19), Abortion (17), and economy (7).
Click here for more data from Google.
Worcester Receives $25,000 Grant for Quality of Life Downtown
The Massachusetts Downtown Initiative (MDI) awarded the City of Worcester a $25,000 technical assistance state grant to create a quality of life amenities plan for Downtown Worcester.
With the funding, the City of Worcester. the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. and the Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District (BID) will create the Downtown Worcester Quality of Life study. The BID will oversee the study and work with a team of consultants to collect quality of life data from the Downtown core, expand upon research and best practices of similar urban communities to identify solutions to some of the prevalent quality of life issues, and develop of a comprehensive plan to address issues within the Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District.
The main objectives of the Downtown Worcester Quality of Life study are to:
- Identify key issues downtown, including access to basic necessities for all populations
- Develop a coalition of public and private sector stakeholders
- Create a prioritized implementation plan to service all populations in the Downtown district
The Downtown Worcester Quality of Life project is expected to begin in late 2022 and be completed by the summer of 2023.
Downtown Worcester BID Hosts Monthly Meeting on Nov. 11
The Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District (BID) will host its monthly meeting on Friday, Nov. 11 from 9 AM to 10 AM.
This month’s meeting will be held in the Worcester Regional Food Hub’s Market Place in the lobby of the Glass Tower building at 446 Main St.
Shon Rainford, director of Worcester Regional Food Hub, will speak at the meeting. Food and drink will be provided by the Food Hub.
To RSVP to the meeting, click here.
Worcester Chamber Music Society Presents “Soundscapes in Time”
Worcester Chamber Music Society continues its 17th concert season with “Soundscapes in Time,” a concert that explores the idea of blossoming – literally as well as metaphorically- from the 18th through the 21st centuries.
The performance takes place at the Jeanne Y. Curtis Hall at Assumption University on Sunday, Nov. 13. A pre-concert talks tarts at 3:30 PM and the program beings at 4 PM.
The program includes:
- Mark Berger Bloom
- Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges String Quartet No. 5
- Kate Whitley Duo for Violin and Viola
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A Major
- with guest Eric Thomas, clarinet
For more information and to find tickets, visit the Worcester Chamber Music Society website, here.
