The WooSox

I've been meaning to comment on the move of the Pawtucket Red Sox to Worcester for some time. The $101 million the City of Worcester would be investing has been criticized by among others the Worcester Business Journal.

 "The idea that this is going to serve as a catalyst for economic development, which is the hope - and I emphasize the word hope - is misguided," Robert Baade, an economist at Lake Forest College in Illinois, said of Worcester's stadium proposal. 

All these college economy professors quoted in the article and none speak about the impact universities can have on a city's economy?

Worcester's two mottos for as long as I've been alive are "Heart of the Commonwealth" (I'll get back to this one) and "Every Great American City has at least one University - Worcester has Ten." Holy Cross, WPI, Clark University, UMass Medical, Mass School of Pharmacy, Assumption College, Worcester State (aka UMass Worcester), Becker, Quinsigamond and that tenth which has been in flux lately.

Point is Worcester is a college town and college students for the most part go home for the summer. The WooSox would attract people to the city during the summer months between the end and start of the college schedules. Perfect!

It that $101 million wouldn't just be for a stadium either. It would also pay for 2 hotels, 225 residential units and at least 65,000 square feet of retail space. The WooSox will give people a reason to come to Worcester - and spend their money while they're here. This development would help make Worcester the "Heart of the Commonwealth" in more than just geography.

People in New England love the Boston Red Sox but honestly Fenway has become so friggin expensive that outside of season ticket holders most regular folks are lucky to make just one or two pilgrimages a year (if that). Coming to Worcester to see major league talent for half the price in a brand new stadium - that's really attractive. It would be these visitors - not Worcester taxpayers - who in the end would be paying for this $101 million development.

The reality is the Pawtucket Red Sox never came close to getting the potential attendance a AAA affiliate of the Red Sox should bring because it was in Pawtucket. In a hard to get to part of Pawtucket to boot. Where there really weren't many bar or restaurant choices. All that changes in Worcester.

And the State will be kicking in $36 million in infrastructure - mainly fixing Kelley Square. The only downside I can see is that while this is being built the traffic on 290 is going to suck! Good thing I know the back roads.