Joshua Croke
June 7, 2019
Viewpoint
Avoid exclusive growth
By JOSHUA CROKE
As Worcester continues to develop, in large part due to the growth wave moving west from Boston, I ask these two questions 1) What does success mean to Worcester? and 2) Who does that success include?
The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and the city’s Economic Development Coordinating Council have begun a survey to understand why so few employees of Worcester companies choose to live in the city, with the goal of making the city a desirable place to work and live.
While I appreciate the survey’s efforts, we need to question whether these efforts will achieve a sustainable, inclusive and equitable revitalization.
My concern with this survey is the priority placed on getting people who work here to move and live here, instead of understanding residents’ views of the city; people who want jobs Worcester doesn’t have.
Dedicating the resources to this survey geared toward non-residents as opposed to current residents sends a message the city sees success coming from outside the current resident base. In cities like Worcester where gentrification causes concern, a survey asking about high-end housing and dog parks instead of pathways to home ownership, career mobility resources, and new job creation is easy to interpret its intention as focused on higher-income residents displacing those struggling in our community.
One of the survey questions raises a concern regarding how we value the members of our community, asking if the respondents would prefer lower-end, cheaper housing or much more expensive, nicer housing. When it comes to housing, affordable and market rate are buzzwords not inherently inclusive in their impact. We need to move further than housing requirements and push for creating quality, mixed-income housing in our neighborhoods. Right now, I read this question as “Poor people don’t deserve nice housing. Wealthy people need nice housing. We can’t have both.” Quality housing can be built across different pricing tiers, but it takes an intentional effort from decisionmakers to prioritize, incentivize, and regulate working with responsible developers who believe everyone deserves quality housing.
Resources like the podcasts “Go Cultivate!”, “Strong Towns” and “Experience this Podcast” have opened my mind to opportunities like revitalizing communities without gentrifying displacement; focusing on economic gardening (development with small, high-returning investments instead of big, silver-bullet gambles); and the importance of community pride and ownership in creating successful spaces in places like the Bronx.
Parting thought: With the wave of dollars coming toward us from Boston, we can make every wrong decision or every right decision, and we will still experience economic growth. How might we put Worcester on a path forward to be used as a national example of a developing city enabling success for all individuals in the community?
Joshua Croke is founder of Worcester consultant Action! by Design and the nonprofit Love Your Labels, which supports queer youth. Reach him @JoshuaCroke on Twitter.
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