Understand
Worcester was established as a town on June 14, 1722 and as a city on February 29, 1848. It has a population of 172,648 as of the 2000 Census and is the second largest city in New England, behind Boston. Worcester is the home of nine colleges and universities, the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, the Massachusetts Bio-Technology Research Park, and the American Antiquarian Society. Despite their large number, Worcester's colleges and universities have not left much of an imprint on the overall feel of the city--for better and for worse, it is not the least bit a college town. Worcester has a very low rate of violent crime compared to the comparably sized city Providence, Rhode Island. It also has lots of parks, greenspace, small bodies of water, and tree-lined streets.
