>Also I just remembered, Bean Counter (which may get a high number of WPI students) I believe is open later in the day as well

Even they close earlier than they used to. :(

I'm going to have to take the recommendation and get over to New Tradition. Cappuccino might be my favorite drink aside from...well, it's my favorite, actually.

Been considering pulling some money together and doing something like that. Need to do a lot of research, though...and I think a lot of these places could be really great if they were open later and became hangouts. Like Acoustic Java: perfect place to have a guy with a guitar and a bunch of college-and-up aged people after hours.

Why are you in my apartment again?

>You don't even see that as much in big cities anymore.

That's definitely true. Even NYC is full of places that close early now. That has definitely happened since the pandemic; it really is a great tragedy of our world that humans now feel nervous of interacting with each other. That's going to have ramifications for decades to come.

>I remember the Coffee Kingdom on Pleasant St and through at least two generations it had a real Bohemian vibe not to mention great coffee.

Definitely. I don't even really remember their coffee, though I drank a lot of it, and also their Italian sodas, which I thought were very cosmopolitan at the time, but it was the vibe and the conversations and the people that I spent time with there that I remember.

Restaurant on Highland...was it the Mexican place?

I think I went to all those shows. And then there were bands like Holdstrong and...something Crow Stomp, and the Psychos. Those were the days.

So, since you know what's up with good music, have you heard anything recently that's new and worthwhile?

Yeah, I want to go there, but whenever I've been free, they've been closed. :(

Dude, I went to so many hardcore shows at the Espresso Bar. That place was awesome. Such good times back then...

Sorry! Fixed it, though.

>Acoustic Java does great business in the morning and lunch hours too

but Acoustic Java's original location is literally right next to a university, so it would be reasonable to assume that they could be doing business into the evening there.

>New Tradition does open weirdly late, but they also don't really cater to an office crowd, so it probably doesn't hurt 'em too much.

Who do they cater to? Are they a legit coffee shop? Their hours are just weird, and I have no idea who goes there.

The Hill is crazy. I haven't been anywhere on this side of the Mississippi River that has a major street going up a hill like that.

Years ago Rodney Street and Catharine Streets were fairly dangerous (I pulled over there for a bit to look at a map - that's how long ago it was, a paper map - and some people came and started rocking my car), but the area has changed since then. Socioeconomically it's still pretty working class, but not a dangerous area.

Best piece of advice: take the "hill" in Bell Hill seriously. Trying to drive up Belmont Street from downtown is a nightmare in the winter. Even buses get stuck sometimes.

>Have you ever worked in the restaurant industry? Restaurants stay open for the hours that people show up.

Yes, I've spent years working in the restaurant industry. Restaurants change their hours around, experimenting to figure out what's best for attracting customers.

And the whole parking issue as an argument against Polar Park makes no sense to me. It's an argument for keeping the neighborhood unpopulated, aside from a couple of restaurants and bars that don't bring too many people. If parking is the issue, then the restaurants should petition the city to build a garage. One (at least) was built by the park already.

Lack of public transport is also an issue that can and should be addressed, but it's not an argument against the park, either. Worcester - including its businesses - either needs to resign itself to being a decaying mill town or it needs to be creative.

I used to go to NYC each weekend. I've taken car, bus, and train. By far the best option was to drive. It didn't take nearly as long as the train or the bus. Take 90 to 84 then take that to the Merritt Parkway to the Cross County to the Major Degan to the Third Avenue Bridge (or Willis Ave Bridge) into Harlem, and take the Harlem River Drive to the FDR and you've got a quick trip (not during rush hour!) with no tells except for a few dollars on the Pike. If you really want to save, take Route 20 to Interstate 84, but that adds some time.

>5-7pm and 11pm-close aren’t the best times for restaurants. It’s good for bars.

But restaurants have to cater to the people who are going to be around them. Having a staff there from 5-7 and working to entice people who are walking from parking inside, and maybe doing something in terms of advertising.

What did, say, the barbecue spot actually do to try to attract people who were going to the games? Weekends they were 12-8, other days of the week they were open 4-8? What kinds of hours are those?

>games end past closing time of most restaurants in the area, with the exception of maybe 99, Wings over Worcester, and some pizza places.

I mean, the restaurants determine their opening and closing times.

People actually go to the ballpark.

Definitely agree. For whatever reason, businesses think that they'll do well by not bothering to even try to attract customers. Why didn't they/don't they tailor their hours around when there's going to be a huge influx of people? Why not at least try to do some advertising to pull people in?

And closing early: maybe Worcester restaurants should try to be open more often. I moved away from Worcester after high school, and when I came back I was utterly surprised by how many restaurants were just closed on several days of the week or who closed way too early. People say that has to do with the pandemic, but that's the way businesses were acting even before.

Why is the public market thriving? Why hasn't the park taken away their business? Why isn't the parking situation harming them? All of these businesses want to just say "but the ballpark!" as a scapegoat.

Isn't that space already leased out for a new restaurant coming in?

I think most places in Worcester, aside from maybe some townie Irish bars, are pretty trans-friendly. For things that are exclusively trans, though, I'm not so sure. I think Electric Haze might have some trans nights.

I realize there's a storied history and it's sad that that part of Worcester's past is gone. But the building itself is fairly ugly.

>Again, they ALL. Interview. Other. People. All of them.

That is simply not true. They might consider who is the best person and have some discussion in the board, but no, they simply do not all, or even generally, interview other people. Where do you get this from?

>If you are ok with elected officials doing just whatever the hell they want, that is your right. That they are ok with it looking that way is rather frightening

George Russell was right. Batista should have been hired on way back without any silly national search, which progressives glommed onto just because the schools were doing, which was because the schools have long been in disarray and someone outside was necessary to change directions.

Again, it's not unheard of, and is in fact actually fairly widespread practice, to appoint someone to corporate leadership without some formal apply/interview process. You learn much more about a person when they work for an organization for a decade in different positions than you would in any apply/interview situation.

Companies are more likely to conduct a search externally if they need someone to come in and shake things up because the organization hasn't performed well. If they're looking to continue as things have been going, they'll appoint someone who's in a position of leadership already.

I mean, how else do promotions work? Someone comes to you and tells you, "Hey, we're promoting you to this job."

As for resume, I guess it's nice to have on record, but anyone could have just looked at Batista's linked in profile.

Why do you think the interviewed her? She was there for years and had on-the-job experience.

Someone working their way up the ladder in business is considered good practice. For some reason, you think someone doing that in Worcester is "cronyism." And the people who voted for ending the search: you think George Russell and Donno Colorio are the same? They're opposites.

No. Just Google some large multinationals and you'll find a ton that promoted someone from within the organization to become CEO. It's common practice. Just look at Mary Barra: she's the CEO of General Motors, and she started working there when she was 18.