It’s also got a school system that was taken over by the state.

Lived in Sturbridge for awhile years ago, and found myself going into Southbridge for most things. It's really not that bad from what I remember, though apparently there are now smells from a water treatment plant that weren't an issue when I was in the area though.

Personally if I were looking for a first house in towns surrounding Worcester, I'd try to hold out for a bargain in Oxford or Leicester. Or if you want a more city-type life without being in Worcester, Leominster. You can still find houses for less than $300k in those places. But no, Southbridge is not as miserable as people make it out to be.

I'm a delivery driver and I've seen just about every part of Southbridge. I've delivered in the shitty parts at night. I was very surprised at how much it didn't live up to its reputation. MOST of Southbridge is nice. It's like a mini Worcester.

Trailer trash quality people that just escaped from worcester into other subsidized three deckers.

webster has never been as bad as southbridge. helps that they have location to their advantage with 395 access and the lake.

what does race have to do with it? it’s objectively not a good town to live in and hasn’t been for decades. same as a number of other towns in the area like athol

yeah it’s much better to consider anywhere along 395 south of worcester and auburn than southbridge.

Saw them on my cameras effortfully chucking my recycling bin many feet. Seemed angry.

I’ve lived here all my life. Started off in apts downtown now have a house up near CT.

I absolutely love it. Everything is 10 mins down the road.

We have good and bad just like everywhere else but there’s a very strong sense of community.

It’s just gross and trashy. Very poor. No activities. Avoid.

You really need to read up on the status of the school system in Southbridge if you have children.

To get you started:

https://www.doe.mass.edu/level5/districts/level5districts.html

Thompson is a great town! No police and next to no crime. Also, there is plenty of open space and agriculture. It's really close to I-395 and a short drive to Worcester and everywhere else in Massachusetts. It's a great border town.

i live/d in southbridge for a while. its not a shit place but it definetly isn't a place id have on a top 100 to be again. it's relatively boring, it's sort of walkable but there aren't many interesting places in town. the neighborhoods aren't so well sidewalk-ed, so that sucks, but the main streets are.

you have to go to sturbridge for most everything. farmers market, Walmart, stop and shop, etc. i love the big Y but that SMELL is absolutely HORRIBLE! what the hell is with that? in southbridge, the cast of characters aren't so nice. i remember walking from my neighborhood to the big bunny and it was extremely unsettling with the mix of undeveloped roads and people who hang on street corners, just staring and glaring at you in broad daylight. the big bunny itself has a lot of weird people.

but as everyone has said, the schools are 100% a no go. ive heard from multiple people, completely unrelated from each other, that it's a horrible school. my landlord told me that his friend used to work there, and he was told if you work at that school, you could probably get hired at any school in the future, because if you survived that school you could survive anything.

it's not horrible but it doesn't have a lot of redeeming qualities. it's boring as shit, basically. there's no community, there's not many events. atleast the library is nice? but really, i never worry about my safety there but its not a place to thrive.

I live near there. Don't move here. High crime, no public resources, it's not safe to go out at night. You can smell raw sewage all summer long. If you have children, DO NOT put them in the public school.

avoid it. it’s inconvenient to get to anywhere from there since they have no direct highway. and it’s easily one of the worst towns to live in worcester county.

much better off looking to webster or oxford

I lived there. It’s not horrible. People in the towns around it act like it’s crime capitol of the world or something but it’s really not bad. There are some quiet rural areas, decent take out options, Tree House brewing is 15 minutes away in Charlton, decent restaurants in the surrounding towns. Plus Elm Centre Cafe is an amazing breakfast spot.

But the stink is reallll near Big Y, and highway access is a huge issue. Not being close to the highway is so tedious and if you’re someone who likes to go out to bars and restaurants you’ll hate how long it’ll take just to get to Worcester.

Yes! And they partner for fresh seafood and produce as well! They deliver, and you can subscribe at a frequency that works for you. I signed up at the beginning of the year when they had a "two free items" special when setting up a subscribe and save order.

worcester getting expensive

My friend was a principal there. Elementary kids. It was disturbing to hear the predicaments he faced daily and facing the children of that town.

There are two Facebook groups for residents. You can find them by searching on the town name. One is open to all. The Library is modern. There is a hospital. I'm an old fashioned snob and I like it here.

Nice apartments in certain neighborhoods is not gentrification. Tell me how it's going on Endicott St.

The schools are not good.

I'm sorry, but what? What marginalized people leaving Worcester? It's had a bad reputation since the 70s.

I grew up there. Lived there for 25 years. It's not the worst place in the world to live if you just want a place to live your life. But it's not a place I'd ever choose to move back to.

It's not as bad as its reputation would have you believe, but there's literally no compelling reason to move there other than "it's cheap" and it's cheap for a reason.

Worcester used to be sketch af but still I miss showcase north. Nowadays it’s really nice though like all us cities you should be on your guard at night in some areas around Clark and some other spots. Downtown has had a big makeover and the new stadium has definitely spruced up Kelley square big time as much as urban renewal projects can be gentrifying and shitty in their own way.