WORCESTER, Mass. – Gov. Deval Patrick was at WPI's Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park on April 17 to announce an almost $1 million housing package to help revitalize Worcester neighborhoods and make affordable housing within reach for more city residents.
The grant announcement comes on the heels of a separate initiative outlined earlier in April that allocated more than $200,000 for foreclosure education centers, statewide foreclosure prevention efforts, and first-time homebuyer programs in Worcester.
In February, it was announced that Gateway Park would anchor the first Massachusetts Growth District, which includes the Gateway Park neighborhood and the Lincoln Square area in downtown Worcester. The Massachusetts Growth Districts Initiative is a new program to focus resources on economic growth opportunities across the state. The initiative will help accelerate development at sites local leaders identify as most appropriate for significant new growth, whether commercial, residential, or mixed-use.
Through the Growth Districts Initiative, the state would partner with municipalities and property owners to help coordinate local permitting, state permitting, site preparation, infrastructure improvements and marketing. The objective is to create a level of development readiness within each growth district, so they can compete on a national and international level. In the next several months, the state plans to designate 16 new growth districts across Massachusetts.
For more information, read the April 18, 2008 story that appeared in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
