Worcester Chamber Poll Reports Top Issues For City Residents

WORCESTER, MA — The Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce Thursday released results of a recent poll probing city residents about various issues, including schools, the city council and residential development.

At the top line, the poll found that a majority of residents feel Worcester is heading in the right direction, but that issues like the cost of living and crime are main concerns.

The poll also probed how residents feel about taxation. Each year, Worcester splits the tax rate between commercial and residential properties, giving residential property a break on tax bills.

The chamber has long advocated for Worcester to adopt a single tax rate, which could be more costly for residential property owners. The poll found that 53% of residents feel "taxing businesses disproportionately risks driving businesses out of Worcester."

The poll had a margin of error was 4.5%, which means that any result could be either higher or lower by that amount. The telephone poll included 500 Worcester residents, and was conducted by Boston-based Strategic Opinion Research, Inc., which previously did polling for Worcester Chamber President Tim Murray while he was lieutenant governor.

The chamber did not release a demographic or geographic breakdown of the poll respondents.

Here are some of the results reported by the chamber:

Is Worcester headed in the right direction?

• Yes - 60%
• No - 21%
• No opinion - 19%

What are the top issues facing Worcester?

• 1) Cost of living
• 2) Crime

Should the city council primarily focus on creating jobs?

• Yes - 63%
• No - 30%
• No opinion - 7%

Should Worcester build more apartments?

• Yes - 71%
• No - 23%
• No opinion - 6%

Does commuter rail and the airport benefit the city?

• Yes - 80%

Are Worcester Public Schools providing a great education?

• Yes - 55%
• No - 30%
• Undecided - 7%