Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | January 22, 2024 | Worcester Business Journal 21 Liberal arts' impact on the economy BY GREG WEINER Special to WBJ I t's oen said one of Worcester's most powerful economic strengths is its number of colleges and universities. at's true, but there may be something even more powerful higher education in Worcester can offer: the diversity of types of institutions, some of which are focused on career credentials, others on health care or engineering, and others still on the liberal arts. e liberal arts are oen aerthoughts in the conver- sation about workforce development. It's easy to under- stand, especially given shortages of specialized labor in growing industries. But liberal arts institu- tions, especially those of Catholic liberal education, should be seen as indispensable economic drivers. Employers want to hire liberal- ly educated people. at appears most clearly in the skills employers say they value, like communicat- ing clearly, thinking creatively, exploring curiously, and disagreeing constructively. e way students studying the liberal arts acquire these skills is as important as the results. Few professors stand in front of a classroom and lecture on how to think or disagree. Rather, students in these disciplines learn through experience: ey learn to think and argue by wrestling with great books, under- taking lab projects, encountering the subtlety that poetry and literature capture. ey have the humility that comes from knowing how much we all still have to learn and the courage to think independently and act ethically. at is not to say institutions like Assumption University do not prepare students for careers. We do, by educating them liberally and in specific pre-profes- sional disciplines. Yet, the highest economic value of a liberal education is it provides a foundation of enduring questions on which to build lives of meaningful work in a constantly changing economy. When I speak to prospec- tive families considering Assumption, I ask parents how many of them are working in the same job, using the same technology, as they were when they were 22. A liberal education, by contrast, cultivates the habits of mind-empowering students to adapt to change while valuing what is permanent. In Georgetown University's database of lifetime return on investment for university degrees, Assumption ranks in the 94th percentile. Our students are gritty, determined, and educated to think. All industries need that. ey need technical experts but also managers. ey need line workers but also marketers or accountants. A vibrant economic ecosystem requires a culture of entrepreneurship. A sustainable and thriving economy needs more than the liberal arts, of course, and that is why the diversity of educational institutions in Worcester is so powerful. But it is a mistake to leave the liberal arts to the side. Whether they study the humanities or business, social science or nursing, these students will help drive prosperity by demonstrating the qualities in which they have been steeped: curiosity, purpose, creativity, leadership. Greg Weiner is president of Assumption University. Reduce parking requirements for new developments Greg Weiner F ew things are more annoying than having to look for parking. If you need to arrive at a meeting on time or are attending a large- scale event, the inconvenience of spending extra time searching for a place to leave your car can become a high-stress scenario. So, any proposal to decrease the amount of avail- able parking in urban centers can seem like a crazy concept. Unlike Boston, Central Mass. does not have a lot of high-density development, though Worcester, Framingham, Leominster, Marlborough, and Fitch- burg each have sections of their communities where parking is tight. When WBJ conducted a Flash Poll of its readers in early January asking about the elimina- tion of off-street parking requirements for new de- velopments, 60% of respondents were firmly against such a plan. e truth remains most major American cities are still designed around the automobile, while robust public transportation infrastructure continues to lag. e car remains the best way to get around, so why should we make them more inconvenient to use? Yet, as WBJ's cover story for this issue says, "Park- ing paralysis" on page 12, most of the guidelines around parking minimums for new developments are nearly 70 years old and don't reflect today's transpor- tation options, much less the best-possible future use of urban cores. Cities like Austin, Texas, and Anchor- age, Alaska, have relaxed their parking minimums for new developments. e City of Worcester is looking at its parking requirements as part of the e Worces- ter Now | Next Citywide Plan, which will become the coordinated master plan for new developments. City leaders should update these decades-old laws. Larger Central Mass. communities should follow suit. Beyond the long-term loy goals of easing Ameri- can dependence on cars and creating more walkable cities, there are shorter-term economic benefits. Re- ducing parking requirements makes the development of new housing less expensive to build, which means developers have a lower threshold to build more housing, which is badly needed. Stringent parking requirements can be a significant barrier to develop- ment, plain and simple, and right now, we need to make sure parking regulations are not excessive. And, clearly, off-street parking is not the best use of precious urban real estate. e new parking garages popping up alongside larger housing developments throughout Worcester are too oen eyesores, deplet- ing Worcester's urban vibrancy. While Worcester has visions of turning its downtown into a lively neighborhood, 35% of the property in the downtown area is dedicated to parking, according to Oregon nonprofit Parking Reform Network. In Boston, that figure is 6%; in New York City, it's 0.4%. Worcester's Canal District proves that people will find a place to park their cars – or find alternative ways to get there – if you provide enough amenities to entice them. Working to replicate this success while lowering the barrier to development should be a key goal in Central Mass. urban planning. The above Editorial is the opinion of the WBJ Editorial Board. The Viewpoint column, the A Thousand Words cartoon, and the Word from the Web commentary represent the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of WBJ or its staff. WBJ welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Send them to bkane@wbjournal.com. W W

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