Armed with historical maps and images, this year's American Metropolitan Evolution class, known in the department simply as "Metro," walked the city's southernmost neighborhood, Quinsigamond Village in October. The idea of Metro fieldwork is to walk a neighborhood and assess the elements of it that have changed or remained the same over time. Famously settled by large numbers of Swedes brought by the Washburn and Moen Company to work in its Southworks factory, this pioneering group left an imprint on the neighborhood in its churches, businesses, and indelibly on its built environment. Street names such as Halmstad, Stockholm, Kosta, and Malmo still survive in the village, and a variety of churches built to accommodate Swedish denominations still survive as houses of worship to different denominations. Students walked from the Blackstone Visitor's Center to Greenwood Park, wandering through the history of this place, seeing how old and new come together.
On October 13, students in Dr. Saltsman's UR320 Power and Urban Insecurity course visited the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network and toured the blocks of Piedmont Street between Pleasant and Chandler Streets to discuss the ways in which the community has mobilized its power over the years to advocate for their residents in a city that often seems ready to leave them behind. The group of students was led by Martha Asefa, President of the Board of Directors for Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network. Martha and the students talked about community strategies to preserve a basketball court on Piedmont and the work of Worcester Common Ground to secure affordable housing in the area. Such efforts, the class observed, contrasted with developments closer to Main Street where new condos only promise to worsen the housing crisis in the city with their above-market prices. Once the students finished their tour of Piedmont Street, they returned to the community organization for mo...