Mar 31, 2006 Toward a better Worcester Group interviews residents on city’s possibilities   By Richard Nangle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF rnangle@telegram.com   WORCESTER— What’s good about the city? Community gardens, Mechanics Hall, neighborhood crime watches, a variety of ethnic restaurants, the public schools, green space, the new library, a lack of pretension, affordability, elder services and approachable civic leaders. What’s bad? Try empty downtown buildings, a near-empty airport, a lack of minority representation in the school system, drugs, violence, an uneasy peace after dark, a tendency in some quarters to blame the victim, the pregnancy and drop-out rates in the schools. What to do about it? Further engage the colleges and universities, elect more minorities to public office, offer free or reduced-price entertainment, grow the tax base, increase job opportunities, build up the downtown and offer civic education programs related to elections. OK, and according to who? Well, according to the people who live here. The above is what they told interviewers from Common Pathways, a group that is in the research stage of a report it hopes will help the city celebrate its strong points, face its shortcomings and work toward a better quality of life for all. If it seems like a big project, Common Pathways leaders readily agree. But they note that they are working off a model that has a quarter-century of success behind it. The end product, they believe, will be something everyone in the city will be able to buy into. Common Pathways will hold its second public meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Clark University’s Tilton Hall in Higgins University Center, Maywood and Main streets. The topics will be a review of the public suggestions compiled at its introductory meeting on Nov. 30. Wednesday’s meeting is open to all city residents. The local Common Pathways group is made up of community leaders from the public and private sectors. Other cities that have employed the Common Pathways model include Providence, Boston, Baltimore and Denver. Common Pathways has identified 11 themes for the city’s self-improvement effort: City self-esteem, civic engagement and action, culture, diversity and values, economic development, education, environment, housing, public safety, transportation and youth. There is also a miscellaneous category. Not everyone embraced the concept at first, and there were threats that a rival group would spring up and offer an alternative view. Yesterday Carlton Watson, head of the Henry Lee Willis Community Center, said the criticisms were helpful because they exposed flaws in the thinking of the Common Pathways organizers. Clara Savage, the Common Pathways coordinator, agreed. “I invited them to be part of the process,” she said. Contact Richard Nangle by e-mail at rnangle@telegram.com.   Order the Telegram & Gazette, delivered daily to your home or office! www.telegram.com/homedelivery Copyright 2006 Worcester Telegram & Gazette Corp.