I have only lived here for a few years but I used to live in downtown Worcester and would walk all over the center of the city and down to UMass on Lake Ave and I never once got a sense of polluted air or "stinky" emissions beyond what you can notice from cars when walking along a busy street.

There is an air quality measuring device that the state owns located on Summer St just next to 290 in downtown Worcester. The data is freely available on a number of websites, but this one displays it nicely: https://aqicn.org/city/usa/massachusett/worcester/summer-st/

If you scroll down you can see historic PM2.5, PM10, O3, NO2, SO2, and CO pollution patterns.

I'm not sure where you're moving from, but the northeast generally has cleaner air than a lot of the country. For instance, people often think of NYC as having very polluted air but even in Manhattan and the dense industrial areas in Northern NJ, the air is much cleaner than places like Chicago, Houston, LA--even St. Louis, Atlanta, Indiana, etc.

I don't know how sensitive you are but I feel like unless you were next door to the interstate or some industrial site, you should be fine here.

Thank you! Coming from Colorado, had a lot of trouble near Commerce City, which has a large oil refinery. I've also been down the NJ Turnpike near Newark and OUCH. Pretty bad in that one area. The sensor info is very helpful, thanks!

Sweet smell of marijuana is all over Worcester :)-

Having grown up near Saint Gobain, no it does not stink up the area. The two large iconic smokestacks are dormant. They are remnants of the old Norton Factories, which was acquired by Saint Gobain.

Awesome thank you!

the air quality here is quantifiably bad, especially compared to other parts of Mass. I never notice it when I’m here but on days that it rains and when i get off the train from Boston it genuinely makes me gag. not in like a “it smell bad” way but just like an immediate unexplained nausea kinda way. At least for me personally. From what i know there’s a fair bit of factory air pollutant, auto shops have gotten in trouble for improper waste disposal, certain areas have VERY few trees (i have approximately 2 trees on my street and both are less than 8ft tall) and the trash/recycling collectors throw bags around and let trash fill the streets. It’s not the worst city but it aint exactly a nature preserve.

Thanks! Is there a particular area where the factories are concentrated? Or are they scattered throughout?

the factories are pretty much on the outer side of town (i think the south area but dont quote me). im not aware of any industry buildings near the center of town. Definitely try to steer away from the campus areas. The streets with lots of student residents have the most trash in the street. id recommend using google street view and if the neighborhood has lots of trees its probably a nicer part of town.

The only two really major sources of bad air (outside of cars) that come to mind are the wheelabrator plant and the water treatment plant, both are along route 20 on the southern border of the city.

Thank you!

Thanks!

That area of the Jersey turnpike is awful. Stinks like hell too.

Never experienced any smelly emissions in worcester btw, businesses and vehicles are pretty well-regulated compared to other states in my experience

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Perhaps this: https://www.epa.gov/risk/region-1-risk-assessment-contacts