Do: Eat plenty of green vegetables.

Avoid: Squirrels with evil gleam in their eyes.

First, Worcester is a college town. There are 8 colleges and universities in Worcester. Each campus has many bars and eateries nearby. Clark is a wonderful school and has large campus that you should see to appreciate. The surrounding neighborhood could be legitimately called a Clark neighborhood, it is a mixture of Clark properties, private residences and businesses. The neighborhood has had it's ups and downs but Clark has always been a buffer against the kind of really bad things that happen in some urban areas. The city itself has been in economic decline for some time but there are a lot of people who have worked really hard to bring it back. Worcester doesn't offer the kind of amenities you'd find in Boston but Boston is only an hour or so away if you want to explore. If you're an outdoors type of person there's lots of recreation to be had outside of the city, skiing, hiking, biking, disc golf to name a few. There's also a few golf courses nearby. Once you've toured Clark you should drive around the city to get a feel for Worcester. It's pretty tame for a city, a little gritty but also a lot of charm.

If you're here for the whole weekend, spend a day in the Clark neighborhood. Get breakfast at Annie's and dinner at Peppercorns or Da Lat. Take another day to explore other parts of Worcester. Grab breakfast at Birch Tree and explore Crompton Collective and the Worcester Public Market. Pick a restaurant along Shrewsbury Street for dinner.

Check out main south it’s the best part of Worcester and it’s around Clark.

Go to iKrave!!!!! It’s a coffee shop right where Clark is and it’s sooooo good!!

• If you like sushi, I recommend Soho Express Sushi and Hibachi. Also, if you can, go to Annie’s Clark Brunch. Then there’s Antonio’s Pizza By The Slice a bit further down Park Ave. I recommend the mac and cheese! but their pizzas are also super unique and amazing! Also also also, Yoway Cafe & Frozen Yogurt has amazing yogurt and desert crepes! There’s also Tastetea Rolls (rolled ice cream) but I prefer Yoway. AAAAAAND if you like Poké Bowls, go to Holy Poké! For close Chinese food, try New China Lantern on Main Street.

• We frequent the Wendy’s, Taco Bell/KFC, Honey Farms, 7/11, and CVS on Park Ave. And the 7/11 and McDonald’s and Dunkin’ on Main Street.

• As far as Clark things go, I think the art exhibit from last semester is still in the Traina Center Gallery, so you should go check that out! If you are here on January 28th, there’s a concert at 7:30pm (follow the VPA Instagram/Facebook/Twitter to see the posts about details that are coming soon- @ClarkUVPA).

• Outside of the main campus area there’s Worcester Public Market, Crompton Collective & From Seed to Stem & Bedlam Book Cafe & Birch Tree Bread Company (all in the same building in the Canal District), then places like Miss Worcester Diner and Altea’s Eatery (still pretty close to Clark).

I’m a senior at Clark, let me know if I can answer any questions for you! I happen to know a decent amount of how things work around here.

Just so you (OOP) know: It is not a large campus. It is an incredibly small campus, which is a fact that the students LOVE. Like, it’s not big at all and no one wants it to be. If you’re expecting a Yale/UConn/UMass/Northeastern or even Holy Cross sized campus you will be disappointed. But we have an actual campus unlike Suffolk or BU or Emerson.

OOP, A lot of Clarkies see Peppercorn’s as overpriced! We really don’t frequent it. I’ve never even eaten there before. So, feel free to go ofc but just know we don’t love it or anything. and I’ve never heard of Da Lat before.

Things must've changed in the 5 years since I graduated...

i guess so ¯_(ツ)_/¯