Greater Lowell is the region comprising the city of Lowell,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, and its

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

s. These lie in northern Middlesex County,

; in the

Merrimack Valley The Merrimack Valley is a bi-state region along the Merrimack River in the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Merrimack is one of the larger waterways in New England and has helped to define the livelihood and culture of those l ...

; and in southern

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Towns

The Greater Lowell area as defined as the Lowell

Metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...

consists of the towns of

Billerica Billerica (, ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 42,119 according to the 2020 census. It takes its name from the town of Billericay in Essex, England. History In the early 1630s, a Praying India ...

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

, Dracut,

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...

, Groton, Lowell, Pepperell, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, and Westford. The town of Pelham,

, may also be included in Greater Lowell. The

New England city and town area A New England city and town area (NECTA) is a geographic and statistical entity defined by the U.S. federal government for use in the six-state New England region of the United States. NECTAs are analogous to metropolitan statistical areas and micr ...

Division Lowell–Billerica–Chelmsford contains some towns that can be considered part of Greater Lowell: in

, these are

Ashby Ashby may refer to: People * Ashby (surname) * Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), governor of Rockingham Castle and steward of Rockingham Forest, England * Walter Ashby Plecker (1861–1947), American physician and publi ...

Ayer Ayer may refer to: Places * Ayer, Massachusetts, United States ** Ayer (CDP), Massachusetts, the central village in the town of Ayer ** Ayer (MBTA station), commuter rail station * Aller, Asturias, a municipality in Spain known in Asturian as A ...

, Dracut, Groton,

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, Littleton, Lowell,

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

, Tewksbury,

Townsend Townsend (pronounced tounʹ-zənd) or Townshend may refer to: Places United States *Camp Townsend, National Guard training base in Peekskill, New York *Townsend, Delaware *Townsend, Georgia *Townsend, Massachusetts, a New England town ** Townsend ...

, Tyngsborough, and Westford; in

, the town of Pelham.

Demographics

The towns of Greater Lowell in Massachusetts have a combined population of 299,550 based on the 2010 census. Including the town of Pelham, Greater Lowell has 312,447 inhabitants.

Culture and Education

The city of Lowell is a cultural and institutional center for the region. It is home to the

Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell The Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell (formerly the Tsongas Arena) is a multi-purpose facility owned by the University of Massachusetts Lowell and located in Lowell, Massachusetts. The arena was opened on January 27, 1998, and dedicated to the memory ...

and the

Lowell National Historical Park Lowell National Historical Park is a National Historical Park of the United States located in Lowell, Massachusetts. Established in 1978 a few years after Lowell Heritage State Park, it is operated by the National Park Service and comprises a g ...

, which preserves the region's legacy as an early textile manufacturing center during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. The

University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Massachusetts public u ...

and a campus of Middlesex Community College are located in the city as well, as are

Lowell General Hospital Founded in 1891, Lowell General Hospital is an independent, not-for-profit community hospital serving the Greater Lowell area and surrounding communities. With two primary campuses located in Lowell, Massachusetts, Lowell General Hospital offers ...

and Saints Medical Center, the regional hospitals.

Greater Lowell Technical High School Greater Lowell Technical High School is a public vocational high school in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, United States, part of the Greater Lowell area. The school was founded in 1967 as Lowell Trade School, and then later became Greater Lowell Reg ...

serves many of the towns in the region. Lowell is home to the Superior and District Court for Northern Middlesex County and is technically a

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

, although Massachusetts counties are largely historical in function. Culturally, many residents of Greater Lowell have deep roots in the city itself, tend to be more

blue collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...

, and speak with an urban

Boston accent A Boston accent is a local accent of Eastern New England English, native specifically to the city of Boston and its suburbs. Northeastern New England English is classified as traditionally including New Hampshire, Maine, and all of eastern Massa ...

. Greater Lowell is split politically while the region as a whole is more likely to vote for a conservative candidate than other parts of the state whereas the city of Lowell is more likely to vote liberally.

Economy

Unemployment rate in Greater Lowell, 1990-2011

The economy of Greater Lowell is closely tied to that of

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern ar ...

. Outside of the services, health, and retail sectors, major employers are in high technology and defense, with a still-shrinking manufacturing sector.

Suburban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

and serious economic hardships have reduced the role Lowell plays in its suburbs over the decades. The entire region is often considered a component of the much larger

area, as Lowell is only 25 miles from downtown

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Suburban office parks, shopping malls, and the severe decline of

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

have pulled the economic focus away from the once great industrial and commercial base in Lowell itself. Additionally, the population of Lowell is at 1900 levels despite large growth among the suburban population.

References

External links

''Lowell Sun'' newspaperChamber of CommerceNorthern Middlesex Council of GovernmentsThe Greater Merrimack Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau
{{Massachusetts Lowell, Massachusetts Regions of Massachusetts