The Common is positioned in the center of Main Street to the west, Franklin Street to the south and Front Street to the north and east. City Hall is situated on the western end of the Common and remains the central hub for downtown Worcester.

Originally a 20 acre parcel, the Worcester Common was established to serve as a "common open space" for citizens in the late 17th Century. Although only 4.4 acres remain today, the Common continues to provide vital open space in the downtown area.

Named for the cascading waterfall visible from Cataract Street, Cascades Park abuts a number of other conservation areas and parks. This park has many hiking and nature trails which consist of interesting geographic features, most notably, the waterfall which leads into Cook Pond.

Burncoat Street Playground is the northern most public park in Worcester. Located between Burncoat Street and West Boylston Street, this park offers activities such as basketball, tennis and volleyball, as well as a playground. Burncoat Street Playground is also fairly close to Kendrick Field.

Located just north of I-290 and Brittan Square, this 26 acre park offers a baseball diamond, two ponds and a multipurpose field which mostly hosts football games in the fall and soccer games in the spring.

It has a significantly varying elevation within the park. There is a change in grade of 47 feet within the single park, being the highest point to the north edge, along Davidson road. This area is used as the sledding hill and has great views of the park.

Boynton Park is Worcester's second largest city-park, physically located within the town of Paxton. It features a baseball diamond, a picnic area and many hiking and nature trails around the park, which connect to many other publicly accessible green spaces. Silver Spring cuts through the middle of Boynton Park.