OurWhoresAreClean t1_j1z275q wrote on December 28, 2022 at 1:42 PM

Reply to comment by metalandmeeples in Newcomers to New Hampshire and Maine continue to drive population growth: More people are dying than being born, so population growth depends on people moving in from elsewhere by TurretLauncher

>Massachusetts, by almost every measurable statistic aside from CoL, is one of the best states in the US.

Which is exactly why you can't trust statistics to tell the whole story.

metalandmeeples t1_j1z2gg3 wrote on December 28, 2022 at 1:44 PM

What do you trust then? Personal anecdotes? Statistics may not tell the whole story, but they certainly tell the current ending.

jqpeub t1_j1z79qy wrote on December 28, 2022 at 2:25 PM

Listen I see how they drive when they come up here. I know! They got them little beady eyes, they're all thieves I tell you!

birdfriend206 t1_j1zrcsu wrote on December 28, 2022 at 4:50 PM

THEM MASSHOLES ARE RAT PEOPLE I TELL YA

OurWhoresAreClean t1_j1zaxth wrote on December 28, 2022 at 2:54 PM

>What do you trust then? Personal anecdotes? Statistics may not tell the whole story, but they certainly tell the current ending.

I'm just pointing out that there are some things that you can't quantify with statistics, but that doesn't necessarily make those things unimportant or irrational.

I like the laid-back, kinda not-moving-with-the-times feel that this state has, and I believe that importing residents from Massachusetts would thoroughly ruin that, but that's not something that can be expressed on a spreadsheet. Does that mean it doesn't matter? Or that it's wrong?

So yeah, you can come up with any number of data points that "prove" Massachusetts is better, and while that might satisfy an economist, I remain unconvinced. I think that saying "Maine is nice because it's not Massachusetts" is both perfectly valid and perfectly indescribable using numbers and stats.

joeydokes t1_j1zjk4k wrote on December 28, 2022 at 3:56 PM

Your same observations could be made for Vermont. Where much of the northern half is salty and Hicks in The sticks, the southern half trends more to the manicured look; with very different expectations.

OurWhoresAreClean t1_j1zo9c6 wrote on December 28, 2022 at 4:29 PM

Yup, New Hampshire too.

joeydokes t1_j1zr1nf wrote on December 28, 2022 at 4:48 PM

Moreso even, considering proximity to Boston/N.Shore

UNH grad and 5yrs little Squam area resident before moving to VT; which is uniformly pastoral . Southern NH, unlike lakes region or whites' is really developed; less greenspace between hamlets, more billboards... :)

raggedtoad t1_j1zfq7g wrote on December 28, 2022 at 3:29 PM

The Netherlands is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live, by every measurable statistic.

I've lived there. The statistics are true. But fuck no I don't want to live in a densely populated country that is completely flat and half made of reclaimed seabed. It also has a ton of bureaucracy and a very high cost of living. You probably won't ever be able to afford some land with your own home there unless you are a farmer.

So yeah, 100% statistics don't tell the whole story. That being said, western Mass is a lot like Maine and I would have no problem living there.