Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

RandomRandomPenguin t1_j95y4ib wrote

As long as I can afford it here, I don’t see myself leaving. I’ve lived in a few states across the US, and Mass is by far the best.

32

Practical-Basil-1353 t1_j964s66 wrote

Completely agree. It’s expensive but the quality of life and generally intelligent and accepting society. Once the T is updated, 🔥. Like that will ever really happen…

13

CrackityJones33 t1_j95z1rx wrote

No life is not better. MA is a fantastic state, especially when to comes to education and quality of life. Unfortunately, there are more people looking for homes than actual homes in MA, especially east of 495, where there is virtually no land left to develop, keeping prices high and forcing people out. Couple that with high taxes and residency goes down.

14

newestJourney t1_j95zvhp wrote

Can't see the article, but I'll just put this here:

  1. MA has the second highest population density of any state, second to NJ. When people say "oh, see, they're moving to a place like TX because blue states suck" or something along those lines, keep in mind that TX has a population density of 109 people per square mile, and hence a lot of POTENTIAL opportunity just naturally. MA has 884 people per square mile. The BETTER question is: why haven't many MORE people left to go to places like TX?! The answer may well be....in spite of the fierce human competition in MA, we're just a better type of community than is TX. As for me, I'd much prefer the charm of New England and MA to the cookie cutter blandness of a brand new 5,000 square foot house in Houston selling for $350k.

  2. People tend to flock to places with high rankings of "natural amenities." MA is middle of the scale on this. Places out West and down South tend to rank higher, mainly because of warmer temperatures, but also because of higher percent of days with sunlight, and some other variables. See: http://map.israelsenlab.org/ People, especially in a work-from-anywhere environment, very well may gravitate to great natural resources that have nothing to do with the state itself. For me, I tend to not entirely agree with this ranking scale, even if it does correlate with where people are moving. I prefer New England's low hills, great summers and falls, and beautiful winters (when we get some snow!). I am happy it is not for everyone...if others prefer more warmth, go ahead and move...and let us get a better deal on a house around here finally!

9

NE889 t1_j9644j9 wrote

I had a cousin who leans very right that would go on and on about liberal politics and how it’s ruining the country. He and his family moved to the Florida panhandle and after a half year in their public schools, needed to send their kids to private schools because the schools were so far behind where their kids were in Massachusetts. Also, when asked to list how the liberal politics are making his life in Massachusetts difficult, he would struggle to give actual reasons.

For work, I’ve had to travel a lot to Texas. There are some nice places to visit, but living there would be hell. I am talking about the Metroplex. No mountains. No ocean. Endless cookie cutter subdivisions where the houses are within a few feet of each other. Just bland, basic neighborhoods. No natural beauty of any kind. Then you have the oppressive heat for 4 months of the year.

9

thefenceguy t1_j95x5e5 wrote

The grass is always greener on the other side of the field.

7

AnyRound5042 t1_j9679gm wrote

The grass is greenest here. But it's fucking expensive as hell grass

3

funsk8mom t1_j964moe wrote

My friend left after her divorce. She couldn’t afford to stay. The house she bought in NC was $160K where similar styles with the same amount of land up here would have cost her over $600k+ (she’s 25 miles from the ocean). She couldn’t even afford a paper thin wall condo for the price of $160k.

6

Sensitive_Row_7110 t1_j96czrl wrote

Just randomly replying to you. I hate where I bought and cry about it way to much. Great house bad location in MA. I love the diversity of thought here and most people on this platform would think I am some deplorable. This is a great area to settle but should I not sell to be in your friends situation?

2

funsk8mom t1_j96ekml wrote

This is hard to follow…. You like your house but not the town/city you bought in? Is that what I’m getting?

Have you looked at other communities you’d rather be in to see if there are homes comparable to the cost of your current home (or less)

1

PuritanSettler1620 t1_j967kix wrote

I would sooner die than leave Massachusetts. (New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Maine don't count because they are rightful Massachusetts territory, Rhode Island too but it is a dump)

5

novolog t1_j95zuzt wrote

Good, maybe traffic will get better

3

modernhomeowner t1_j95x2vu wrote

As much as I love living here, it does remind me of the Kia commercials from a decade or so ago. A family going out to have fun on a weekend in their Kia while others drive their Lexus to work on Saturday. Costs being so much higher here, we could have more of whatever living at a lower cost elsewhere. As someone who has spent a great deal of cash and time trying to live life a little greener, I realized it's much easier to do living further south than it is in MA. I'm not leaving anytime soon, partially thanks to earning a little more than average... But if I were average, I would have been out of here for a more relaxing life within my budget. If I cared about being 100% green and off fossil fuels, I would have been out of here, but I'm okay with just doing my absolute best given the circumstances.

2

ShawshankExemption t1_j965wdl wrote

They always lead with the big number to get the clicks, and then follow up with anecdotes to feed narratives. It’s understandable, but we would be better off looking at who is leaving from a demographic perspective. Is it mostly older retirees who’s plans to move were accelerated due to pandemic shifts? Is it families? And if so what income levels, millionaires or low income? Do these emigrants from mass different from historical trend in ways other than volume?

Shoot we are really talking about net population change, it could be mass (and other states) regularly ‘lose’ thousands of people of year but inflow Keeps the total population the same. It could be really what we are experiencing is a reduction in people coming to the state anew, but we won’t know because the Globe just cared about the top line number.

2

Yestattooshurt t1_j966mao wrote

Better? No. Cheaper. And with less restrictive laws.

2

noodle-face t1_j968udf wrote

Planning on leaving myself. Housing market here is hosed. We could sell the house we bought for 265k years ago for 500k today. How can anyone that doesn't own a home already able to afford a house here?

2

ForTheLoveOfAudio t1_j962bc5 wrote

Moved to the Providence area this year. With the exception of the commute, it's been an upgrade in every other way.

1

massachusetts-ModTeam t1_j968wh8 wrote

It is the opinion of our Subreddit that pay walls constitute as spam. They depend on people freely sharing their links in order to generate paid subscription. For this reason, they are not welcome here.

1