Well you sure schooled me.

“You’ll be fine if you mind your own business” …. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Sorry to contradict to so many others, but as a resident I wouldn’t consider it close to being decent or safe.

Just read the police blotter. Vehicles are regularly ransacked, addicts and mentally unstable folks constantly wandering through apartment buildings, police often dealing with personal&property crime, obvious street corner drug dealers and their bicycle riding couriers, the periodic gun shot.

Worcester Greendale YMCA is a very active and friendly place with hundreds of people swimming, gym, taking group class or just hanging.

Auburn Hot Yoga is also a bright busy place with people of all ages.

Hmm. Pay me $750 and I’ll gladly do it in my driveway I’m not sure what a CC looks like so I’ll just spray entire underbelly of your car. Three or four cans of paint from Walmart should be enough.

Suggest asking your local fire chief to be certain.

In my central mass rural town, a permit is needed for the Jan-May burning of yard waste.

It’s permissible to use an outdoor firepit provided it is certain distance from structures and weather permits.

Certain commercially available enclosed firepits are allowed to be used closer to the house (even on a deck)

I once asked chief if it’s permissible to have a small bonfire without a permit. He reluctantly said “yes, but best to tell us since we’ll then know to ignore the 1/2 dozen calls we’re going to get from your annoyed neighbors”

But even with all proper permits, if you’re careless (or even if careful and nature intervenes) and cause any destruction with your fire you’ll be held responsible and have to pay the damages as well as cost of the fire dept services.

Your homeowners insurance won’t help you out if your non-permitted bonfire destroys your home.

Sweet! Welcome to the west.

The natural wildlife is amazing out here. Moose, deer, bear, etal. Great hiking with many waterfalls.

Cool. What town? We spend a lot of time in Chester

Western Massachusetts offers many options

Keystone Arches are beautiful in Chester, Ma

http://keystonearches.com

This group also has lists of local hikes in the area

https://westernmasshilltownhikers.com

Have you called the folks who deliver the oil? Don’t most of them also service the burners? They’d at least have an emergency operator who could presumably refer you to their recommended repair company

Have brought my vehicles there for over a decade. He’s honest and does top rate work. Have had tires replaced, brakes, muffler, transmission, etc.

I always highly recommend Mikes Car Care Center in Grafton.

Not appropriate to bring own oil and filter or other parts. A shop can’t guarantee their work based on materials they have no control over.

Some people would bring cheapest possible filter. Filter would leak a week later and ruin engine. Customer would blame shop.

I’ve also used audettes over the years and have always been satisfied.

I wonder how many free charging stations etc need to be created before the cost comes close to the billions of tax dollars spent subsidizing the oil industry.

Really? Where are these free electric vehicle charging stations? If true, I’ll switch to an EV vehicle. All the charging stations I’ve seen require a credit card to operate.

Although I very much wish it were different, ORH/Worcester isn’t my favorite by any stretch.

Have had three bad experiences there. Long and short is that when something goes wrong, as is normal in daily airport business, it seems that ORH doesn’t yet have staff and supplies on hand to cope.

I once waited there for several hours while a backup copilot had to be driven by car from Boston to Worcester.

Another time, some minor mechanical part had to be hand delivered from Hartford before the flight could proceed.

I live near Worcester and use both Logan and TF Green often for business and personal travel.

100% prefer TF Green whenever possible. Shorter lines. Incredibly inexpensive garage parking near terminals.

TF Green has minimal in-terminal restaurants and convenience shopping but that’s irrelevant for me since home is only 35 minutes away.

Dr Cohen on Julio Drive in shrewsbury has been our family dentist for years. Great service. Very impressed w two recent implants

It’s been about $180 for the Fall/Winter guaranteed mice service but I don’t know if that is a discounted price because we also use their service for Spring/Summer carpenter ant spraying which is also about $180.

You’re welcome.

My $.02 is that once you catch a few in the traps you’ll notice that it’s never ending since traps are just a one at a time game.

Instead need an approach that lets them kill themselves en masse ie poison. But if a non-professional just places poison here and there (as i used to) there’s chance kids and pets will get into it. Also the issue that the attractive poison itself can draw hungry mice to the area so really want it placed in as exact a location as possible.

Have you engaged an exterminator?

Over the years, I’ve repeatedly done @all@ the do-it-yourself over-the-counter remedies. Snap traps, poisons, plugging entry points, water buckets for drowning, glue boards, cats, obnoxious odors which supposedly deter them, costly electronic frequency devices to scare the mice away, etc. Have spent multiple hundreds of dollars in the attempt in any one season on my own and still failed to solve it.

Or, simply call the exterminator (we use ProTech) and for a couple hundred bucks they came and properly applied human-safe pet-safe baited traps. In a couple heavy years their first visit did NOT completely solve the issue but it didn’t matter since they come back free of charge until it’s taken care of. They know @where@ to place the traps and poisons as opposed to my inefficient approach. They examine exterior of house to locate the real entry points and then they fill it with silicon/etc

http://www.protechpestcontrol.com/services

Another adjacent nice town is Holden but I have no idea about rentals.

If you opt for Worcester proper, be sure to inquire about off street parking. As soon as it snows parking is a serious problem.

Well I think they are relatively safe.

I lived in Auburn for most of the 90s and early 00s and still go daily for yoga class. There was recently a late night robbery at 24 hr convenience store on rt 20 and police blotter seems to mainly discuss shoplifting incidents at Auburn mall and highway stuff. It’s not the type of area where one would expect to get mugged on street etc.

Presently own home and live in Sutton for past 20 yrs which is adjacent to Oxford and Millbury. Sutton is nice but I’m not aware of any rentals within. Don’t really think there’s much violent crime in Oxford/Millbury except for whatever shoplifting occurs at Oxford Walmart and Millbury mall. Millbury and Oxford are nice to come home to, but not to seek night life within.

Shrewsbury has two distinct flavors in my view. There’s the very congested built-up area along route 9 with all sorts of stores and traffic. Then there’s the town center area that’s a bit more quaint stereotypical “main street USA” looking. I’d imagine the route 9 area by Shrewbury/Worcester border (Eg by the hospitals) may be a little more juicy in terms of police activity. A relative just moved into the newly built edgemere crossing apartments complex on rt 20; nice but nearly double your stated budget for a two bedroom.

Spencer seems nice the few times I’ve driven through it in 3 decades living in region. It’s within your 20 min circle. More rural.

Nearby towns with rent apartments within 20 mins include Auburn, Shrewbury, Millbury, Oxford. Worcester would also have a lot especially around the colleges.