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Do a Google earth over October Mountain State Forest. That is wilderness, yes...
I did a Google Earth search over October Mountain State Forest and it doesn't seem that any point is more than 2 miles from the nearest road. Certainly nowhere that's less than a day's hike from civilization. I'm not saying it's not wilderness, I'm just saying that what counts as wilderness varies considerably on where you are and what you're comparing to.
The Berkshires are wild for Massachusetts, but with all the roads even in that state park, it's not even that wild compared to large swaths of northern Maine, much less parts of the Western US or Alaska. Compared to Weston, though? Definitely wilderness, which is a point you could have made without implying that the residents of that town are somehow deluding themselves. I'm pretty sure they know it's not going to host the next episode of Survivorman.
I believe semiurbanite was the poster who first mentioned "wilderness". Obviously nothing in the eastern part of the state fits that description. But some of us have woods, our house abuts a state forest - it's not just a few trees on the property line.
I'm not sure why the thread took a turn in this direction...
Sorry to bump a thread up to the top but I think it took an interesting turn. Wilderness is lots of things but semiurbanite makes a good argument. What if we call it "country" rather than "wilderness"? The Berkshires really are country-- maybe not Pittsfield, Lenox, and Stockbridge, but all the high country to the east including October Mountain are real country, if not literally wilderness. There's nothing very country about Weston, Lincoln and Concord in terms of peoples lives and occupations but communities like these do a lot to protect the appearance of the country, which brings some pleasure to their residents and visitors alike. These three towns have created between them a kind of park-like reserve for the crowded denizens of Somerville, Cambridge, etc. Just a few miles away from the hustle and bustle these towns offer miles of public foot and bike trails, places to swim and put in a canoe, beautiful historic sites, big swaths of woods, nice "country" road biking-- you name it. Middlesex Fells is very nice too but much more limited in scope than what you can find in Concord-Lincoln-Weston. It may be self-interest that motivates these communities to maintain 'fake' country but the benefits redound to anyone wanting to take advantage of them.
Sorry to bump a thread up to the top but I think it took an interesting turn. Wilderness is lots of things but semiurbanite makes a good argument. What if we call it "country" rather than "wilderness"? The Berkshires really are country-- maybe not Pittsfield, Lenox, and Stockbridge, but all the high country to the east including October Mountain are real country, if not literally wilderness. There's nothing very country about Weston, Lincoln and Concord in terms of peoples lives and occupations but communities like these do a lot to protect the appearance of the country, which brings some pleasure to their residents and visitors alike. These three towns have created between them a kind of park-like reserve for the crowded denizens of Somerville, Cambridge, etc. Just a few miles away from the hustle and bustle these towns offer miles of public foot and bike trails, places to swim and put in a canoe, beautiful historic sites, big swaths of woods, nice "country" road biking-- you name it. Middlesex Fells is very nice too but much more limited in scope than what you can find in Concord-Lincoln-Weston. It may be self-interest that motivates these communities to maintain 'fake' country but the benefits redound to anyone wanting to take advantage of them.
Agreed. This is one of the reasons I moved to Sudbury (also because I couldn't afford a 3000 sf house in Lincoln or Concord, lol). I would never delude myself into thinking I'm living in the wilderness, but I do like the fact that the town has a 1 acre lot minimum which gives us the privacy you can't find in Somerville or Arlington. My neighbors are on 5 and 3 acres, respectively, and we all abut conservation land so it's just enough privacy where I can mow my lawn naked if I wanted to And no, I wouldn't want to live in the wilderness either because if I did then I wouldn't be able to drive into Boston in 35 minutes or have restaurants and shops within a 5-10 minute drive.
By the way if the OP is still around, I was just thinking about Lincoln. Everytime I go to their commuter rail station and walk by the resident lot (the residents have a separate parking lot with about 20-30 cars) only a handful of them are luxury cars. That says something about keeping up with the Joneses in that town. I feel that Lincoln and Concord are more in the tree-hugger group and drive economical cars, whereas in Weston 75% of the residents drive luxury cars.
I agree. I find much less in the way of ostentatious displays of wealth in Concord/Lincoln vs some other towns.
I'm very blessed to live on a 2acre plot that backs up to a wildlife area... It may not "really" be the country but I can go for a walk in the woods behind my house and PRETEND that its wilderness and that works for me!
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And no, I wouldn't want to live in the wilderness either because if I did then I wouldn't be able to drive into Boston in 35 minutes or have restaurants and shops within a 5-10 minute drive.
