Boundaries of MA's regions (Springfield, Pittsfield: live, airport, metro)

[scorpio516]

Blackstone Valley is easy. Basically the towns that have 146 running through them, Worcester through Millville. You could also add the towns on 122/122A (Blackstone, obv, and Grafton, I'd say no though).

IMHO Metrowest ends where 30 crosses route 9. So BJ's headquarters is in Westborough but still Metrowest

[Cloudship]

Rt 30 where? In Westboro, or by Staples in Framingham? I am assuming you do not mean in Westboro near Whole foods.

[FCMA]

Submitting my subregion drop in the bucket for my own North Quabbin, which straddles central and western Mass in Worcester (Athol, Royalston, Petersham, Phillipston, Barre) and Franklin counties (Orange, New Salem, Wendell, Erving, Warwick), and has several websites featuring these ten or so towns. Neither entirely Central Mass nor entirely Western but has its own marketed sub identity.

South Quabbin isn't really used as a region name, but there's a suite of similarly ambiguous towns south of the reservoir, as to whether it is Central or Western, but would consist of a few in Worcester county (Hardwick, Warren, New Braintree), probably just one in Hampshire county (Ware), and some Hampden county (Brimfield, Wales, Holland, Palmer, Monson) towns. Doesn't have concerted marketing like North Quabbin though.

Maybe a good sub-region would just be the "Quabbin region". That reservoir is the true unambiguous dividing line between Central and Western Mass, but if you're directly north or directly south of it you're in serious region limbo. Neither region fully wants to claim you.

Then again all these distinctions are moot because if you're a true hardened Massahole, Central Massachusetts doesn't exist at all because it's all Western Mass to you past Natick or Concord or so. And the Pioneer Valley is often conflated with the Berkshires to a real Massahole's perception, so we can delete that area too.

[tovarisch]

Is it "Massahole"? I thought it was "M*******" (for the rhyme and everything).

[tovarisch]

Someone edited -- not me! Just imagine the rhyme, then.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by tovarisch

Is it "Massahole"? I thought it was "M*******" (for the rhyme and everything).

You're right. The software did that. M*******.

[FCMA]

That strategic -a- in "Massahole" is my very intentional way around the censorship software!

Mass + a-hole = an a-hole from Mass = Massahole!

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by FCMA

Then again all these distinctions are moot because if you're a true hardened Massahole, Central Massachusetts doesn't exist at all because it's all Western Mass to you past Natick or Concord or so. And the Pioneer Valley is often conflated with the Berkshires to a real Massahole's perception, so we can delete that area too.

You're not kidding. I was watching a real estate show and a Gloucester native referred to Westboro as "western Mass." Thirty miles outside of Boston is western Mass. I cracked up at that one.

[tomgsinger]

Mass-hole. That's it.

[tysmith95]

Originally Posted by thenewtexan

You're not kidding. I was watching a real estate show and a Gloucester native referred to Westboro as "western Mass." Thirty miles outside of Boston is western Mass. I cracked up at that one.

But west is in the name!