South Central MA or Worcester? (Boston, Southbridge: fit in, employment, neighborhoods)

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Congratulations, you're working in the town that just opened the newest location of the best brewery in the state, and one of the best in the nation, with 3 of the top 5 brews and many many in the top 50. You'll probably never need to go anywhere else.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/top/

This list does seem a little biased towards certain breweries.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by massnative71

This list does seem a little biased towards certain breweries.

Because certain breweries are much better than others.


But, this list has a very strong U.S. slant as its a U.S. centric English language site, but its pretty darn good list. I mean, Toppling Goliath, Jester Kind, Funky Buddha, Tree House, Russian River, I assume Three Floyds is on there... its the best of the best.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by Julian Hollier

Haha I love Jester King. They got me into sour beers. Yes you are absolutely correct I will be extremely critical of any BBQ put in front of me.

Tree House isn't great at sours, they're ok. Trillium I still think is just ok at sours.


For those, its Vermont, specifically:


Backacre Golden Sour - they brew only one beer, this
House of Fermentology - Burlington VT, sold during special releases, through Foam in Burlington


And Maine:
Allagash, their special brewery only releases, and some of their store distributed stuff

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Because certain breweries are much better than others.


But, this list has a very strong U.S. slant as its a U.S. centric English language site, but its pretty darn good list. I mean, Toppling Goliath, Jester Kind, Funky Buddha, Tree House, Russian River, I assume Three Floyds is on there... its the best of the best.

Some breweries are completely omitted. For example, in the state of Maine I have found nothing better than some of those by Baxter. They certainly stack up to what I've had from Allagash, most of which are nothing really special.


I would have liked to see Wachusett represented as well, isn't their IPA worthy of anything? The Wally should also be on any list of local beers.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by Julian Hollier

1. Housing Prices (best value). I'm a Teacher and she's a Nurse so we have to keep a tight budget.
2. Town Amenities: nightlife, Bar/Restaurants, city Parks, community centers, etc.
3. Infrastructure: walkability, bikeability, adjacent/local transportation options like trains, Car2go, Uber, etc
4. Outdoor life: Mountains, Lakes, Rivers, Trails, Beaches, and access to things of the like.
5. People: Young (we're both 31), and might have similar living circumstances/needs as mentioned above.

So going through them all:

1 - all the towns west of 495 are cheaper. Not cheap like west Texas, but a lot cheaper than inside 495. Under $300k, there are lots of nice properties.

2 - Outside Worcester, most the towns don't have much. They are sleepy commuter towns. Auburn and Millbury have the most IMHO

3 - The Blackstone river and canal goes from Worcester to Providence harbor (much of the canal doesn't exist anymore though). The 2 states want to make a bike trail that goes the whole way. Right now there is a bike trail in Worcester and Millbury, then nothing till Uxbridge, then another big gap to Woonsocket. The trail from Woonsocket goes about 40 miles after a gap and joins the East Bay Bike Path.
There is also commuter rail in Worcester to Boston and Amtrak to Albany/Chicago. Buses (MegaBus, PeterPan, etc) in Worcester too. Providence has the train to NYC and south.

4 - A bit of hiking and MTB along 146. Mount Wachussetts is about 20 minutes north of Auburn. White mountains 2 hours north. Lots of water - rivers, lakes/ponds.

5 - Worcester has a much bigger younger population than the surrounding towns

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by scorpio516

5 - Worcester has a much bigger younger population than the surrounding towns

Yes, based on OP's age/wants it sounds like The Flagg/Salisbury street area of Worcester might be worth a look, as it provides a high quality living potentially within walking/biking distance to some of Worcester's better venues (Hanover , Dead Horse, Armsby Abbey). Some caveats would be school system quality, though it sounds like there are no kids present or near future, and the commuting time to access 290/90.

If school quality is a concern, a good compromise might be a home in Holden, which affords easy access to Worcester's thriving restaurant/bar scene without compromising on school system quality. Additionally, if near 190 the commute might be better than the northwest side of Worcester proper.

Hudson is another option, though recent downtown revival seems to be driving prices upward - potentially too far upward for OPs budget. It would be a reverse commute, so the 495/90 exchange wouldn't be completely horrendous.

[Julian Hollier]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Before suggesting OP heads that far west, we should clarify how 'left leaning' OP really is and what degree of 'conservatism' he is looking to avoid. Having spent time in Texas, I found once outside the Austin metro 'bubble', most towns were very conservative - politically and socially.

I live in Sterling (central MA) which is a political conservative town, but no one asks which church I attend nor are my church going neighbors anything but social progressives (i.e., yes on q-4/legalized pot, pro-LGBTQ). It's not MA culture to be vocal about one's political or religious views, so OP might find MA conservative towns and the people within to be quite tolerable.

I'm sorry I missed this comment. You pretty much hit the nail on the head. Where I'm from people are more fundamental in their views. I'm looking to avoid that from both sides. From the people I've met from MA and what politics I have followed in your state it seems "level headed"

[FCMA]

Worcester is your best bet for any concentrated cultural vitality in Central Mass. It's no Boston or Austin but its underdog charms make it endearing and its offerings only improve year by year. I have a soft spot for Southbridge, Webster, and Sturbridge as I like it when dedicated locals try to make small and unique local businesses work in unlikely and washed up places. Such things seem refreshing compared to my decimated home zone of North Central Mass (Leominster-Fitchburg-Winchentucky-Athol, stay away!) where too many local people's praise of nihilist corporate things like Dunkin and Longhorn Steakhouse seems real while the skeletons of their downtowns bleach in the sun, but objectively for metropolitan-oriented folks like you, those south-Central MA towns might mostly just seem sad like they do to Boston people and you probably wouldn't want to be young there.

Also the Tree House beer hype is real. While I think NE breweries are generally over-represented in "world's top brewery" lists because of their proximity to the eastern megalopolis and its intense concentration of overpaid craft-beer pilgrimage hoarders, I really can't argue that I've tasted anything more pleasingly unique in the hoppy spectrum as Tree House anywhere else in the U.S. .

[massnative71]

I guess I'll have to check out Tree House next time I'm back.

[thenewtexan]

Originally Posted by Julian Hollier

Howdy! Possible Texas to Mass transplant here. I'm taking a job in Charlton and I know very little about MA. I just graduated with and environmental science degree, lean left politically, and I love outdoor recreation. I thought MA would be a perfect place to relocate and get to know the east coast. Below is a list of factors that will weigh in on my decision.

1. Housing Prices (best value). I'm a Teacher and she's a Nurse so we have to keep a tight budget.
2. Town Amenities: nightlife, Bar/Restaurants, city Parks, community centers, etc.
3. Infrastructure: walkability, bikeability, adjacent/local transportation options like trains, Car2go, Uber, etc
4. Outdoor life: Mountains, Lakes, Rivers, Trails, Beaches, and access to things of the like.
5. People: Young (we're both 31), and might have similar living circumstances/needs as mentioned above.

So my question is this. My job is right between the cities of Southbridge, Sturbridge, Auburn, and Charlton. How do those cities I just mention compared based on the criteria above? Or, is that area just too rural for what I'm asking and I should be looking at Worcester? Our plan is to get better paying jobs a year out and move to the Boston area.

I've lived in the San Antonio/Austin corridor my whole life so a 30+ minute commute is something I'm well use to. Feel free to mention any other cities that are in that area or come up with your own criteria that you think I should be considering.

Thanks to anyone and everyone that has any info to offer. Your help is very much appreciated!

I read this title and I almost fell over. I moved from south central Mass to the north side of San Antonio ten years ago. The immediate region's housing prices won't be a huge difference from Austin. Everyone on this board still thinks Texas is dirt cheap. It is only cheap compared to Greater Boston. If you don't have kids, I would maybe stick to the west side of Worcester. It's fairly close to Mount Wachusett, and state parks to the west and north. The immediate burbs are NOT walkable at all, and not much in the way of nightlife. As far as people, I will say that there are towns like Charlton, that Trump took by nearly twice the percentage points that he took Texas as a whole. Even then, it's mostly due to fiscal issues. Religion is never discussed. You'll never see megachurches on the side of the road. Take a look at this map. The difference in price between Greater Boston and Central Mass is like comparing central Austin vs. Laredo. As cool as Northampton and Amherst would be, you don't want that commute in winter. Unfortunately, central MA is known as flyover country. Please PM me if you need to.

Massachusetts Election Results: How Your Town Or City Voted | Politicker

Check out this map. Clearly, the more educated and affluent areas leaned heavily blue, same as the national trend.