Massachusetts was once my favorite state (Boston, Salem: how much, home, living in)

[masssachoicetts]

Wait Maryland is being proclaimed as nicer than MA? In what world lol

MA is wicked expensive, denser than ever... but worse than MD? IDK about that one. Its either urban sprawl mania or meh suburbs.

If yu have the money to live in MA, its probably one oft he best, if not the best, states to live in.. but its just too damn expensive. Hence my upcoming move to NJ.

[robr2]

I'm guessing the OP was expecting to find nothing by these:

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by masssachoicetts

Wait Maryland is being proclaimed as nicer than MA? In what world lol

MA is wicked expensive, denser than ever... but worse than MD? IDK about that one. Its either urban sprawl mania or meh suburbs.

If yu have the money to live in MA, its probably one oft he best, if not the best, states to live in.. but its just too damn expensive. Hence my upcoming move to NJ.

Meh. My corner of the economic third world in West Portugal isn’t all that expensive. Once you’re beyond rational commuting distance to the Boston job market, real estate and labor costs drop significantly. “Traffic” is an extra light cycle crossing Route 6 at 8am or 5pm. I-195 doesn’t have big traffic unless a moron on a cell phone or a drunk crash their car. 140 towards Boston isn’t busy until the Route 24 morning bottleneck. I can walk to the private beach. Hopefully, it opens this summer. I can walk to the dinghy float at the boat yard and take my dingy out to the boat on a mooring. We can blast over to Cuttyhunk in 20 minutes in the powerboat assuming they allow people on the island after June 15th. The bicycling is really nice. The town has 10 square miles of greenspace with tons of walking trails. Linguica pizza. Really fresh seafood at low prices. What’s not to like unless you have to commute to a Boston job like Irfox used to do.

I’ve sailed the Chesapeake quite a bit in the fall when the season ends here. It’s fine but Buzzards Bay and the Islands is way better. I do like soft shell crab. I like Annapolis. I like the Inner Harbor part of Baltimore. I used to work a lot in Montgomery County and had family there. Eeeeew but the Metro line is nice. My girlfriend lived in Hagarstown for a while. Double eeeeeew.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Meh. My corner of the economic third world in West Portugal isn’t all that expensive. Once you’re beyond rational commuting distance to the Boston job market, real estate and labor costs drop significantly. “Traffic” is an extra light cycle crossing Route 6 at 8am or 5pm. I-195 doesn’t have big traffic unless a moron on a cell phone or a drunk crash their car. 140 towards Boston isn’t busy until the Route 24 morning bottleneck. I can walk to the private beach. Hopefully, it opens this summer. I can walk to the dinghy float at the boat yard and take my dingy out to the boat on a mooring. We can blast over to Cuttyhunk in 20 minutes in the powerboat assuming they allow people on the island after June 15th. The bicycling is really nice. The town has 10 square miles of greenspace with tons of walking trails. Linguica pizza. Really fresh seafood at low prices. What’s not to like unless you have to commute to a Boston job like Irfox used to do.

I’ve sailed the Chesapeake quite a bit in the fall when the season ends here. It’s fine but Buzzards Bay and the Islands is way better. I do like soft shell crab. I like Annapolis. I like the Inner Harbor part of Baltimore. I used to work a lot in Montgomery County and had family there. Eeeeew but the Metro line is nice. My girlfriend lived in Hagarstown for a while. Double eeeeeew.

"Eeeuw" is a apt description of a good part of Baltimore. I know they are making improvements, but they've got a ways to go...

[masssachoicetts]

Baltimore is a disgrace. The suburbs of DC and Baltimore are nice, but sprawly and McMansiony.

Theres no Maryland answer to Rockport, Gloucester, Newburyport, Dense urbanity of the Boston Core, Cape Cod, Plum Island, Nantucket, Marthas Vineyard and the cute shopping towns.

[metalmancpa]

Nobody can tell you what to like.

Coming to the states page for a opinion in your face post, now that is lame.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

My girlfriend lived in Hagarstown for a while. Double eeeeeew.

What's so bad about Hagarstown???

[LexWest]

I’m not going to denounce the OP’s opinion. We’re all entitled to one, we can agree/disagree, and MA isn’t going to suit everyone. I will point out the reasoning isn’t unique to MA. One can say they liked CA until they realized there was more to it than Hollywood lifestyle, Orange County beaches, wine in Napa Valley, etc. There’s good and bad in every state, and you can’t go by stereotypes. Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, etc., while providing a great image, are only marginal aspects of MA.

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by robr2

I'm guessing the OP was expecting to find nothing by these:

I like that house, but I find decorative shutters that don't even pretend to look like they would fit over the windows to be infuriating.

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by massnative71

What's so bad about Hagarstown???

When I lived in MD, no one lived in Hagerstown. It was very rural, but back in the days when there were very few "outlet" stores, there was an Izod outlet there, so we used to stop there, because it was off of I-70 when we drove to Chicago. Otherwise there was nothing there. Now, my understanding is that it is one of those places that has become an exurb for all the people who grew up closer to DC but couldn't afford to buy a house in the town where they grew up so they had to move further and further out from the city. I haven't been there for quite some time, but my guess is that now it has lots of new big box strip malls and large developments of cookie-cutter houses.

Originally Posted by LexWest

I’m not going to denounce the OP’s opinion. We’re all entitled to one, we can agree/disagree, and MA isn’t going to suit everyone. I will point out the reasoning isn’t unique to MA. One can say they liked CA until they realized there was more to it than Hollywood lifestyle, Orange County beaches, wine in Napa Valley, etc. There’s good and bad in every state, and you can’t go by stereotypes. Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, etc., while providing a great image, are only marginal aspects of MA.

It would be different if someone asked a question, saying "What's your favorite state?" or "What state has disappointed you most?" or "How do you think Massachusetts compares to Maryland?" Then, there would be no real reason to disparage OP's opinion. Everyone would just give their thoughts in response to the question. But to go to the MA forum and start a thread about how MA sucks, and MD is better, well, what kind of response do you expect?