Cape Cod observations from a 1st timer (Yarmouth, Dennis: apartments, condo)

[beach43ofus]

Greener & hilly'er than I thought it would be, & nice large homesights...low density...very few apartments or condo's...water everywhere.

More liquor stores and ice creme shops per square mile than anyplace else I've ever been.

Lots of fried foods served in restaurants...I thought the South was the main region for fried foods, but not anymore.

Extremely light police presence.

Drivers are mostly courteous, but HATE it if you try to pass them when a 2nd lane is avaiable...they speed up to prevent you from passing....weird passive aggressive behavior, & not isolated, but prevalent.

Older than I thought...lots of retirees.

People will wait a long time to get a table at a top notch restaurant....over 30 minutes.

Very few chain businesses..like Starbucks & MDonalds, but lots of CVS's.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Drivers are mostly courteous, but HATE it if you try to pass them when a 2nd lane is avaiable...they speed up to prevent you from passing....weird passive aggressive behavior, & not isolated, but prevalent.

Never really noticed this on the Cape (how many 4+ lane roads are there really?), but this used to drive me crazy in Maine like where you have the climbing lanes and slow drivers are "supposed" to keep right. Although, I must say that more often than not the guilty vehicles had out of state plates. Everything else sounds accurate though.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Never really noticed this on the Cape (how many 4+ lane roads are there really?), but this used to drive me crazy in Maine like where you have the climbing lanes and slow drivers are "supposed" to keep right. Although, I must say that more often than not the guilty vehicles had out of state plates. Everything else sounds accurate though.

Not many 4 lane roads, but 6 is where I encounter this behavior the most. Also, at intersections where some roads widen, then go back to 2 lanes after about 100 yards, and you have to merge.

All the liquor, ice creme, and fried foods leads to a lot of overweight residents too. The hospitals must stay busy here. I can see why covid hit Mass so hard.

Too bad Florida didn't space things out as nicely as they did with most of the land on Cape Cod.

I keep seeing these signs that say "tightly settled" & wonder if that means higher density?

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Not many 4 lane roads, but 6 is where I encounter this behavior the most. Also, at intersections where some roads widen, then go back to 2 lanes after about 100 yards, and you have to merge.

All the liquor, ice creme, and fried foods leads to a lot of overweight residents too. The hospitals must stay busy here. I can see why covid hit Mass so hard.

Too bad Florida didn't space things out as nicely as they did with most of the land on Cape Cod.

I keep seeing these signs that say "tightly settled" & wonder if that means higher density?

Where on Cape did you stay/visit? Curious where you saw tightly settled signs. I don’t know I have ever seen one.


How did you discern who was visiting and who lived here? Most of those fried seafood and ice cream shops close down after tourist season. And lots of the older folks head south for the winter. Much of the Cape is second homes.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber4

Where on Cape did you stay/visit? Curious where you saw tightly settled signs. I don’t know I have ever seen one.


How did you discern who was visiting and who lived here? Most of those fried seafood and ice cream shops close down after tourist season. And lots of the older folks head south for the winter. Much of the Cape is second homes.

My bad, the signs say "thickly settled" & I've seen them all around the Cape, but mostly in mid-Cape.

My guess was right, it means "congested" area where buildings are closer than 200 feet apart:

https://tnaron.wordpress.com/2009/05...t-new-england/

Most of coastal Florida where I live would be considerd "thickly settled"...heck most homes there are <40 feet apart.

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

My bad, the signs say "thickly settled" & I've seen them all around the Cape, but mostly in mid-Cape.

My guess was right, it means "congested" area where buildings are closer than 200 feet apart:

https://tnaron.wordpress.com/2009/05...t-new-england/

Most of coastal Florida where I live would be considerd "thickly settled"...heck most homes there are <40 feet apart.

Ah. But where on Cape are those posted? Small neighborhoods? Just curious. I can see them being in Dennisport or Yarmouth south of 28 in those beach/tourist neighborhoods.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

My bad, the signs say "thickly settled" & I've seen them all around the Cape, but mostly in mid-Cape.

Thickly Settled is a specific Mass speed sign. They post that instead of stating a 30 mph limit.

"MGL c. 90 § 17C defines a thickly settled or business district as "the territory contiguous to any way which is built up with structures devoted to business, or the territory contiguous to any way where dwelling houses are situated at such distances as will average less than two hundred feet between them for a distance of a quarter of a mile or over."

In 2016, legislation was passed (Sections 193 and 194 of Chapter 218 of the Acts of 2016) to create two new sections to MGL c.90§17C.

• Section 193 allows a municipality to opt-in to Section 17C of Chapter 90 of the MGL, thereby reducing the statutory speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph on any or all city- or town-owned roadways within a thickly settled or business district. The legislation also requires cities and towns to notify MassDOT of these changes.
• Section 194 creates Section 18B of Chapter 90 of the MGL, allowing municipalities to establish regulatory 20 mph safety zones. Since this creates a regulatory speed limit, the MUTCD requires an engineering study prior to the establishment of the safety zone, and it should conform to the guidance found in the MassDOT Procedures for Speed Zoning."

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Greener & hilly'er than I thought it would be, & nice large homesights...low density...very few apartments or condo's...water everywhere.

I don't remember where exactly in Florida you live, but I can say with all honesty that there really isn't a place in New England that's developed like Florida is. Florida is just SO dense in most of the populous areas. My parents live on the Cape in the summer and Boca Raton in the Winter. Their house in Boca is so close to their neighbor's that you can practically reach out the side window and touch the neighbor's house and that's a single family house. Housing is just much different in New England.

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

More liquor stores and ice creme shops per square mile than anyplace else I've ever been.

Lots of fried foods served in restaurants...I thought the South was the main region for fried foods, but not anymore.

Extremely light police presence.

I've heard many times that more ice cream is consumed per capita in New England than any other part of the country. In New England, we treasure our summer because it's short and nothing says summer like ice cream. There's lots of liquor stores on the Cape because as already mentioned it's predominantly an area of second homes and a vacation destination so people are down there to have fun and for many people that means enjoying a drink.

Fried seafood is a staple of New England cuisine. You can find fried seafood all over the region. It's quite prevalent especially in vacation areas.

I don't know why but the police just tend to blend into the background more in New England. Without verifying the statistics, I wouldn't be surprised if crime rates on the whole are lower in Massachusetts and especially in New England as a whole compared to Florida. So I would assume the police up here don't feel they need to be "in your face" to make their presence known and deter potential crime. We also don't really have that extra layer of county government like Florida does. So, our sheriff's department staffs are quite small compared to Florida. The county sheriffs in MA are little more than process servers. That's probably their biggest function as they do little actual policing. So we just have town/city police and state police. I wouldn't be surprised at all if on the whole we had fewer police officers per capita in this state vs. FL.

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Drivers are mostly courteous, but HATE it if you try to pass them when a 2nd lane is avaiable...they speed up to prevent you from passing....weird passive aggressive behavior, & not isolated, but prevalent.

Older than I thought...lots of retirees.

People will wait a long time to get a table at a top notch restaurant....over 30 minutes.

Very few chain businesses..like Starbucks & MDonalds, but lots of CVS's.

Yeah. I go to the Cape a lot and have noticed the same thing. It starts on the drive down and generally people don't use the left lane appropriately and if you try to pass them they often speed up. It's frustrating and it's a common issue in this state not just the Cape. I was on vacation in August in northern VT and I couldn't believe how everyone would move to the right as I approached. Then I got into NH and people got a little less courteous, and then I got into MA and people stopped moving over.

There are definitely a lot of retirees on the Cape some people do retire to the Cape, but as already mentioned there are lots of snowbirds down there (like my parents). Plus, homes are expensive in MA so older people are more likely to have a second home than younger people.

Originally Posted by massnative71

Never really noticed this on the Cape (how many 4+ lane roads are there really?), but this used to drive me crazy in Maine like where you have the climbing lanes and slow drivers are "supposed" to keep right. Although, I must say that more often than not the guilty vehicles had out of state plates. Everything else sounds accurate though.

It's VERY prevalent. I notice it all the time. It's bad on RT6 mostly but before you get on the Cape it's a serious problem heading down RT3 or I495/RT25. People just don't move to the right and will often speed up when you attempt to pass them. I think it's more a general MA problem than one specific to the Cape which might by why you don't really notice it.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

All the liquor, ice creme, and fried foods leads to a lot of overweight residents too. The hospitals must stay busy here. I can see why covid hit Mass so hard.

MA is fat as hell but I believe it's one of the fitter states in the country.

[htfdcolt]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

MA is fat as hell but I believe it's one of the fitter states in the country.

Have you ever visited the Midwest or South? We're downright physical specimens around here by comparison.