Where is the friendliest place in MA? (Boston, Plymouth: neighborhood, school)

[KarynO]

Originally Posted by nate14ri

provincetown is very friendly

Funny you should bring up P-Town...if that would be the definition of a liberal town, I fall into the conservative pile...I remember being a teenager and going into a convenience store in P-town and there were a bin of penis-shaped erasers on the counter...for my convenience...no thanks.

So what is a liberal town? nude bicycling, pot shops, tatoo parlors, strip clubs, swingers clubs, homeless shelters, needle exchange programs, abortion clinics, legalized prostitution, gambling, low income housing, group homes for the mentally ill...and so on...?

Massachusetts may be heavily democratic and liberal in theory, but not always in practice...Property values are the name of the game and in the nicer Mass towns none of the above need show up.

If you're really just worried about the gay factor, people don't really care...and there are no evangelicals to speak of.

[Meloraz]

Originally Posted by KarynO

Funny you should bring up P-Town...if that would be the definition of a liberal town, I fall into the conservative pile...I remember being a teenager and going into a convenience store in P-town and there were a bin of penis-shaped erasers on the counter...for my convenience...no thanks.

So what is a liberal town? nude bicycling, pot shops, tatoo parlors, strip clubs, swingers clubs, homeless shelters, needle exchange programs, abortion clinics, legalized prostitution, gambling, low income housing, group homes for the mentally ill...and so on...?

Massachusetts may be heavily democratic and liberal in theory, but not always in practice...Property values are the name of the game and in the nicer Mass towns none of the above need show up.

If you're really just worried about the gay factor, people don't really care...and there are no evangelicals to speak of.

I want to live near people who share the same politics as I do which should include being tolerant of other lifestyles.

Not sure why you chose to lump the aforementioned ideas all into one "liberal town" stereotype.

[lrfox]

^Because only liberals do things such as get tattoos, go to strip clubs, get abortions and do drugs, DUH!

P-Town is a great town. It's a gay haven, but it's beautiful, secluded, and fun. I'm 100% straight and P-town is a good time. It's the epitome of tolerant (they rag on tourists, what tourist community doesn't?). Even though it's a summertime tourist town, it's not vacant and dead year round. It's an old town (Pilgrims landed in P-town before Plymouth) and is set up like you would expect an old town to be. The houses are close together, there is a dense, walkable downtown with narrow (in a good way) streets and lined with shops and restaurants. It's a fishing town so seafood is good and there are a number of bakeries and specialty shops scattered about.

It's secluded (did I mention that?)... it's at the VERY tip of Cape Cod which puts you over an hour's drive just to the Cape Cod Canal. You can take a 45 minute ferry to Boston but I'm not sure if it operates year round. If you're worried about work, it'll be tough to find close by (work from home... no problem).

All that being said, you'd be hard pressed to find a prettier, more pleasant place in all of New England.

[drouhin]

I love Ptown! In the summer.

It really is a tourist-based economy, though, and shutters up in the winter. It can get very lonely and depressing out there over the winter.

[KarynO]

You've missed my point...first, I've never stereo-typed towns as liberal vs. conservative in my life...That is your deal not mine...I'm OK with living around people who don't think just like I do. I understand the liberal platform is one of tolerance (and that should include the above named social issues/lifestyles, although that was more to point out the foolishness of a "liberal town")...in much of Massachusetts tolerance and diversity are celebrated but with a "not in my back yard" attitude, with the exception of gays.

For example, Hingham, a classic NE town went into an uproar when they wanted to bring in the train from Boston...people didn't want to attract certain kinds of people who would otherwise have no access to the town

I worked for a non-profit serving the mentally challenged & the fact is, people don't want these people in their neighborhoods.

Now you should just come clean...you are looking for a gay friendly town with no religion in your face...WELCOME TO MASSACHUSETTS.

[lrfox]

^This is a true statement. Many Bay-Staters will "celebrate" the diversity MA has to offer without branching outside of their comfort zone. the Greenbush extension to Hingham is one example but there are plenty of others. People like to think they're open minded, but put them in the middle of any "different" situation, and they're not happy.

[clevedark]

We were living in Cohasset during the Greenbush debates and they way those towns behaved was unbelievable. The funniest thing was Cohasset Selectmen refused to let the train have an actual stop in the town center--they preferred a stop on the highway that could only be reached by car (no undesirables without cars could penetrate the pristine town).

A couple of years later they asked the DOT or MBTA or whoever it was for a pedestrian stop in the village, and they were denied. Now they have the train whipping through the town at high speeds. What a bunch of maroons.

[CaseyB]

Please keep the replies on topic. The restoration of the Greenbush line has nothing to do with the subject of the thread.

[NowOrNever]

As long as your not obnoxiously liberal, Salem! =D

[clevedark]

I illustrating a point about the "friendliness" of the town, Casey B, in my roundabout way....