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Oh and of course the Cape is close by too but we all know how fun the traffic to get there and home is not to mention how much you pay for a rental or buy a place down there.
Salaries definitely do NOT compensate for the cost of living, BUT...the quality of things produced, including the quality of employee morale, the Employee morale even at fastfood chains, is notably high above the national average.
Massachusetts is and always was an expensive state from its very beginning, primarily because the pilgrims who settled in Massachusetts, unlike the ones who settled in Jamestown Virginia, brought their families with them. When you have a family society, the higher costs of safety, quality, replacing wear and tear on bridges, household items, good Longterm sustainable wages, and better maternity, better teacher pay (the list goes on and on)...are valued more highly in Massachusetts. These values are imbedded in the tax structure and cost of living. Massachusetts is a family society and always was.
It is a place where if something say a bridge is functional another 10 years but COULD decay, where in another state the decision would be to risk it and save the burden on the taxpayer...massachusetts it would be "reconstruct the bridge...our kids come first"
This is what you are paying for and you can be proud of it. We pay more but we have a good life quality and its a good place to go to school and raise a family.
Salaries definitely do NOT compensate for the cost of living, BUT...the quality of things produced, including the quality of employee morale, the Employee morale even at fastfood chains, is notably high above the national average.
Massachusetts is and always was an expensive state from its very beginning, primarily because the pilgrims who settled in Massachusetts, unlike the ones who settled in Jamestown Virginia, brought their families with them. When you have a family society, the higher costs of safety, quality, replacing wear and tear on bridges, household items, good Longterm sustainable wages, and better maternity, better teacher pay (the list goes on and on)...are valued more highly in Massachusetts. These values are imbedded in the tax structure and cost of living. Massachusetts is a family society and always was.
It is a place where if something say a bridge is functional another 10 years but COULD decay, where in another state the decision would be to risk it and save the burden on the taxpayer...massachusetts it would be "reconstruct the bridge...our kids come first"
This is what you are paying for and you can be proud of it. We pay more but we have a good life quality and its a good place to go to school and raise a family.
What? Our transportation infrastructure is almost third world quality. In other states they actually maintain and upgrade transportation.
These reactions are really bizarre to me. Families have been taking road trips since the invention of the automobile. In fact, the family road trip is one of the most iconic images in all of American pop-culture. Reading these responses, you would think driving to Vermont was equivalent to signing your family up for a space walk.
Older the kids, more activities, chores, and sports spill into your weekends, so it becomes really hard to be going and doing these things on a regular basis. That was the whole point: although this is area with plenty to do and see, work, commute, & school/activities schedules are tough on families to fully enjoy all it offers. No complaints, just fact of life (probably applicable to most areas in the US).
What? Our transportation infrastructure is almost third world quality. In other states they actually maintain and upgrade transportation.
Actually Massachusetts has very good transportation. Boston has excellent mass transit. The suburbs have a nice scenic sysyem of backroads and those good ole white signs telling you where towns meet other towns. Nice historic designs for Roundabouts.... Love the Eastlongmeadow roundabout route 83-S ....high level of safety and town morale...good safety measures unique to Mass
1) the rule you can't be in the right lane if a cop car is pulled over on the shoulder next to the right lane
2) the 7-year insurance hike rule for reckless driving
3) the laws restricting leaving pets in cars unattended with windows closed
4) the strict speed limits in school zones
5) the frequent tarring of paved roads...this you can tell just by when you cross the Connecticut/Massachusetts line...mass is better at this than Connecticut
It's quality living. Mass pike is one of the most well built turnpikes there are...scenicwise and the rest stops ...its a good state. It's actually even on the top 5 list of states to do Business and the reason for that is "education/access to capital". May be the highest cost of living state to also be a good place to do business. But Pacific Northwest comes in first on this.
Also Massachusetts is truly a free state. Unlike New Hampshire, you can choose in Massachusetts to live free, not to live free, or to die. In New Hampshire, you only get to choose between the "live free" or "die". And 150 years ago, Massachusetts was a free state and not a slave state.
Last edited by Ericthebean; 02-21-2015 at 11:54 AM..
It's one thing if this state has always been expensive as far as taxes go but then on top of that you have the cost of living which has become out of control. I think people who are long time residents are frustrated with that along with people who move here and then wonder wow why is this place so expensive. It also seems incredibly crowded. as many have mentioned it's become an international hub for whatever reason and it doesn't seem to be the type of place that was built/designed to accommodate such a large number of people. I personally don't want to see boston become a place where people live on top of each other (this is already the case in most parts). And we also have a problem with welfare and who we give it to and sometimes it sickens me that we have so many able bodied people in this state who don't work and collect...but then there's no money for things lile the mbta.
As a long time resident I'd sometimes just like to move but that's tough to do when you've built a home here and all your family and friends are here and this is my city dammit (: our plan is to move further away from the city in a few years. By then who knows what things will be like....
Actually Massachusetts has very good transportation. Boston has excellent mass transit.
Let me guess, you're one of the people on Charlie Baker's "commission" to determine how the MBTA collapsed who doesn't actually ride the system?
At least pretend you know what you're talking about.
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The suburbs have a nice scenic sysyem of backroads and those good ole white signs telling you where towns meet other towns.
Varies across the state. Many roads are narrow, dangerous and falling apart.
Quote:
Nice historic designs for Roundabouts.... Love the Eastlongmeadow roundabout route 83-S ....high level of safety and town morale
They're called rotaries in MA and they suck. Try going over the Bourne Bridge in the summer and tell me how great they are. Also try the East St rotary off of Route 128 during rush hour and tell me how safe it is.
Quote:
...good safety measures unique to Mass
1) the rule you can't be in the right lane if a cop car is pulled over on the shoulder next to the right lane
2) the 7-year insurance hike rule for reckless driving
3) the laws restricting leaving pets in cars unattended with windows closed
4) the strict speed limits in school zones
5) the frequent tarring of paved roads...this you can tell just by when you cross the Connecticut/Massachusetts line...mass is better at this than Connecticut
Almost nothing you mention is unique to MA, but keep telling yourself they are.
Quote:
It's quality living. Mass pike is one of the most well built turnpikes there are...scenicwise and the rest stops ...its a good state. It's actually even on the top 5 list of states to do Business and the reason for that is "education/access to capital". May be the highest cost of living state to also be a good place to do business. But Pacific Northwest comes in first on this.
Also Massachusetts is truly a free state. Unlike New Hampshire, you can choose in Massachusetts to live free, not to live free, or to die. In New Hampshire, you only get to choose between the "live free" or "die". And 150 years ago, Massachusetts was a free state and not a slave state.
The Mass Pike is fine (usually). Great. The "excellent mass transit" you mention has been in a state of meltdown for almost a month now.
DH and I moved to Ohio two years ago after 18 years in Boston. He is a Bostonian who returned after college, we both worked in IT. Moving to Ohio netted us a small raise and a significant reduction in COL. We can actually DO things on the weekend and during the week we could never do in Boston because of 1.) even though our commutes were actually short by Boston standards by the time you get home it is dark most of the year 2.)we can leave our house at any point in time without worrying about traffic, which means we have 4 more hours in a regular weekday that we can accomplish tasks (I am a stay at home mom now). In Boston I couldn't leave my house until 930 and I had to be back or at least one town away by 230 or I was out of luck.
People always talk about how lovely all of the things AROUND Boston are but don't mention that you have to leave hours ahead of time to avoid hours sitting in traffic on any weekend. Heaven forbid you want to take advantage of the cape or a beach during summer- certainly leave 2 hours to get somewhere 30 minutes away and take the $30 to park. Better get up and leave at 6am to get in line to enjoy life. Want to see some fall color- get in line, want to go to Walden Pond- get in line, want to go to Crane's beach- get in line, want to go to the cape- get in line, want to ski. . . It was just never worth the (psychological and monetary) cost of entry to live in greater Boston.
DHs childhood stories are full of descriptions of full summers in Provincetown with families who returned year after year, that will never happen now at $2000 a week. His mother and siblings can barely afford a yearly week's visit to the town they grew up in. His mother talks of how she babysat all summer each summer for a family that stayed down the cape all summer- they were just middle class working people but can you imagine- a full summer babysitter AND a full summer rental? These days you would have to be a millionaire.
The reality for the modern family in Boston is grim, take the neighbors that my MIL helps out who bought the SFH across from her in Roslindale. Both parents work to make the mortgage on the home and both kids are in full time care- one goes to before and after school care and one is in daycare. My MIL picks the kids up because the parents cannot make it home from their regular 9-5 jobs by 6 when the center closes (who gets home by 6 in Boston unless you live next door to where you work?). Kids come to her house until parents get there to get them dinner at 7 and put them to bed immediately after. All to start again when they get them up at 6 am to have them fed and at the center by 730 so they can get a parking space at the train station to have a hope of getting to work by 9. And they live and work IN THE CITY!
It is a grim and unhealthy reality for the middle class families of Boston.
Yeah I guess unhealthy is one sad way to look at it. I think if u took just the traffic out of it that would help immensely. Then it might actually be worth spending money on things. the mention of lines made me think back to this past October my husband and I went to Natick to that farm place on a Sunday at 2pm to see a pumpkin patch and perhaps pick some damn apples off a tree. Well everyone else in city seemed ton have the same idEa. The lines were mind boggling. We ended up not waiting in line for the train to pick apples and just got a pumpkin. Just kind of depressing realLy. It seemed like such a simple new England thing to do but it all comes down to overpopulation. I won't even go into the city any more on the weekends...forget things like the science museum.
I do still go to the Cape on summer weekends to my family's house. I find leaving around 8 Friday night the leaving around 9 Sunday night isn't so bad. That I just won't give up.
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