Is Ma. more or less expensive than California?

[n1ey]

Originally Posted by ab1222

I wouldn't judge an entire state by one area. My work has taken me all over the country and throughout MA, and it has been my experience over and over again that MA over all is the worst state I've been in. It's not just because Boston is an old city, (the state of Virginia actually is where people first arrived and began to settle and you don't see the same things there), but a city being old has nothing to do with the way the people act and the fact that it is so dirty. History here is a definate point, but quality of life in MA is horrible. There is so much stress, (not that there isn't in most places), but the atmosphere from the way people live and act here has a very "dark" feeling to it. I grew up mainly in a very nice, clean, polite, quiet, well educated, relaxed area and as I've worked as an adult and traveled I have found some bad but a lot of good in just about every state but unfortunately here I can't say much good about at all. The south, for example, is extremely polite and the people there don't act like they are better than everyone else like they do here. In the south (like in most of the Western States) they care about their neighbors and don't push past others, drive insane and always want to get ahead of everyone else, talk on the top of their lungs, act rude, and refuse to admit that that there is life outside Massachusetts. As far as New England goes, I really like New Hampshire and visit there a lot so I am not trying to say that only where I come from has good points because I have been fortunate enough to visit most of the U.S. I know what I have experienced here and all over. I personally wouldn't advise anyone to move here especially if they are used to other places where the quality of life is so much better.

You are right about the stress.
The average worker in Massachusetts earns a wage BELOW the national average. The schism between the rich and the poor is very tough within this state.

We have poor transit policies. People south of Boston have some of the longest average commute times. We also have a lack of progressive taxation. Property taxes are very high for poor individuals. At the same time the rich have some of the lowest income tax rates in the nation.

Might these be the real reasons behind the stress?

[FromEverywhereUSA]

Originally Posted by ab1222

I wouldn't judge an entire state by one area. My work has taken me all over the country and throughout MA, and it has been my experience over and over again that MA over all is the worst state I've been in. It's not just because Boston is an old city, (the state of Virginia actually is where people first arrived and began to settle and you don't see the same things there), but a city being old has nothing to do with the way the people act and the fact that it is so dirty. History here is a definate point, but quality of life in MA is horrible. There is so much stress, (not that there isn't in most places), but the atmosphere from the way people live and act here has a very "dark" feeling to it. I grew up mainly in a very nice, clean, polite, quiet, well educated, relaxed area and as I've worked as an adult and traveled I have found some bad but a lot of good in just about every state but unfortunately here I can't say much good about at all. The south, for example, is extremely polite and the people there don't act like they are better than everyone else like they do here. In the south (like in most of the Western States) they care about their neighbors and don't push past others, drive insane and always want to get ahead of everyone else, talk on the top of their lungs, act rude, and refuse to admit that that there is life outside Massachusetts. As far as New England goes, I really like New Hampshire and visit there a lot so I am not trying to say that only where I come from has good points because I have been fortunate enough to visit most of the U.S. I know what I have experienced here and all over. I personally wouldn't advise anyone to move here especially if they are used to other places where the quality of life is so much better.

Interesting. This surprises me: I've heard that MA folks can be a bit gruff and having grown up in Central PA, I certainly know what a long, cold, dark winter does to a person's mood. That said, I've often heard that people care for their neighbors in MA just like they do anywhere in the US. Maybe they don't smile at strangers as much, but that's always been a Northeast thing to me. It will be interesting to see if I witness any of this when I visit next month.