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Old 09-05-2006, 12:04 PM
 
Location: wrong planet
5,161 posts, read 11,398,703 times
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Hi there
My husband is thinking of transfering his job to Charlton, MA and we have been going up to MA to check out the area for the past year. We have been looking at houses in the Sturbridge, Leicester, East Brookfield area and had been excited about moving there. I just came across this website a few days ago and am now wondering if this move is a mistake. Almost everyone that lives in MA seems to want to leave or is complaining about the state. We currently live in MD (near DC) and wanted to escape the congested roads, awful air and hot humid summers. As far as housing prices go, for the price we can get for our townhouse, we can buy a small 3 bedroom house in the above mentioned area, which would be big enough for us, 2 adults, no kids. Taxes in MD aren't much lower than MA, as far as I've seen. The big difference would be the winters, but I think I could deal with those. ( I did survive 2 winters in northern MN ). Any advice? We were going to go up to MA again in a couple of weeks and possibly buy a house, but now I am getting nervous about the move. Aside from the taxes and the winter, what are the negatives of MA? Thanks so much for any input
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Old 09-05-2006, 12:22 PM
 
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People in New England are incredible winers- they are so spoiled and think it is better everywhere but here. They move to Florida and bitc*- about the crime, heat and hurricanes- they complain about North Carolina- too hot and humid, and those dam* rebels hate yankees, poor local services and schools etc. Or they move to Arizona and complain about the traffic, heat and lack of culture- more then 50% of these complainers end up back in New England.

They end up returning to New England- where they took the quality of life here for granted.

I am from the DC area- and as much as I love the area, the cost of housing, traffic, humidity, congestion and rude people make me never wanting to return.

Housing prices in the Springfield area and just to the west are much cheaper- The winters have become milder here- and while colder then DC are not bad-and milder then Minneasota.

Boston and Providence are to the east an hour or so away- and you have the Connecticut shore and Rhode Island coast not far off. Hartford and Springfield are twin cities- with Hartford rebuilding. Both cities have much in trhe way of culture. A great airport is nearby in Windsor Locks CT (Bradley Inter) There is much less congestion in the Springfield/Hartford area- and nearby Northhampton, Amherst and the Berkshires are not far away- as is Vermont. You are making a good move-

Last edited by Dragondog; 09-05-2006 at 01:26 PM..
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Old 09-05-2006, 02:05 PM
 
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Calm down!

I lived in Ware (just west of that area) for nearly 4 years and we found the area to be quite nice.

People will complain about any area they live in.

Never be happy no matter where they are.

It is cold there, but it is a beautiful area. Lots to do. Check out some of my posts here about Western MA. Get out of the house during the winter and do things. Or go to a tanning salon if you get SADD. If you sit in the house all day you will go batty.

The "brookfields" are quiet and peaceful.

Sturbridge is nice too. I would recommend Hampshire county over Worcester county tho. Ware and Belchertown are very nice, as is Palmer. Not sure how long it would take to get to Charlton though.

Taxes? Mine were cheaper in Ware than they are here in PA. And I was in one of the most expensively taxed towns in western MA.

Electric is cheaper if you have Mass Electric vis Western MA electric. We had Mass electric in Ware, so I am sure that further east you will have the same company.

Neighbors in Ware had a totally electric house, 1800 sq ft. In the worst of winter they kept their heat at 70 and their electric bill was 240/month. Many people get woodstoves to offset the cost, which is really efficient. Our electric bill for our house (again, 1000 sp ft. all electric) with the woodstove was about 90-110/month, without it the bill was about 140 in the winter, 160 in the summer with the a/c. But we use and abuse our electric like crazy.

It is normal to have cold feet before a big move - we have had 7 different addresses in 6 different states in 10 years LOL! Believe me, I know!

Give a yell when you get there if you want some ideas as to what to do up there.
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Old 09-05-2006, 02:15 PM
 
180 posts, read 732,033 times
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Default Sturbridge move here!

I hope you read my thread on this forum called Possible Relocation (#12). I explained all the great things about our neighborhood and living in New England. We really love it here and our house is affordable. Charlton Is a great town and we moved from there to Sturbridge 13 yrs ago. Charlton's getting crowded now and It is one of the largest towns in the state land wise.

You don't say if you are going to have kids...but if you are then, charlton may not be for you since there are more kids per teacher than Sturbridge.

Sturbridge is close to all the major highways like the mass pike (rt90), Rt 84 which goes to hartford, Rt 9 and Rt 20.

I don't wine persay about Mass. as much as I wonder what it's like to live somewhere different, like North Carolina.

The negative's hum.... well our cost of living is about $ 2500 a month I would say. mortgage on our house which is valued by the town at 311,000 is $1000 a month. electricity is kinda expensive, our is about $175 a month but we have a pool, hot tub and central air. taxes are $4000 a yr. cable,phone $100 a month. car insurance is $1000 a yr and home owners is $ 750 a yr. groceries are about $100 a week and we eat well. car payment is $300 a month.

If he worked in Charlton and you lived in sturbridge or leicester (lester) , he would travel down rt 20 and rt 20 has been repaved from charlton to sturbridge.

Snow, we get our share of it. being in central MA. we are always on the border of changeover to rain/snow/sleet mix. It all depends how the low pressure center tracks and if it pulls in enough cold air we have had 2 ft snow storms. these are fun to anticipate and usually the boss understands that You can't make it into work that day, also that would depend on what your husband does. My wife telecommutes on bad days meaning Icy/snowy.

The spring sometimes takes forever to get here it seems, maybe because i'm getting older. late april or early may seems like I always say, wow it should be warmer than this now...then like a light switch from cool to hot in one week.

We have great summers, the air is warm 80's and usually a cool front will come thru every week and drop the humidity. then it's wonderful!

We have a pool and a solar collector so I keep it about 80-85 all the time from june to early sept.

Politics... well let say we have had our share of corruption in office, but the views in Ma are mostly liberal around the eastern part of the state. In my neighborhood there are as many conservatives as liberals.


Leicester is considered a lower end town, not as affluent as Charlton or Sturbridge. My brother in-law lives in Leicester. deffinitely cheaper to buy a house, but not alot of new ones like in Charlton.

Sturbridge has some great Restaurants like Rovezzi's and Perrenials. It also has a liquor/wine store called Yankee spirits and it has a HUGE selection of Wine and Beer. If they don't have it you won't find it elsewhere.

I have two children and one plays soccer and Baseball, other parents tell me at the matches that they lived in leicester or webster or dudley and they wanted a nicer community with better schools and amenities so they moved to sturbridge.

I have been on the NC forum because we are considering a move there, but not because I hate it here , it is because My Wife has a Job that is too good to give up and she can't make that kind of money at other companies in that line of work. So we may move in 1 or two years or not if she does find something else.

I would definately move here and have no aprehension about it . The crime is low, you can find a house for $300k and it will be nice. I will Pm you my friends name who is a realtor with Century-- and one other thing.

Good luck, Scott
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Old 09-05-2006, 07:37 PM
 
Location: wrong planet
5,161 posts, read 11,398,703 times
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Default thank you!

Thanks to all those who have responded so far. I am glad not EVERYONE can't wait to leave MA We are planning on going back up to MA in about 2 weeks and look at some more houses. My husband and I are in our early 40's, so there won't be any children, getting too old for that, LOL. We just want to find a quiet little place, not totally in the "boonies" but not in the city either. Are there any places we should most definitely stay away from? Southbridge looks a little "questionable", lots of older run down rental places. But they do have a little town center and a nice coffee shop! I want to get involved in our new community and also join any animal (cat) rescue group in the area, also be involved in local issues. We do like ethnic food and don't seem too much of that, except italian or chinese. Maybe in Worcester?
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Old 09-05-2006, 10:16 PM
 
4,948 posts, read 18,630,907 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by katzenfreund View Post
Hi there
My husband is thinking of transfering his job to Charlton, MA and we have been going up to MA to check out the area for the past year. We have been looking at houses in the Sturbridge, Leicester, East Brookfield area and had been excited about moving there. I just came across this website a few days ago and am now wondering if this move is a mistake. Almost everyone that lives in MA seems to want to leave or is complaining about the state. We currently live in MD (near DC) and wanted to escape the congested roads, awful air and hot humid summers. As far as housing prices go, for the price we can get for our townhouse, we can buy a small 3 bedroom house in the above mentioned area, which would be big enough for us, 2 adults, no kids. Taxes in MD aren't much lower than MA, as far as I've seen. The big difference would be the winters, but I think I could deal with those. ( I did survive 2 winters in northern MN ). Any advice? We were going to go up to MA again in a couple of weeks and possibly buy a house, but now I am getting nervous about the move. Aside from the taxes and the winter, what are the negatives of MA? Thanks so much for any input
If I had money, etc., Boston is neat! Sturbridge is also, Also you need to do Red Sox Nation! You can ice skate, and sports! Go for it!
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Old 09-05-2006, 10:39 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,603 posts, read 77,247,404 times
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I agree that people in Massachusetts do seem to be "whiners!" We vacationed up in the Plymouth area for about a week back in May, and we LOVED every second of it! We met so many friendly people, the restaurants were outstanding and plentiful, there were many quaint, historic downtown areas (Being an urban planning enthusiast, I nearly fainted when I laid eyes upon Downtown Plymouth's beauty!) We did plenty of shopping in Massachusetts as well, and while sales taxes here were higher than they are here in Pennsylvania, they certainly weren't what I would consider "out-of-line" (especially when you're a Manhattan regular! LOL!)

Quite possibly the only gripe I'll give them credit for are the exorbiant housing prices---While $250,000 would buy you a nice McMansion in Scranton, you'd get a starter shack in the Boston area for that price! As far as traffic is concerned, if the people of Massachusetts weren't foolish and didn't demand on sitting in bumper-to-bumper (solo driver) traffic on I-95 and Route 3 while the "T" passed them by on the rail along the corridor, then traffic issues would certainly be alleviated. In fact, we did MUCH of our travels in and around Boston via mass transit to avoid the traffic, and we found Boston's mass transit options to be plentiful, affordable, and clean. It was a bit crowded taking the "T" out of Boston to Braintree at rush-hour, but it sure beat the suckers who were sitting in their cars, barely moving, on Route 3 alongside of us! ;o)

Basically, Massachusetts seemed like a paradise for me! Being a gay person, I was thrilled to find such a Liberal, civic-minded, well-educated, bohemian population (Especially in Provincetown!) There seemed to be many open hearts and open minds in the Boston area, and if the housing prices ever come down a bit, I'll more than likely be moving there as well (I can't wed here in "Pennsyltucky" anyways...LOL!) I adored Massachusetts while I was there; It seems as if you people feel as if the "grass is greener everywhere else", yet when you finally get to those promised lands, you're miserable!

By the way, winters in Boston are no worse than winters in Scranton, so stop whining about the "cold" as well! RAWR! LOL! Massachusetts was nothing but welcoming, pleasant, friendly, eccentric, and awesome when my friends and I vacationed there, and I can't wait to go back (Hopefully to Gloucester, Salem, and Newburyport this time)! ;o) Thanks for impressing me with your wonderful state, and I hope you ungrateful people learn the hard way that MA isn't truly so bad after all once you end up down in Retirement/Hurricane Alley or North Sprawlolina! ;o)
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Old 09-06-2006, 12:22 AM
 
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One small correction Scranton, the winters out in Western/Central Mass are COLD. A heck of a lot colder than out here in PA. Boston has a different climate and is much more temperate. Sturbridge is a decent drive west from Boston. And the housing prices get more reasonable as you get out to Western MA too. I think that you would really enjoy the Amherst area - check it out sometime!

For ethnic foods, go to Northampton or Amherst, Springfield. You should be able to get a pretty good mix there. Hop on 90 to get there. They have an awesome Chinese/polynesian buffet in Chicopee called the Huke Lau. They are cheap and known for some of the best food and entertainment in the area. The Delaney house and Log Cabin are some of the more exclusive resturants in the Western MA area, as well as Salem Cross Inn (westbrookfield)

Yankee wines is one of the biggest liquor stores I have ever seen. Completely unreal selection, low to average prices. They have a decent cigar shop out there in Sturbridge too.

And you won't be too far from the casinos up there either! Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods. A nice time. And the beach in CT or RI will be within easy reach.
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Old 09-06-2006, 03:55 PM
 
439 posts, read 712,267 times
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Yankee spirits in Sturbridge is really good- low prices and no taxes!
Weatherwise, NE PA is not much milder then western Mass-
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Old 09-06-2006, 07:04 PM
 
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I now I wasn't whinning in my post, just stating facts. Sturbridge has a Tai restaurant and the owner is one of our walker pond neighbors!. Most days when we pop in for some food he charges us half price and gives us drinks for free. that's a big bene for living in our neck of the woods. there is a veterinarian on rt 20 in charlton called post road vets and we bring our cat and dog there....You can say you want to be close to boston but realistically its expensive and cost alot to go to dinner or a Sox game. So we go to Worcester...Shrewsbury street to be exact...there are sooo many restaurants there to choose from and everyone is good. there are a thousand restaurants in worcester to pick from. If you move here I can tell you all the good ones!
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