Do you miss massachusetts? (Boston, Cambridge: shops, housing market, island)

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by massnative71

To say that I don't have good memories of growing up in the Boston area, would be lying. But each time I go back to visit, it seem there is less and less to miss and I can't wait to leave.

I'm sure you've said before I just can't remember- where do you live now massnative71?

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

I'm sure you've said before I just can't remember- where do you live now massnative71?

Maine, moved here from Mass. in 2015.

[johngolf]

I have said earlier, the main thing that drove me out of MA was the winter weather. The secondary thing was the cost of living. While I enjoy visiting (during the summer only), I would not move back there under any circumstances.

[elhelmete]

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

Do I miss Massachusetts? Well...yes and no.

<snip>

I was born in MA and spent 11 years of my life in a Boston 'burb where the majority of the population was Italian or Irish Catholic. We were anything but so we got a lot of derogatory remarks sent our way. Not everybody did that. I do recall many people who were fully accepting of us---people you would refer to as the salt of the earth. I am forever thankful for those folks.

My family moved outside the Mainland US at the start of my junior year of HS. It was a wonderful time for me. However, when it was time for college, I returned to Boston for several reasons. One was that I had my eye on a particular college since I was in elementary school and was fortunate enough to get accepted there. Plus, MA was familiar to me and as a very shy kid, that made me feel secure---that, and there was extended family in the area should I have a problem.

After college, I stayed in Boston where I met my husband---another MA native. We eventually moved away for job opportunities.

Now when we visit Boston, we call ourselves quasi-tourists because we visit places that we never visited when we lived there. For example, we finally got to the Paul Revere house and the Old South Church We can still go to restaurants that were there when we were kids. We do appreciate that! Where we live now, growth is out of control and nothing seems to last long when talking about restaurants and stores. In Boston, the jewelry store where we bought our wedding rings is still there as is the church where we married. I can visit the 'burb where I grew up and can easily find the house where we lived, which tells you that not much has changed over the years, with the exception of the occasional house that had popped up on the few empty lots here and there.

MA will always feel like home to us---no doubt about that. We do enjoy reminiscing about the things we did like. When that happens, we start talking about paying another visit---but never in the winter! I'd love to take our grandkids on the swan boats and to Durgin Park. If we get to take them there, they will be the 5th generation to have been there.

Many similarities to how I feel as well.

I came from a very typical immigrant family (grandparents came in the early 1900s) but not Irish or Italian. My first 30 years were spent in eastern MA. Went to public and Catholic schools. Was even a state employee for a while. So on paper I should have fit in but I never felt I could 'crack the code' so to speak, and fit in very well...hard to describe. I was not a townie and I did live in a few different towns in northeastern Mass and also went to a college where the majority of students were from out of state. I was on the shy side as well, though not overly. I was not a heavy drinker which as sad as that sounds may have contributed to the feeling as well. Anyhow...still felt not completely accepted.

At the same time, I was more involved locally than many of my contemporaries. I volunteered lots and lots, like I said I was a state employee, at one point could recite from memory all 351 cities and towns, always knew the history of whatever town I lived in, etc.

So I had a loving connection to and appreciation for where I lived but a nagging sense that I didn't fit in. Weird, I know. It persists to this day, even living 3000 miles away.

When we return for the holidays, each year I seem to recognize less and less. More chains, more out-of-staters in new subdivisions. We enjoy re-discovering the parts of Boston we didn't enjoy much as residents (even the duck boats!). On the flip side people (usually my wife's friends) have a hard time believing I'm a native, it's so odd.

[BOS2IAD]

Originally Posted by elhelmete

Many similarities to how I feel as well.

I came from a very typical immigrant family (grandparents came in the early 1900s) but not Irish or Italian. My first 30 years were spent in eastern MA. Went to public and Catholic schools. Was even a state employee for a while. So on paper I should have fit in but I never felt I could 'crack the code' so to speak, and fit in very well...hard to describe. I was not a townie and I did live in a few different towns in northeastern Mass and also went to a college where the majority of students were from out of state. I was on the shy side as well, though not overly. I was not a heavy drinker which as sad as that sounds may have contributed to the feeling as well. Anyhow...still felt not completely accepted.

At the same time, I was more involved locally than many of my contemporaries. I volunteered lots and lots, like I said I was a state employee, at one point could recite from memory all 351 cities and towns, always knew the history of whatever town I lived in, etc.

So I had a loving connection to and appreciation for where I lived but a nagging sense that I didn't fit in. Weird, I know. It persists to this day, even living 3000 miles away.

When we return for the holidays, each year I seem to recognize less and less. More chains, more out-of-staters in new subdivisions. We enjoy re-discovering the parts of Boston we didn't enjoy much as residents (even the duck boats!). On the flip side people (usually my wife's friends) have a hard time believing I'm a native, it's so odd.

Per the bolded --- I can relate! Like all kids, I wanted to fit in. Even the church our parents chose to take us to was filled with Boston Brahmins, some whose ancestors came on the Mayflower, and we stuck out like sore thumbs. Most of the kids at church went to private schools.

I grew up wishing that we lived in a more diverse area. Years later, my Dad admitted that we didn't fit in well where we lived. I asked him why we didn't move. He said we stayed there because it was affordable. What he didn't add was that he had a great commute to work.

As for the accent, my siblings and I certainly had it. We didn't realize how much of an accent we had until we moved off the Mainland. People were laughing at the way we pronounced certain words. One teacher held me up as an example of a regional accent. I had to pronounce words like "Haverhill" and "Worcester" and "Peabody". As a result, we worked on toning down the accent. Still, to this day, someone with a good ear can pick up the way I pronounce a certain word here and there then know where I was born

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

Per the bolded --- I can relate! Like all kids, I wanted to fit in. Even the church our parents chose to take us to was filled with Boston Brahmins, some whose ancestors came on the Mayflower, and we stuck out like sore thumbs. Most of the kids at church went to private schools.

I grew up wishing that we lived in a more diverse area. Years later, my Dad admitted that we didn't fit in well where we lived. I asked him why we didn't move. He said we stayed there because it was affordable. What he didn't add was that he had a great commute to work.

As for the accent, my siblings and I certainly had it. We didn't realize how much of an accent we had until we moved off the Mainland. People were laughing at the way we pronounced certain words. One teacher held me up as an example of a regional accent. I had to pronounce words like "Haverhill" and "Worcester" and "Peabody". As a result, we worked on toning down the accent. Still, to this day, someone with a good ear can pick up the way I pronounce a certain word here and there then know where I was born

Well, maybe I never really fit in either. But I do have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower and ancestors who settled as Puritans in early Newbury MA. My other side was more recent immigrants from England. That doesn't help. Seems that everyone else was Irish or Italian. I was the wrong religion, wrong ethnicity, ate the wrong foods, etc.

I think part of the issue may be that people tend to cluster into little enclaves and then they keep to themselves. No matter what town you move to, they all seem to know each other and are related to each other.

I'm not from the Boston area, but in WMass it's a lot of newcomers, especially from NYC. I don't fit in with them either! Probably I should have moved up to some place like Maine, VT, or NH where there are still a lot of old time yankee types. But I moved to CT a few months ago. It's worse than MA with all the little groups that already know each other and stick together. Maybe the weather is a little bit better, not so sure!

[CaseyB]

Sounds like you have the same sort of Puritan ancestors that I do. I grew up in a "wealthy" town and it was mixed - we had every ethnic group. Sort of defies the stereotypes.

[AtkinsonDan]

Originally Posted by elhelmete

So on paper I should have fit in but I never felt I could 'crack the code' so to speak, and fit in very well...hard to describe. I was not a townie and I did live in a few different towns in northeastern Mass and also went to a college where the majority of students were from out of state. I was on the shy side as well, though not overly. I was not a heavy drinker which as sad as that sounds may have contributed to the feeling as well. Anyhow...still felt not completely accepted.

Originally Posted by BOS2IAD

Per the bolded --- I can relate! Like all kids, I wanted to fit in. Even the church our parents chose to take us to was filled with Boston Brahmins, some whose ancestors came on the Mayflower, and we stuck out like sore thumbs. Most of the kids at church went to private schools.

I grew up wishing that we lived in a more diverse area. Years later, my Dad admitted that we didn't fit in well where we lived. I asked him why we didn't move. He said we stayed there because it was affordable. What he didn't add was that he had a great commute to work.

Originally Posted by in_newengland

Well, maybe I never really fit in either. But I do have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower and ancestors who settled as Puritans in early Newbury MA. My other side was more recent immigrants from England. That doesn't help. Seems that everyone else was Irish or Italian. I was the wrong religion, wrong ethnicity, ate the wrong foods, etc.

I never felt like I fit in growing up in Massachusetts either but in my case it was because I did not drink and I could not develop a passion for sports as either a spectator or participant as a kid. Earlier in life I thought alcohol and sports obsessions were a Boston-based phenomenon but now I think it is true almost anywhere in the entire U.S. I believe there are people all over the country who would be beyond miserable if they did not have alcohol and sports in their lives.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan

I never felt like I fit in growing up in Massachusetts either but in my case it was because I did not drink and I could not develop a passion for sports as either a spectator or participant as a kid. Earlier in life I thought alcohol and sports obsessions were a Boston-based phenomenon but now I think it is true almost anywhere in the entire U.S. I believe there are people all over the country who would be beyond miserable if they did not have alcohol and sports in their lives.

I used to think this was a Boston thing, then I lived in other parts of the country and found that alcohol and sports ARE NOT a big part of the culture around Boston compared to many other places.

[Christina311]

I miss my friends and family but I don't miss living there even a little.