Does the Worcester area feel Boston oriented? (Springfield, Somerville: schools, tax)

[massnative71]

I'll echo what others have said about the "eastern" Worcester area (Southborough, Westboro, even Shrewsbury to an extent) feeling somewhat Boston oriented. Worcester itself; and N, S and W of the city not at all really.

[Dave120]

Originally Posted by nep321

I am aware that Worcester is its own MSA. However, I also noticed that the Worcester MSA is part of the Boston CSA, which means that 15-25% of people who live in the Worcester MSA commute to the Boston MSA for work. Wow.

As I said, somewhat analogous to New Haven's relationship to NYC (independent MSA but within the CSA).

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by missionhill

People in central and western MA tend to think the Boston area crowd has little idea of what lies west of I-495.

But at the same time, do western and central mass people really know that much about the Boston area? Besides the general location of mike's pastry and things like that?

[Vanessamichaels]

Does the Worcester area feel Boston orientated? No. It's just cold like Boston is. Accents are just as bad. It's much much more boring then Boston is. It's kind of like a cold Tampa. Yuck. You are crazy to want to live there. But then again I can't understand why anyone would want to live in a place with dead leaves instead of palm trees. If you are gonna move, move south. Love the south.

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by iAMtheVVALRUS

But at the same time, do western and central mass people really know that much about the Boston area? Besides the general location of mike's pastry and things like that?

They don't now the particulars but they have an accurate idea of where Boston is, where Cambridge is, the north shore, the south shore, etc. Whereas in Eastern Ma people will call Springfield Central Mass, or pronounce Amherst with the 'h', and other shocking offenses

It's an unequal relationship too with the power and the money heavily in the east. It's not as though the Boston area folk are parochial either-- they know a lot about RI, Cape Cod and islands, they know New Hampshire pretty well and parts of Maine, but Mass itself beyond metrowest gets very murky. At least that's the stereotype. So the western Mass people will say they get slighted by Beacon Hill. And so on...

[gentlearts]

When I was growing up in Worcester, we hardly gave Boston a thought. Nobody I knew commuted to Boston for work. A trip to Boston was only an occasional thing.

[Shizim]

Originally Posted by missionhill

They don't now the particulars but they have an accurate idea of where Boston is, where Cambridge is, the north shore, the south shore, etc. Whereas in Eastern Ma people will call Springfield Central Mass, or pronounce Amherst with the 'h', and other shocking offenses

It's an unequal relationship too with the power and the money heavily in the east. It's not as though the Boston area folk are parochial either-- they know a lot about RI, Cape Cod and islands, they know New Hampshire pretty well and parts of Maine, but Mass itself beyond metrowest gets very murky. At least that's the stereotype. So the western Mass people will say they get slighted by Beacon Hill. And so on...

That's funny because its true. I know my fair share on NH and Maine. However, when a central/western town comes up on the news, I frequently look to my wife and ask if she has ever heard of it. and without fail the answer is ‘Nope”. and I have to look it up on Wikipedia.

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by Shizim

That's funny because its true. I know my fair share on NH and Maine. However, when a central/western town comes up on the news, I frequently look to my wife and ask if she has ever heard of it. and without fail the answer is ‘Nope”. and I have to look it up on Wikipedia.

There's an old-- very old-- saw about Boston people that goes like this: Arriving in San Francisco, the Bostonians are asked how they got there. "By way of Dedham," they answer, as if nothing after Dedham had been recognizable or memorable.

This one is so old it may date to the days before the Back Bay was filled in and people traveling "overland" went out over Washington St along the neck and then through Roxbury, Dedham, and so on.

[in_newengland]

The rest of the state mostly only thinks of Boston when we pay our taxes--to Boston. Otherwise people who live in places like Worcester usually never give it another thought. I lived just outside Worcester for a few years and never went to Boston, never wanted to. Boston tells us the Big DIg will benefit us? Boston tells us the taxes we pay to them will benefit us? No, people don't even go there, except for taking people from another country on a bus tour of Boston, and we don't relate to it.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by missionhill

Whereas in Eastern Ma people will call Springfield Central Mass,

Springfield isn't Central Mass.? People are chastised on this forum for calling it "Western Mass".