Future of MA (Boston, Worcester, Springfield: renting, condominiums, buying a house)

[ChunkyMonkey]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Force towns to build more what?

More housing. One of the main reasons housing costs are so high is that many New England towns prefer to keep the "New England" atmosphere and are opposed to building high density housing and apartments for fear of overdevelopment and increased traffic. The state has tried to combat this attitude with an "anti-snob" housing rule that allows developers to bypass town regulations if enough of the units are affordable. However, it is only making a small dent in the housing supply.

[CaseyB]

Since the state has cracked down on the profits that developers are allowed to make on the 40B projects - we are starting to see less of them proposed, not more. You want to raise the percentage above 10 % because you object to the "New England" atmosphere?
Good luck getting anything like that passed in the legislature.

[findingmesomeday]

The main reason you don't see Pulte Homes, Toll Bros and other mass market home producers is that land is at a premium and most towns require large parcels of land per house. That's part of the New England charm. I've seen overdevelopment in Virginia and also in the NC area. Not attractive at all!

[ChunkyMonkey]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

Since the state has cracked down on the profits that developers are allowed to make on the 40B projects - we are starting to see less of them proposed, not more. You want to raise the percentage above 10 % because you object to the "New England" atmosphere?
Good luck getting anything like that passed in the legislature.

No, I think that the state should encourage high density development on rail lines as in transit oriented development, which will minimize traffic but still provide needed housing. If the Westons and the Wellesleys will lose their property values, so be it. We need to bring housing values down in the state and supply needs to be created in order to offset the demand.

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by neil0311

You guys keep making this all about economics and demographics. While there is definitely an economic and dempgraphic component involved, many people are making a decision to move simply based simply on quality of life, of which economics is an important (but not the only) factor.

I heard many of the same things from my friends and others living in MA before and now after we moved. People are not only tired of the high cost of housing, but also the wacky politics, poor weather, dicey schools, the poor conditions of roads (potholes, heaves, etc).

Since I kept my same job, it wasn't about a job. It was about wanting a better quality of life for myself and my family. I had no trouble supporting my family in MA, but I could do much better elsewhere, and not feel alienated by the politics.

I agree, a big factor of everything is economics, but that isn't always the whole reason. I know lots of people who are fed up with MA politics and the same "ole guard" that has been in office.

I found when traveling all over this country the quality of life isn't really better or worse in MA. There are lots of places that offer many different opportunities.

[LeavingMA]

Originally Posted by NChomesomeday

The main reason you don't see Pulte Homes, Toll Bros and other mass market home producers is that land is at a premium and most towns require large parcels of land per house. That's part of the New England charm. I've seen overdevelopment in Virginia and also in the NC area. Not attractive at all!

Lots of areas require 2 acres just to build a house. MA is also very strict when it comes to conservation land and other zoning requirements.

I agree that overdevelopment doesn't always make things look great, it really is a catch-22. If you want affordable housing around cities, you can't make land scare...but also don't expect 2 acre lots and lots of green area. One of my relatives is in a subdivision outside Atlanta, and I will add it is just as nice if not nicer than many subdivisions up here.

[googie]

We are in that "young family with children" demographic. We moved out to Washington because we thought the quality of life would be so much better. We did not do our research. We live in Spokane and cannot wait to get back to New England (Massachusetts, we hope).
The population out here is much younger but it is also much different. There are lots of "young Earth creationists" out here and if we stay we will have to keep watch that creationism is not taught in our daughters' public school science classes. The general attitude out here is "work and pray;" no time for fun. I've never met so many 25-35 year olds whose main social activity is bible study.
The roads in Massachusetts are paved with gold compared to the crap out here. Never mind the potholes the rest of the year, in the winter they don't plow! Right now we have 5 inches of snow on our road and it won't get plowed. They figure that cars will eventually wear it down. That never happened to us when we lived in Mass.
We are plotting our return to New England. We don't mind if the cost is higher and the winters are hard (we find the winter here much worse -- we haven't seen sun since well before Christmas, seriously), the quality of life is so much better. The west is beautiful, but I miss New Englanders' quick wit and welcoming attitudes (we've lived in Washington, Colorado, NH and Massachusetts and the people in New England were far and away the friendliest). I hope we will be able to get our children back home soon!

[findingmesomeday]

Originally Posted by LeavingMA

Lots of areas require 2 acres just to build a house. MA is also very strict when it comes to conservation land and other zoning requirements.

I agree that overdevelopment doesn't always make things look great, it really is a catch-22. If you want affordable housing around cities, you can't make land scare...but also don't expect 2 acre lots and lots of green area. One of my relatives is in a subdivision outside Atlanta, and I will add it is just as nice if not nicer than many subdivisions up here.

I don't think the charm of New England is duplicated anywhere else--though certainly other places have equal if not more charm/attraction in different ways. I've lived in New England, the midAtlantic, the south, the west, the southwest and the pacific northwest. Other than not liking anything about the desert, I found something attractive in every place I've lived.

That said, "leaving MA" could be my user name, too. I'm tired of the weather, the cost of living here and the loony politics. It's almost 65 degreest today and instead of rejoicing, I'm depressed because I know this can't last. I find it harder each year to enjoy fall for the same reason---I know what's coming!

[brightdoglover]

Dunno if politics are any less "loony" anywhere else. My guess is all local politics have their own flavor, and you can't know what it is until you live there.
I think I read that there are some 250,000 college students in the Boston area. Of course, some are local people, but many are from elsewhere, and they likely never intended to stay here.
I do like the general intellectual environment (although I'm missing a lot since I left Cambridge). There's so much access to matters of the mind, and bookstores (pre-Internet), that a lot of people, I think, become well read and well informed whether they're here in college or not
I also like what I think is considered New England reserve, although I find that I seem to be friendlier/more informal than many people. I guess snooty is snooty anywhere, and equally unappealing in whatever form you find it.
Winters don't bother me. Summers here do- more humid every year.Not necessarily hot, but sticky and hazy. My goal is to figure out a way to go to the Mountain West for the summer. (I also hope to be reborn as a princess, but that's another story).

I just plain like New England, which feels like a singular region with local centers like Boston. I like the physical environment, the intellectual environment, the intellectual history. I am glad I worked out a way to afford housing (at first, it was work overtime a lot, now it's just in the saddle full-time until retirement, although I did try to set it up differently). When I'm a older person, I am glad for the access and quality to medical care.
I do wish there was a way to increase blue-collar employment, like skilled manufacturing, but I think that's an issue in many places.

[litlux]

When I couldn't afford to live in Boston anymore, I moved out west, to the Berkshires, where I found a perfectly delightful little cottage for $50K.

I would rather be in Boston, but life is a series of trade-offs and I didn't do too badly in the end. And out here in the rural west, my milk and eggs are a lot fresher than before.

So I am still in Massachusetts and now I consider Vermont and upstate New York to be my neighbors, good neighbors, too!