What is the friendliest town in MA???

[wanderer71]

This question and the replies are making me laugh. Okay, so I have the opposite experience of what you're asking. I am from MA / Boston and have moved away. I didn't realize "I/We" Bostonians were so *reserved* until I moved to other parts of the country and become *annoyed* by people wanting to talk to me in the grocery store. This fake friendliness is so annoying! I am obviously a Bostonian through and through because I have no time for small talk. When I first moved to the countryside of NJ (yes, NJ) I was literally taken aback by the friendliness (read: nosiness) of my neighbors. People are way friendlier in central NJ than in MA. I've also lived in the southwest and the southeast; both areas, super-friendly, and to me, it's mostly annoying!

I think *reserved* is a different thing from being rude or unfriendly. There's a big distinction. Bostonians are not rude or unfriendly by and large (unless they're driving, and this is so obvious to me when I am back driving in MA/NE...OMG!)

I'm a reserved person and I am fine with this personality style. So, to the OP, I'm sorry I didn't answer your question but I wanted to weigh in on the experience of moving away from the area and then seeing it differently/with a different perspective.

[Raiderman]

Although originally from California, I spent 20 years or so in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island. My wife is a born-and-raised Rhode Islander. We moved to Nevada almost 3 years ago. For the first 6 months, we thought everyone had an "agenda" here, since they were so nice! Grocery store clerks, pedestrians, even the DMV workers! Just about every person we encountered in public made some sort of friendly gesture from a simple wave, to a "hey, how are you today?".


We decided it's the weather. 330+ days of full sun makes it hard to be "grumpy". And, I agree with the above about New Englanders being "reserved". Some view it as stand-offish or cold. That's a cultural "colonial" thing, I believe. Where we are now, people are from all over (very few people are from the Las Vegas Valley originally), so it's a true melting pot, but it seems that even the transplanted New Englanders and New Yorkers become much more outgoing and "friendly" if you will once they've been here a bit.

[baystater]

Originally Posted by harricanfloyd

We are a hard people my friend lol. We are hard on ourselves as well as others. Comes in handy when someone actually has your back...

Originally Posted by OrganicSmallHome

Traditional New Englanders are not, historically, people who are in-your-face "friendly." They do, however, tend to be straightforward and no-nonsense. And I like that. Shows a respect for privacy and is non-hypocritical. I'm from Texas, originally, but have been in New England for 30 years. Wouldn't live any place else. Every time I have to return to Texas (which was a blue state when I was coming up), I have to steel myself in preparation for all the "friendliness," which is fine from folks I know well (family, neighbors, etc.), but just about drives me out of my mind when it comes from strangers.

Originally Posted by jeff22152

I grew up in Massachusetts and Connecticut. I think what's really being discussed here is the reserved nature of many New Englanders, which can be perceived as "unfriendly" to someone from another region of the country. By and large, folks in New England -- especially natives -- are known to keep to themselves and mind their own business. As a result, there's generally less social interaction between neighbors or between strangers, for example, in a grocery store, than what one might find in the South.

So, maybe the OP's question might be phrased differently: what's the least reserved town in MA? For that, I have no answer.

These.