What do people in western mass think of people in eastern mass (Boston: real estate, house)

[pat2004]

Do they think the state likes eastern mass better

[tysmith95]

Wait, you mean there are people who live past Worcester?

[massnative71]

I thought Worcester IS Western Mass?

[FCMA]

It's obvious the state focuses on Eastern Mass. This makes sense given the population density and metropolitan orbit, but doesn't make it right to let Western Mass infrastructure decay and underfund public transportation options and addiction treatment facilities and for legislators to generally ignore the region and its unique concerns.

My perception is that people in eastern Mass have a lot of stress, given that you essentially have to be wealthy to live comfortably there now, and commutes can take over an hour to go 10-15 miles. When I was young, the COL was not so unbalanced and there was not a huge difference between real estate prices in different parts of the state. In lieu of being wealthy, you can also be older and have bought your house for nickels in the 70s through 90s in Somerville or the leafy suburbs and have it paid off by now, though the property taxes will still send you to the food pantry to make ends meet if you're a mere member of the five figure income peasants.

Eastern Mass is great in many ways. Good thing it's a tiny postage stamp of a state and I can get there in under two hours when I want to. The reverse is also true, but luckily Eastern Massers are in large part profoundly geographically myopic so don't show up in large numbers out here since many think they're already here once you cross 495. What they're actually approaching is Central Mass, which does a pretty good job of acting as a force field to make wayward eastern Massaholes think "Western Mass" is really boring.

[goolsbyjazz]

Growing up in western mass we always knew the state favored the East. State funds, in our opinion, never made it past Worcester.

[LexWest]

Originally Posted by tysmith95

Wait, you mean there are people who live past Worcester?

Year round?

Believe it or not, there are people in Eastern MA that hardly think about anything outside of Rte 128 (Because I-495 is too far!

It's probably no different than downstate NY and Upstate. NYC, Long Island, Rockland and Westchester residents don't think of it unless they're planning a romantic getaway or decide they need a second home.

[xo_kizzy_xo]

According to a friend who was born/raised and still lives in western MA, "We side more with VT and NY state. Eastern MA doesn't give a **** about us if you think about it and it's because everything's centered around Boston."

We also have friends who've recently moved to north central MA. They say that it's like living in an island out there "because Boston's too far away" and "Yeah, there's Worcester, but we're kind of far away from there too."

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by xo_kizzy_xo

We also have friends who've recently moved to north central MA. They say that it's like living in an island out there "because Boston's too far away" and "Yeah, there's Worcester, but we're kind of far away from there too."

Unless your friends are living in limited access towns like Barre or Petersham, they simply lack inertia. Plenty of people in central MA not only dabble in Worcester/Boston's various 'scenes', they also work there.

[xo_kizzy_xo]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

Unless your friends are living in limited access towns like Barre or Petersham, they simply lack inertia. Plenty of people in central MA not only dabble in Worcester/Boston's various 'scenes', they also work there.

1. They're in a limited access town.
2. They only have 1 vehicle.
3. They both work in excess of 20 miles in opposite directions from their home, which requires serious transportation juggling.
4. If it's indeed inertia, I can't blame them with all that commuting shenanigans.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by xo_kizzy_xo

1. They're in a limited access town.
2. They only have 1 vehicle.
3. They both work in excess of 20 miles in opposite directions from their home, which requires serious transportation juggling.
4. If it's indeed inertia, I can't blame them with all that commuting shenanigans.

It sounds like they need a second car, unless disabilities are an issue. As someone living in central MA, my partner having a car is critical to our overall quality of life - lacking a second vehicle would severely limit our social and professional opportunities. I.e., your friend's reality is not the reality of most in the area, at least those in good health.