Massachusetts or New Hampshire? From the midwest... (Boston, Worcester: real estate, apartments)

[FCMA]

Originally Posted by panchilly

Marlborough is a town for the poor

Last I checked, Natick still has the leftover poor too. They’ll die or flee soon and signs are pointing to unbearable tech bro parasites winning the day, even if winning simply means being able to be snobby about attaining an old ranch that a janitor could aspire to 15 years ago. Except speaking of the janitor, and tangentially relevant to the topic, he was probably able to cash out already and move to a nice house in small town NH and his job skills are transferable to a place with garbage internet and he is likely a happier human being than the suckers overpaying to live in his old digs in washed-up Massahole suburbia, so sometimes it all evens out.

[OutdoorLover]

Originally Posted by panchilly

Marlborough is a town for the poor

Don't be ridiculous. Marlborough isn't a fancy town, but there's noting wrong with it, and upscale towns in this area are among the most expensive in the country.

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

Don't be ridiculous. Marlborough isn't a fancy town, but there's noting wrong with it, and upscale towns in this area are among the most expensive in the country.

People don't realize that even in the "poor" towns you can't be a homeowner without deep pockets unless you bought your house 30+ years ago.

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by nic012

Thank you! Does this area also have any dog-friendly walking trails? I think that would be nice to be able to take our husky out on walks. I'm sure he would like a more of a nature trail type of scene than his cookie-cutter neighborhood walks back home

The whole region is laced with dog-friendly walking trails. A bike path would be only one of many options and not as good as many for walking a dog since you'll have bikes whizzing past. Callahan State park is several hundred wooded acres in Marlborough and Framingham. There are various reservoirs with trails through the woods around them including Sudbury and Wachusett Reservoirs. The wildlife refuges don't want your dog and there are quite a few of those in the region too but so many other options. Every town has its parks and conservation lands too.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

Don't be ridiculous. Marlborough isn't a fancy town, but there's noting wrong with it, and upscale towns in this area are among the most expensive in the country.

The problem is that it's currently a terrible value prop when neighboring towns have superior school systems (or rankings, to be fair to the teachers), similar job access, better housing stock, and near equal COL.

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

If you're looking at Google Maps street view of Massachusetts, do you see the two semi-circles around Boston? The one closer to Boston is 128/95. Inside of that circle is (for the most part) the densest, most expensive residential areas in Massachusetts...

Charolastra's post is a great geography primer.

State Route 128 is the circumferential highway around Boston-- A loop highway or what they call in DC the "Beltway." After 1972 when other planned expressways were cancelled, the highway department routed two different interstates over portions of 128. Now most of the western/northwestern portion is also Interstate 95 and another portion south of Boston is labeled I-93. Rt 128 had lots of associations for people who've lived with it all these years and keep referring to it by the original route number.

[GeePee]

Originally Posted by panchilly

Marlborough is a town for the poor

people who obsess over labels and status will die poor no matter how much money they have accumulated.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

Nothing is so rural in eastern Mass that you are driving more than 10-15 minutes to a grocery store or CVS - and there's even a 24 hour grocery store in Marlborough! I may live in Marlborough, but I do most of my grocery shopping in Sudbury (Whole Foods) or Hudson (Market Basket). The nicer mall is in Natick which isn't too far - the Marlborough Mall is super depressing with a lot of stores closing up, although that leaves me hopeful that maybe Trader Joe's or Wegman's will set up shop. That's my biggest complaint - the closest Trader Joe's are a bit far for my liking (about 25 minutes give or take traffic) and Wegman's is slowly expanding throughout the Boston area so the closest one is in Northborough. Not far, just not convenient.

There's a Trader Joe's near the Whole Foods in Shrewsbury. From Solomon Ponds to TJ is 15 minutes

Speaking of malls, the one in Marlborough is amazing compared to Greendale Mall in Worcester!

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by nic012

Hi. Could you do me a favor and expain inside/outside 128 means? I've seen it said a couple times in the thread but when I pulled up a MA map real quick, I didn't see a major highway called 128 that was my guess that that phrase meant.

Rt 128 overlays Rt 95 which is why you don't see it on most maps.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_Route_128

If you zoom out on a Map of eastern MA, you'll see I-95 and I-495 form a pair of rings around Boston. You'll see a lot of references to being inside/outside 128/95 or 495. It's just a way of describing distance from downtown Boston.

[panchilly]

Natick, Burlington, Billerica, etc were formerly towns for the poor working class but are now solidly middle class towns. They aren't wealthy towns they are merely solidly middle class towns.

Marlborough is still a town for the poor.