Most similar and dissimilar adjacent towns and cities in MA?

[thenewtexan]

Dissimilar:
Lynn/Lynnfield
Springfield/Longmeadow
Framingham/Sherborn
New Bedford/Freetown
Fitchburg/Ashby
Lawrence/Andover
Boston/Needham

Similar:
Medford/Malden
Wales/Holland
Hatfield/Hadley
Methuen/Haverhill
Uxbridge/Northbridge
Palmer/Ware
Brookfield/East Brookfield

[bolehboleh]

I'd argue that Billerica, Wilmington and Tewksbury all look pretty similar.

[xo_kizzy_xo]

Originally Posted by 495neighbor

Similar

Dissimilar
Berlin/Marlborough
Lincoln/Lexington
Hingham/Weymouth
Milton/Quincy
Dover/Wellesley

Depends on which sides you're talking about. East Milton is more like Quincy and Neponset than the rest of Milton and actually was part of both until it was annexed to Milton back in the late 1800s. The Weymouth/Hingham borders are pretty similar too.

[id77]

Originally Posted by Boston Shudra

Hey, y’all. Yesterday I drove from Needham to Dover to Medfield and couldn’t help but notice how distinct each of the three towns looked. Like even without signs, I could gauge whether I’d passed from one to the other.

It got me thinking about how adjacent towns and cities in MA can be starkly different. Of course there are some obvious ones like Andover/Lawrence, but what are some more subtle ones? Maybe ones where you’d need to be a local to know the differences, but once you do they’re very apparent?

Conversely what are some of the most similar adjacent towns and cities in MA? My first thought would be the rural towns between Salem and Newburyport like Rowley and Ipswich, but I could be totally wrong.

Let me know your thoughts!

I'm impressed. Other than the bridge over the Charles separating Dover from Needham, there's no difference in feeling between the two towns. As you get deeper into Dover, it becomes a little more rural and equestrian, but near the town lines the difference between one town and the next is pretty minimal.

It's a gradual density shift, but very little stark changes from one town to the next. The one I can think of:

- Newton to Boston (Brighton), along Comm Ave where it goes from a 2-lane road to the 4-lane divided avenue or along Washington where homes quickly become brick and stone multifamily housing.

There's a couple subtle ones where one town's paved the road more recently and you can see the line there, but most are too subtle for my noticing.

[michael_j]

Originally Posted by mdovell

Springfield depends. The parts that border Longmeadow and East Longmeadow tend to blend. Obviously it doesn't look like downtown springfield. Just like if you drive down 16 acres and end up in Wilbraham it looks the same. It's a city of homes not skyscrapers all over the place.

Similar

Rockland/abington
Whitman/hanson
Scituate/Marshfield heck I might lump Hull into it.
Westwood/Dedham
Hanover/Norwell

Most of the hilltowns in the berkshires. Chester and Huntington for starters

Different

Lynnfield (different from most of the state, I don't think I saw a single CVS or Dunkin Donuts)

Hanson is much more rural/spread out than Whitman. Also Rockland is getting pretty different from Abington nowadays