Is Massachusetts a one-trick pony? (Boston, Worcester: price, housing, station)

[mdovell]

There is a term called "shiny object syndrome". I'd argue that people shouldn't be obsessed with given industries to justify it.

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

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

You're listing gentrified former working class towns. In 1980, those weren't desirable. There are still remnants of that in many of those towns.

These are the towns that pretty much define the Boston area. Gentrified in price only. It hasn't translated to better infrastructure, housing or anything worthwhile for the residents.

[FCMA]

“Gentrified in price only.” Perfect description of the metro Boston real estate status quo. 1970s split levels on a bland tree-lined street for the low low price of $1.2 million. Comes with the assurance that NIMBY town boards will go to the ends of the earth to uphold exclusionary zoning to protect your precious investment with its black mold infested basement from the plague of unwashed poors with under $150k HHI.

[bostongymjunkie]

As an aside, I don't recall Weston, Wellesley, Winchester, Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord being "working class" in the 1980s. I recall them being places where upper middle class Judges, physicians, MIT scientists, university administrators and wealthy entrepreneurs lived. There were certainly some working class people sprinkled in, but they were not working class towns by any stretch. But there are plenty of former working class towns with Rodeo Drive values, like Burlington, Woburn, Stoneham and Andover.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by massnative71

These are the towns that pretty much define the Boston area. Gentrified in price only. It hasn't translated to better infrastructure, housing or anything worthwhile for the residents.

Good point. A town like Milton for example has always been nice but the prices there are very high but nothing has changed. If anything it's gotten worse. The public schools are crowded with kids sitting on the floor, a new school needs to be built. Traffic is awful, complaints about traffic on the Facebook page everyday and I've experienced it myself. I sometimes tell people I'm from Milton and the response is often oh Milton is nice or Milton is fancy. There are some fancy parts but I know they mean oh yes Milton is nice and expensive. But it hasn't really changed or gotten better in decades. It's just more crowded now.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by FCMA

“Gentrified in price only.” Perfect description of the metro Boston real estate status quo. 1970s split levels on a bland tree-lined street for the low low price of $1.2 million. Comes with the assurance that NIMBY town boards will go to the ends of the earth to uphold exclusionary zoning to protect your precious investment with its black mold infested basement from the plague of unwashed poors with under $150k HHI.

Gentrified in the suburbs means tearing down the modest homes on smaller lots that you seem to hate and replacing them with enormously overbuilt houses that barely fit. It is happening in more and more towns these days.

[msRB311]

Well in the nicer towns yes it seems like you get a dated house for 1 million + that is apparently unlivable for many so it gets torn down and replaced with a 2 million + home.

[FCMA]

Originally Posted by jayrandom

Gentrified in the suburbs means tearing down the modest homes on smaller lots that you seem to hate and replacing them with enormously overbuilt houses that barely fit. It is happening in more and more towns these days.

That’s what I was getting at. I guess now it’s just the poors who can merely afford the $1.2 million for the moldy corpse of a formerly working class house but not the additional $2 mil to replace it with something large and often tackier - but at least the new one is mold-free. Big values to be found around Boston, the greatest, most vibrant world-class city on this big round earth. I mean where else has contributed Dunkin Donuts to the global cultural conversation?

[mdovell]

Dunkin' Donuts isn't nearly as common as other parts of the country and even parts of the region. Once you go into western Mass you just don't see as many of them. It lost the war against Starbucks for simple truths. Starbucks does not sell Donuts. But Dunkin' Donuts does sell lattes. It wasn't always that way. Dunkin' Donuts doesn't even focus on Donuts anymore it's something of the past. The days of places to drink coffee on ceramic cups and plates and have a smoke while reading the newspaper are long over

[bostongymjunkie]

Dunkin's is widespread up and down the east coast from Virginia to NH and ME. Not sure why Western MA wouldn't have many but Worcester does. Save for Northampton, working class Western MA does not strike me as a Starbucks crowd.


Edit: Just looked and there is at least 10 in the Springfield city limits and a half dozen in Pittsfield.