MA residents are leaving the state (Boston, Lowell: renters, home, tech jobs)

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by H8t3rs

I live on the state line in westford ma. I do a lot shopping in NH though

Westford borders NH???

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Westford borders NH???

Not really, but it's a stone's throw to Nashua.

[timberline742]

Originally Posted by lrfox

We may end up in this camp. We'd like to eventually move out of our condo in Boston (and keep it as a rental property) and into a single family that's still walkable to transit, shopping, dining, entertainment, etc. We can't touch places like Somerville. We'd love Salem or Beverly, but unless something changes, we might end up priced out of there too. On the other hand, we can do pretty well in Providence and it's a city we know and love. It's becoming clearer that we'll have some level of hybrid flexibility and with what we want remaining out of reach in Salem or Beverly, we're starting to strongly consider Providence. Obviously before 2020, Providence wasn't an option due to the commute. I think there are a lot of people who are in a similar boat. I know several people who have bought in New Hampshire and Southern Maine because of remote/hybrid flexibility. The people I personally know buying inside of 128 are either very successful or have some big time help from their family.

No shortage of people making this commute daily, then and now!

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by lrfox

We may end up in this camp. We'd like to eventually move out of our condo in Boston (and keep it as a rental property) and into a single family that's still walkable to transit, shopping, dining, entertainment, etc. We can't touch places like Somerville. We'd love Salem or Beverly, but unless something changes, we might end up priced out of there too. On the other hand, we can do pretty well in Providence and it's a city we know and love. It's becoming clearer that we'll have some level of hybrid flexibility and with what we want remaining out of reach in Salem or Beverly, we're starting to strongly consider Providence. Obviously before 2020, Providence wasn't an option due to the commute. I think there are a lot of people who are in a similar boat. I know several people who have bought in New Hampshire and Southern Maine because of remote/hybrid flexibility. The people I personally know buying inside of 128 are either very successful or have some big time help from their family.

Providence is the move. I recently drove out to Lowell from Chelsea. Hadn't been to Lowell in a decade. The drive out there!? From the northern side of Boston (Chelsea) was still very long without traffic (I think it was Saturday at like 730pm)..wow wow wow. Might as well live in Providence cheaper and have much more to offer.

Especially for someone from the Southside of the city like me. No Brainer. I have many friends and family who have done so.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by timberline742

No shortage of people making this commute daily, then and now!

Oh definitely. But after getting comfortable with 15 minute work commutes, I couldn’t do a daily PVD-BOS commute.

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Providence is the move. I recently drove out to Lowell from Chelsea. Hadn't been to Lowell in a decade. The drive out there!? From the northern side of Boston (Chelsea) was still very long without traffic (I think it was Saturday at like 730pm)..wow wow wow. Might as well live in Providence cheaper and have much more to offer.

Especially for someone from the Southside of the city like me. No Brainer. I have many friends and family who have done so.

Yeah, for me it’s also closer to friends and family. Salem would be ideal from a commute standpoint (I’m near North Station - easy commuter rail trip), but Providence gets more appealing by the day.

[mdovell]

I've argued about population for a while but I think it's important to know that density is also another Factor at play and not all places of any state can grow. For example Pittsfield has been on a decline since about 1965 so it's not that surprising. The Berkshires as a whole has been on a decline since the 1970s. You want to have a place growing and if that doesn't happen it makes a little bit harder. Even with flatness that simply means that you're going to have people aging out and that's not good in long run. If you actually have shrinking that's where it gets to be even harder to tame inflation. Some of this does come across with the Trump Administration due to restrictions on immigration but even with covid changing and with a new president the amount of new international students is still not come back to what it was before.

It's someone related but I'll also argue that there isn't that much for new starter homes in the state. Especially when you go further out. So if you want to have more space you're either paying a higher rent so you simply moving further out.

I think we can easily infer that the overall cost of living is a significant factor otherwise we wouldn't have seen that much of an exodus to New Hampshire. Florida to a lesser degree but that also has much better weather or at least until the AC bills show up

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Incomes are much higher in the Bay Area though.. like Oakland has a higher median household income than Boston does..

That's probably just because of the higher number of single family household (students) in Boston.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by Lampert

That's probably just because of the higher number of single family household (students) in Boston.

Its not.

Child poverty is higher and family income in Boston are also lower. Objectively.
https://data.census.gov/table?q=bost...00000US0653000

The average family in Oakland makes 102k. The average family in Boston makes 92k. Right there^ 2021 data, Boston is just way more socially bifurcated an balkanized so the struggle of Boston's underclass is much less in your face to people on the outside of it.

Oakland also has a ton of college students living there fwiw. Housing costs are lower than in Boston too. There's a reason Oakland is gentrifying.

[BostonMike7]

I like MA, but i'll be honest that if i can get paid the same as I do now in a remote-type job, or find an in-person job in the same pay range elsewhere, that I would be tempted to leave.

It's not that I hate MA. But it's tempting to think i can sell my home here, and likely buy a mansion elsewhere. I'd also love to just escape winter. Snow is fun. But those 20 degree or less dark dreary days get old after a while.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

I like MA, but i'll be honest that if i can get paid the same as I do now in a remote-type job, or find an in-person job in the same pay range elsewhere, that I would be tempted to leave.

It's not that I hate MA. But it's tempting to think i can sell my home here, and likely buy a mansion elsewhere. I'd also love to just escape winter. Snow is fun. But those 20 degree or less dark dreary days get old after a while.

Agree. It's crazy what kind of home you can get in other states for so much less than here.