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Old 07-16-2008, 12:24 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati, OH
33 posts, read 193,850 times
Reputation: 20

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I use to live in MA before the service sent me all over the place... And I'm still trying to figure out why the cost of living is so high in MA..or New England for that matter! What does MA bring to the table that makes it worth living here? Please try to be objective.
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Old 07-16-2008, 01:10 AM
 
Location: Cambridge, MA
4,883 posts, read 13,763,577 times
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Real estate gets only more expensive because "they're not making any more land."
Where, until the 1950's, were the "vegetable baskets of the Northeast" located? Answer: Long Island and New Jersey. Where are they now? Answer: California, Argentina, New Zealand...having to ship meat, produce, and indeed most comestibles from across the country and around the world means higher grocery bills.
I'm rising to this bait all the more because of being a native Cincinnatian, born in one of those places that is "great to raise kids in" but the kids count the days until they can bail out. Mass. has beaches, Cincinnati has The Beach. Greater Boston is home to such educational titans as MIT, Tufts, Wellesley, Berklee ("the Harvard of jazz"), and Harvard ("the Berklee of liberal arts"), just to name a few. The OKI Tri-State hosts UC, Xavier, NKU, Miami...some noteworthy schools such as XU's MBA program and UC's pioneering co-op program and engineering/architecture/design departments (and CCM) but hardly a national - let alone international - academic magnet. (Those bent on sexual assault and suicidal drinking are making a beeline to Oxford from all over now, seemingly. Nice, real nice.) Western Mass. draws hordes of serious music lovers to Tanglewood while southwestern Ohio brings immortals like Dave Matthews and Sheryl Crow to Riverbend. Boston Marathon, or Flying Pig? I could go on, and on, but you get the "pickcha."
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Old 07-16-2008, 04:36 AM
 
Location: Tolland County- Northeastern CT
4,462 posts, read 7,973,037 times
Reputation: 1237
All of the Northeast has a high COL- the 'BosWash' corridor is simply one of the most desirable places in the nation to live. You have the great cities of global renown, Boston & New York- the US Capital, some of the greatest concentration of culture and educational institutions in the nation and the world.

In New England you have some of the most progressive states on social issues, scientific discovery, environmental preservation and human progress. Some of the 'smartest states' states are located here; we have states with the highest quality of life in the nation, some with the highest quality of life for kids and Seniors.

You have close proximity to the Sea, with great beaches and the recreational opportunities the ocean brings. Mountains are short drive away in New England. Plus you have the shortest distance anywhere in the USA to western Europe.

Land is not being made again- it is becoming tighter in supply, as goguy has said and the cost is high.

New England has a high COL- but for many reasons that are not difficult to understand.
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Old 07-16-2008, 06:52 AM
 
3,075 posts, read 5,626,488 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Time2Settle View Post
I use to live in MA before the service sent me all over the place... And I'm still trying to figure out why the cost of living is so high in MA..or New England for that matter! What does MA bring to the table that makes it worth living here? Please try to be objective.
The high cost of living is New England is really because of the scarcity land and the density of the area. Everything is really quite close together, whether it be the beach, mountains, or cities. If you head to say Texas the cities are very spread out and their is lots of room and land to still build and grow. In MA or New England if your looking at the close suburbs to Boston and can't afford it, you have to go out further to say the 495 area or even further west...but your still usually less than 60 miles away from many things. Still, though in New England and MA there isn't many places to go.

The high cost of New England has little or nothing to do with "it being a more desirable place to live". I'm not saying it is better or worse than anywhere else, just that their isn't enough land in this area to provide for the demand and the population. You will find in the future even other cities and areas that were once considered a bargain or cheap will be very expensive due to the fact the buildable land was utilized all around the city.

Last edited by LeavingMA; 07-16-2008 at 07:04 AM..
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Old 07-17-2008, 06:02 PM
BGF
 
57 posts, read 203,105 times
Reputation: 44
For me, it varies. There are days when I'm really glad I'm in Boston. I have lived all over the place, and the people here seem very open and friendly. Then I when I go back to my piece of crap apartment that cost me $1000+ a month, I get really depressed thinking that my money is flying out the door and not even getting me a nice place to live. It is the only place I could find on the Internet, and it's about the crappiest apartment I have lived in since grad school.

If the high cost is driven purely by the fact people are moving here in droves because of the good jobs, then this place is worth the high cost. If, however, the high cost is driven by the fact that land is becoming scarce, eventually employers will relocate to cheaper places especially if they are getting the same amount of productivity out of workers in both places.
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Old 07-17-2008, 06:52 PM
 
Location: Chaos Central
1,122 posts, read 4,097,158 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BGF View Post
If, however, the high cost is driven by the fact that land is becoming scarce, eventually employers will relocate to cheaper places especially if they are getting the same amount of productivity out of workers in both places.
They've done it - witness the en masse relocations to North Carolina - yet people still flock to the Northeast wanting to live here, despite the high cost of living. As others have said, the combination of lots of educational institutions, cultural events, mountains, seacoast, etc. are very interesting to some folks. And if you have friends or business overseas it can be a relatively short non-stop flight to Europe.....

It's a good thing some people flock the other way towards FL and CA, or they wouldn't be a square inch to live on out here
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Old 07-17-2008, 07:47 PM
BGF
 
57 posts, read 203,105 times
Reputation: 44
Oh, yeah, please name a few companies. It's not that I don't believe you. I just haven't been here long enough to absorb such things through osmosis. I read MHT all the time, and if you believe what they write, you'd think that MA is a high-tech, bio-tech, and finance nirvana. In a lot ways, it probably is. I just need to find a nirvana job in Cambridge instead of out in the boonies.
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Old 07-17-2008, 09:26 PM
 
Location: Massachusetts
9,503 posts, read 16,403,784 times
Reputation: 14498
I left Mass over the high cost of living, and I have never really understood why it has to be so high. New England sure as hell is not know for its pleasant climate like Calif is. All in all though I think Mass and New England for that matter are a much more desireable area to live in. When one lives in other states they sure find that out fast.
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Old 07-18-2008, 05:56 PM
 
4,948 posts, read 18,643,264 times
Reputation: 2907
The truth is Boston does have alot to offer: Health care, public Transportaion,
however, to make ends meet, the taxes are real high. The average worker does find it real hard to make end meet. That is why people leave. How many people have the money to live, pay bills, heating and live? The winter is also cold and dreary!
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Old 07-19-2008, 06:32 PM
 
Location: Beautiful New England
2,412 posts, read 7,160,199 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeavingMA View Post
The high cost of living is New England is really because of the scarcity land and the density of the area.
This is not exactly true. While it is true that population density in New England is somewhat higher than many other states (and thus land is at a greater premium) one of the primary reasons driving up prices in the region is the fact that New Englanders (moreso than people in most other parts of the nation) strongly support very strict zoning laws that limit real estate development, therefore making such development very difficult and expensive. These zoning laws preserve much of the natural beauty and historical character in many areas, but they also impose a regulatory constraint on housing supply and, hence, drive up the price. Many of the leafy 'burbs of Boston have lots of open space and houses on big lots...and astronomical prices tags because land use rules severely limit the supply of additional housing. The state could liberalize zoning rules and open the doors to more housing construction. Prices would fall significantly, but many places would see their physical beauty and charm adversely impacted, and traffic would increase in many communities.

Demand is generally high beaches of reasons others have cited: quality of life, institutions, desirability of the BosWash corridor, proximity to desirable attractions, etc. The bottom line is that despite their high prices and other drawbacks, places like Connecticut and Massachusetts remain, overall, desirable places to live.
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