People are leaving Massachusetts in droves. Who are they?

[msRB311]

Um, the doom and gloom is based on rising costs, not just in MA. Nothing we can do about that.

As has been mentioned COL here is already very high along with pretty much everything else. People can complain if they feel like it. Looks like gas prices are rising as well.

MA does not seem to be in any trouble and I guess that's part of the problem...because of that the cost of living/real estate/rent will not be going down.

[MtPleasantDream]

Sunday night I took Uber from Logan airport to my home (inside 495), and it cost me $150 plus tips.

I guess services are a lot more expensive than before, but fewer people are willing to use them.
If it was not a rainy night, I would have used public transportation even if it takes much longer.

[msRB311]

ha there was one night not long ago my husband was going to uber home from Logan and it would have been $170. Insane, sad and pathetic.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by G-fused

Lots of doom and gloom on this thread. MA has been good to me and I am happy here.

I heard a report on a radio program this morning that most (over 50%) of Boston residents rate their living experience as High or Very High. And another report named a few MA towns on the top of some "Great Places to Retire" list, and another report named a few MA towns as Best Places to Raise a Family.

There are way too many contradictory views to make anything valid so I go by my experience and I like it. My kid does not...so, he should do his thing and live his life and go wherever makes him happy. MA isn't the right chouce for some and is for others. In terms of the population or people leaving the State, I don't see that at all. We are always in need of more housing and better infrastructure to handle the population. I don't think MA is in any trouble, we are easily one of the richest States in the Union by many measures.

Take your negativity somewhere else and don't blame anyone for your toubles but yourself. Take responsibility and take action. I can make a good life and be happy in any State.

Welcome to the internet!

In all seriousness, people like to reduce complex issues to a single point. This thread is no exception.

MA was good to us. We were happy there. We'd both rate our experience as "very high." Yet we're still among the "leaving the state in droves" statistics. We'd go back for the right opportunity (though we are happy here too). But for now, we get more bang for our buck just across the state line and that was enough to justify the move.

[Iced_Coffee]

Originally Posted by lrfox

In all seriousness, people like to reduce complex issues to a single point. This thread is no exception.

This is the absolute truth. Most issues are highly nuanced and complex, yet here and elsewhere on the internet, people try to reduce everything to a binary matter. Good/bad, Left/Right, etc. There's very little room for detailed or in-depth discussion because so many people just want to jump to their preferred conclusion.

[msRB311]

I don't think there's any denying that costs of basically everything are going up at a rapid pace.

I get that some people don't like negativity...but burying one's head in the sand on real issues is not healthy.

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by Iced_Coffee

This is the absolute truth. Most issues are highly nuanced and complex, yet here and elsewhere on the internet, people try to reduce everything to a binary matter. Good/bad, Left/Right, etc. There's very little room for detailed or in-depth discussion because so many people just want to jump to their preferred conclusion.

Among other reasons because most of them they are seriously uninformed, and also intellectually dull. No critical thinking involved. What snippets they see on the boob tube or phone are all most people absorb. "Us vs them" is a safe mental space for many people because they don't have to think about reality or take responsibility for their own roles.

[Iced_Coffee]

Yeah, people seem willing to do just about anything to avoid putting in effort to learn and/or think critically and objectively. Us vs them is indeed as you say. It's easy and takes the un-fun thinky analyze-y part out of the way.

[G-fused]

Originally Posted by Iced_Coffee

Yeah, people seem willing to do just about anything to avoid putting in effort to learn and/or think critically and objectively. Us vs them is indeed as you say. It's easy and takes the un-fun thinky analyze-y part out of the way.

I don't care about any of that...I just wanna WIN!

[BostonBornMassMade]

For Boston: https://www.boston.com/community/tel...n-boston-good/


A recent poll conducted for the Boston Policy Institute between April 8 and 14 through landlines, cell phones, and text invitations, asked 600 registered voters in Boston about the performance of Boston Public Schools, tax rates, and their views on quality of life and direction of the city.

Overall, 79% of voters said that the quality of life in the city is positive — 14% called it ‘excellent’ while 65% called it ‘good.’ On the other side of the spectrum, 14% of voters said quality of life was ‘not so good,’ and 5% called it ‘poor.’

Most voters surveyed said they were likely to stay in Boston long term, and also said living in Boston is better or the same as five years ago.

Voters gave the city strong performance ratings for public safety, employment opportunities, and social justice and inclusion. However, they gave other high-importance issues, like cost of living, affordable housing opportunities, public transportation, infrastructure, and the public school system low performance ratings.

“There’s clearly work to be done but if I’m sitting in the mayor’s office, I’d feel pretty good with where I am right now,” said John Della Volpe, a national pollster who conducted the survey, to CommonWealth Beacon.