Current Events > Is Massachusetts really worth it anymore?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I can't afford this state, lived here my whole life, but the average home is like 400k if not more now. North Carolina and most states are half that. Western MA where I grew up is more reasonable. Crime rates go up in cities like Springfield and Holyoke and do across the state and prices go down. Rhode Island, NH, and Vermont are more reasonable. I could move there but still pricey compared to the rest of the country.

I really don't want to live in the south. Most cities have higher crime rates in the south. Surrounding areas are cheaper though. But you can really do the same living in Springfield MA. Hampshire county where I grew up was really perfect. The people and everything were nice and down to earth. I live in Worcester county which has skyrocketed as far as cost of living the last 10 years though. And the people are less friendly. less to do etc, etc. It's just closer to Boston is why.

It would be fine if i got in at the right time and did, but due to the recession and life and dealing with people from other parts of the country. Cost of living also skyrocketed here. I should have stayed off the internet.

come to cali. 1 million dollar homes, but at least it ain't boring!

---

It sounds like you already know what you wanna do. Is something holding you there, like a job or friends or family?

Finding the perfect balance of home price and crime rates (in a big city) is gonna be tough. Once an area like that exists, people all want to live there and the home prices go up. So you're basically finding the next up and coming area before it's too up and coming. I've heard Milwaukee is kinda growing. My cousin was about to buy there but something else popped up.

FWIW home and rent prices have shot up quite a bit in the last five or so years where I live, too. I'm in central Ohio, so it's not quite as bad as MA, but it's been like 30% I think.


---

THis is the thing I move to New Hampshire or Vermont what goes on in those states? New Hampshire is pretty hopping now. But Vermont isn't unless you really like cold and want to live in Burlington way up there. I could move to Rhode Island and might. It's not much cheaper than here though. Taxes go up in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Western MA was really good but even that has gone up in price. If I never moved and lived there my whole life it would have been good.

Worcester County is really a whole lot of nothing. There's leominster and worcester and boston to the east and Providence to the south. It's pretty central to everything. It's also doubled in price the last 10 years.

I'm pretty much smack dab in the middle of new england which had my plan worked would have been fine. But unfortunately life happens and people. It wasn't really massachusetts that screwed me over either although it's complicated and I truly wonder sometimes.