What is Life Like in Massachusetts? (Possible Vanity???)

12/11/2012 | Me

[ducttape45]

I wonder,,,,,,, what would life be like in Massachusetts?

Yep, I got a job offer from Westover AFB. Not sure what to make of this; I normally don't apply for jobs in a highly liberal state like Massachusetts. I don't even remember applying for this one. I currently live in central Indiana.

From a federal job standpoint, looking at the possibility of sequestration after Jan 1st, it's not as bad as I had feared. It would actually give me more options if I'm rifted into out of it within the first year I'm on probation.

However, from a financial standpoint, the cost of living is much higher out there and could offset any raise in my pay. Plus I gotta look at the political climate. It's very, very liberal out there, and taxes are much higher than here.

I got some research to do, which is why I posted this here on Free Republic. I'm hoping there are some Massachusetts Freepers on here.

Thanks.

[wbill]

Well, I grew up in Maine. I moved away to: 1) Escape the weather. 2) Escape the idiots from Boston (and NY, Conn, NJ). But mostly Boston.

Few things that might take getting used to.... the weather is bad. Always. Took me moving out of state to realize that sometimes the weather can be good.

Taxes stink. Politics stink. This shouldn't come as a surprise.

People don't speak unless spoken to, thus giving Yankees a standoffish reputation. However, the directness is also refreshing. If a Yankee says, "Hey, I'm glad to see you.", then he *is* genuinely glad to see you.

If they say nothing, then they still may be glad to see you and just didn't feel the need to comment on it. :-)

I moved to the south - which I love - but conversation here is an art form. For years, I'd step on people's toes by coming directly to the point - a statement such as "Hi, I'd like a cup of coffee, please." - can be offensive. Five minutes of chit chat about family, kids, weather, sports, etc....then a polite "When you get a second, could I please have a cup of coffee?" is the way to go down here, hoss.

[who knows what evil?]

You pay taxes there and NH just elected another Democrat Governor and turned the state legislature over to the Dems - the Dem majority are ALL in favor of an income tax, sin taxes, any kind of taxes - so that advantage may not last long.)

Thanks for that reminder...two DEMOCRAT Congresswomen (Kuster and Che-Porter), and DEMOCRAT Maggie (pronounce it right) Hassan as Governor (three far, far, far left moonbats)...and NY'ers and Mass people consider NH a refuge??? There's another clue re: Massachusetts.

[9YearLurker]

I think what kind of people you find in a place often says something about you yourself. I take it that PrairieLady2 is a lady in how she treats others.

[taildragger]

Ahhh Chicopee...

Grew up a few towns away, get back about once a year.

* Heed the warning of the gent w/ the gun-laws stuff, it really sucks.
* Chicopee was prodominately Polish at one time with A+ rated Credit Unions, I have no idea now, as many industries are gone.
* I am in SE Michigan, IMHO Springfield is as close to Detroit as a City than people may wish to realize. Downtown in the late 70's thru the early 90's was a cool place to be. Now it is a War Zone.
* To your North Skinner Mountain, Great Restuarants in "No-Ho" but warning it like San-Fran if ya get my drift.
* The 5 College region is cool, but I am so over it.
To your west, Westfield etc and the Berkshires, beautiful, ditto that Turners Falls and CT River up to VT.

But I have been to Indiana, it is culturally conservative, you are in for culture shock.

The lay of the land it beautiful ( especially from the air if you are a pilot ) but other than that is is a socialist-cesspool. It pains me to go back and know one of the cradles of Liberty gave us the template for Obamacare, other new and weird stuff, and a Trigger Lock on a Flint Musket in the State House.

I Wish I had a better view for you, but I have to honest...

[ClearCase_guy]

I'm not sure anyone has mentioned the issue of church-going, and I'm not sure how important that might be for you.

MA is a bit of a Christian wasteland. Sure, there are lots of churches around, and there is some attendance at those buildings. But, too often, what is preached from the pulpit is not Christianity. I once attended a fine church (Methodist), with a very good pastor --but he retired and was replaced by a woman who openly doubted the existence of God, preached about the importance of tolerance toward homosexuals regularly, and was deeply, deeply concerned about the souls of our pets.

I have similar stories from 3 other churches. I don't feel tied to a particular denomination and so my difficulties have not been limited only to Methodist congregations. I've had to do a lot of "church shopping" as good leadership within a congregation is replaced by bad leadership.

If you want a Bible-centered church, it can be difficult (but not impossible) to find one in MA.

[woodbutcher1963]

Duct, I have lived in southern NH for 26 years. Mass is a beautiful state with a bad govt. However, do not let this scare you away. The weather is colder than IN, but the summers are great. Springfield is a dump. My brother inlaw grew up there when the Italians ran the city. Now it is run by the Spanish speaking immigrants. The only reason to go there now is Six Flags and the Big E(state fair for New England).

To the north, west and east of Springfield there are great places to live out in the country. Stay away from Amherst if you do not like liberal college types. I was in West Brookfield(northeast) a couple weeks ago for a wedding. It was a picture poscard town. To the northwest of Sporingfield are the Berkshire Mtns. This area is full a great places to live and raise a family. Also, outside of the major cities there are many conservative folks just like you and me. The moochers all live in the cities. That is where all the crime is too. The country towns are just like other places. The Mass public schools(outside the cities) are some of the best in the country.

The big difference is you can be in NYC in 2 1/2 hours. You can be at the best ski areas in Vermont in 2 hours. You can be in Boston in 2 hours. You can be in Newport, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in 2 hours. You can be at the beaches in CT in 2 hours. These are the reasons why it is more expensive to live. There is a lot more to offer than other areas of the country.

[ducttape45]

Well, so far, you've all pretty much confirmed my suspicions, and I honestly appreciate your inputs. I got one more person to ask, and that requires some time on my knees in prayer.

Again, thank you to everyone who participated.

[who knows what evil?]

I think what kind of people you find in a place often says something about you yourself. I take it that PrairieLady2 is a lady in how she treats others.

ROTFLMAOPIMP! You're rolling out THAT old canard? I have lived in New England, the south and the west...the cultural differences between NE and the rest of the country is like night and day. Both my wife and I can discern the difference between generous and welcoming southerners and cold, unwelcoming arrogance of New England's people. My wife was BORN here (the poor thing), and she feels like a stranger...the good and caring conservatives of NH are pretty much gone. The people elect fanatic pro-abortion pro-sodomite anti-Christians to office; they give Zero four more years to finish destroying the country, but I'M the problem?

Give me a break. Any decent conservative foolish enough to move to NE will regret it in short order. But that is their decision, not mine. I can only opine...

[johnthebaptistmoore]

It’s worth it to cheer on the New England Patriots, too!

[MIchaelTArchangel]

Friend,

You may not have applied for the position at Westover Air Reserve Base. If you posted your resume on-line, someone at the Air Force Personnel Center may have found your resume, determined you met the minimum qualifications for that position, and submitted your resume to the hiring supervisor.

Whenever someone tells me they were offered a position for which they did not apply, I always tell them: This must be a difficult to fill position. Why do you suppose the position is difficult to fill? The usual answer is that the pay minus the cost of living is much too narrow. The federal civil service pays people based on grade and step. The step is really little more than longevity pay.

Too often federal employees grades are not commensurate with the pay in the private sector. Some such as public affairs people are paid too much. Others such as scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians are paid too little. The result of this imbalance is an influx of people who cannot do better in the private sector and an outflow of people who can do better in the private sector.

A numbers of years ago I accepted a position at Hanscom AFB. I was appalled by overall lack of capabilities of the average government civilian employee. The program managers were in the business of making up excuses as to why their programs were overbudget, behind schedule, and when delivered the systems often did have the required features. (Yes, acquisition reform has addressed these issues, but not all that well.)

The people in Massachusetts were, for the most part, angry, nasty, unfriendly, and rude. The people at Hanscom AFB did not play well with their counterparts—those people developing electronic systesm for command and control, for combat support, for IT, etc.—in hte Army, in the Navy, and in the DoD. The program manaagers often went out of their way to sabatoge competing programs in the Army, in the Navy, and elsewhere in the DoD.

The cost of living was in the stratosphere. Housing, fuel, and food were much higher than in the Heartland.

The politics is controlled by secular progressives a/k/a socialist thugs. For example, you will probably be earning too much to qualify for “affordable” housing. That means you will have un”affordable” housing. You will pay more to subsidize those in “affordable” housing.

Those in “affordable” housing often are young couples or roommates who enter a subsidized apartment between graduation from college and starting their first job. Their income at that time qualifies them for subsidized housing even if they will soon start a job that pays six figures.

We lived in a small town where a couple each had a job paying north of $80,000.00. They worked hard to get their two young sons flagged as being “autistic” because they were “developmentally disabled”. The older son had trouble saying certain words. The younger son had trouble running without tripping. Both sons are IMHO normal. So why did the parents shop for a doctor who would document their children’s “disabilities”? The couple gets what are called “crazy checks” for each son—about $5,000.00 a month for each! Oh, and there is no real process to reassess the two sons. Therefore, the parents will get about $10,000.00 a month until their sons turn 18 (or if they go to college until they graduate!)

I was exceedingly happy when my Uncle Sam decided to send me to Afghanistan!! The Afghanis are much more civilized then the Massholistanis.

[ClearCase_guy]

One other point -- in the event of Defense cutbacks, I think it is likely that MA will lose an AFB. There has been talk that Hanscom AFB might be at risk, but Westover may also be vulnerable. You may already have insight into this issue, and your timeline may make such concerns irrelevant (BRACs typically don't happen overnight).

Just something to think about, if you were to move to MA, possibly buy a house, and then have your AFB shut down, you would find yourself in the western part of the state with limited opportunities. Springfield is very far from the job opportunities which encircle Boston.

[onona]

My daughter went to school in Worcester. I gave great thanks when she finally graduated and moved out.

[re_nortex]

My daughter went to school in Worcester. I gave great thanks when she finally graduated and moved out.

I've been all over Massachusetts from the Berkshires in the west to the sodomite community in Provincetown on the Cape. Though there are some pockets of good Christian Conservatives in scattered places, the state is largely comprised of anti-God, anti-gun, anti-life, pro-homosexual liberals. Massachusetts is best characterized by this rogue's gallery forming a montage of faces of evil:

And Massachusetts, like all of its neighbors of the Northeast, is a FORCED UNIONISM state which means any worker sacrifices freedom and liberty to serve the slavemasters of Big Labor:

[johnthebaptistmoore]

The last time there was actual “political ideology balance” in the Massachusetts State Legislature was in 1946. Ever since then, Massachusetts, within BOTH the state Democratic Party and the state Republican Party, has been “all leftist, all of the time”, with full conservatism being a profound minority. Avoid discussions on politics, with the majority of people for the majority of time, and you will do fine. Unfortunately, I see what happened this November, at the national level, as equal to what happened in Massachusetts in 1946. If this is the case, then the entire U.S. will be “all leftist, all of the time” for many decades to come, and it won’t really matter where non-leftists live throughout the U.S. I DO hope that I’m very wrong about this prediction.

[Seizethecarp]

I would consider it to be an honor to work on any US military base. The military is drawn from and is representative of red counties as much as it is of blue counties of the nation.

Westover AFB was just down the Mass Turnpike from my home from 2nd grade to 8th grade in the Berkshires on beautiful Western MA. Almost all of my relatives live there and they are nice enough, but hopelessly liberal and all voted for Obama...so we do NOT talk politics “to keep peace in the family” as my ex-father-in-law used to say.

Unlike IN you will have a lot of varied geography within a day drive: Montreal, Canada, Coast of Maine, White Mountains, Cape Cod, NY City. There are a lot of Revolutionary War and Indian Wars sites to visit.

I left at age 18 (hate the cold and lack of leaves from Oct to May) but my mom lives in a cabin in the woods in north central MA so I get regular reports.

For example, although the state authorities don’t trust citizens to hunt with high powered rifles, they do allow deer hunting with bow and arrow and musket and provide separate seasons for each! Moose, bear, beaver and mountain lions have returned to the woods surrounding her cabin.

[9YearLurker]

Isn’t your map a couple of states out of date?

[re_nortex]

Isn’t your map a couple of states out of date?

It's the latest from the Patriotic organization, National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Several months ago, NRTW updated it to include Indiana which passed Right to Work earlier this year.

Otherwise, the map is current for what now officially exists. What other states did you have in mind?

[AllAmericanGirl44]

I find myself in total agreement with everything you’ve said!
I had moved there with my then husbands transfer and ugh, they are NOT kind to ‘outsiders’, at all!
Every single family that was transferred there either
1. ended up quitting
2. got divorced
3. the wife stayed behind in whatever state they came from

And ALL of us felt the cold winds of the elites in MA
I would NEVER ever ever live there again - ever!
5 years was more than enough!

[9YearLurker]

As of sometime today, Michigan?

[who knows what evil?]

When my wife and I moved to Tennessee; we had to hit the laundromat to get some clothes clean before we began the ‘moving in’ procedure. A lady at the laundry took note of my wife’s accent, and asked her where she was from...my wife responded that we were moving in from New England. Her response? “Welcome to Tennessee!”