The major cities in Massachusetts are Boston, New Bedford/Fall River, Worcester, Springfield, and Lowell/Lawrence.
Except for Boston, the remaining cities are shells of their former selves: ebt-accepting convenience/lottery stores, pawn shops, check-cashing, drug-dealing, and single-mother welfare families. They’re microcosms of the future, post-apocalyptic America.
That’s the case for many second and third-tier former mill towns across the country.