Boston is a nice city. It's the people that aren't so nice. Having blue laws in place doesn't make the state conservative. Look at your federal elections. The results say a lot. BTW, here in FL, there are still dry counties, which means NO alcohol sales. We also still have plenty of counties with blue laws. So do many places in the country. There are some good people in Mass, but I wouldn't live there...
I had a girlfriend from Nashville who thought Bostonians were cold and standoffish. I went to visit Nashville with her and I was annoyed at what I considered to be fake hospitality and insincere friendly behavior. It is just cultural perception I guess.