Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

metalandmeeples t1_j1z1g9e wrote

Reply to comment by Antnee83 in Newcomers to New Hampshire and Maine continue to drive population growth: More people are dying than being born, so population growth depends on people moving in from elsewhere by TurretLauncher

I suspect there's some deep rooted jealousy/resentment in anyone who makes that statement. Massachusetts, by almost every measurable statistic aside from CoL, is one of the best states in the US.

24

furrylandseal t1_j1z9z9x wrote

Yes. This is the kind of grievance that the far right exploits in order to manipulate the masses to hate people they think have a higher social status than they do. Whenever I see the recurring “masshole” theme here, I cringe because the most important lesson of history is this kind of bullshit leads to dark places. When you press them to explain it, they can’t. MA did nothing to them, and if anything, they are ME’s most valuable ally. We don’t see all this hate for NH, which is full of hard right militia neo-Nazis. But what they don’t have in NH is a large prosperous city to resent.

Good jobs bring large populations of skilled people and, in turn, a higher CoL. People-y and expensive are things that Mainers dislike the most. Life is full of trade-offs. People in MA trade 12 hours of their day schlepping to and from their jobs, which they have to in order to afford their housing, and they have little to no free time. Mainers have all of the free time but less of the money. Nobody is actually happy. But I’ve never heard a MA person diss Mainers. They love ME, think of the people as really friendly, helpful, down to earth.

10

ZingZongZaddy t1_j20os2f wrote

>But I’ve never heard a MA person diss Mainers.

Oof. Try working in customer service, bud.

6

OurWhoresAreClean t1_j1z275q wrote

>Massachusetts, by almost every measurable statistic aside from CoL, is one of the best states in the US.

Which is exactly why you can't trust statistics to tell the whole story.

−14

metalandmeeples t1_j1z2gg3 wrote

What do you trust then? Personal anecdotes? Statistics may not tell the whole story, but they certainly tell the current ending.

10

jqpeub t1_j1z79qy wrote

Listen I see how they drive when they come up here. I know! They got them little beady eyes, they're all thieves I tell you!

1

OurWhoresAreClean t1_j1zaxth wrote

>What do you trust then? Personal anecdotes? Statistics may not tell the whole story, but they certainly tell the current ending.

I'm just pointing out that there are some things that you can't quantify with statistics, but that doesn't necessarily make those things unimportant or irrational.

I like the laid-back, kinda not-moving-with-the-times feel that this state has, and I believe that importing residents from Massachusetts would thoroughly ruin that, but that's not something that can be expressed on a spreadsheet. Does that mean it doesn't matter? Or that it's wrong?

So yeah, you can come up with any number of data points that "prove" Massachusetts is better, and while that might satisfy an economist, I remain unconvinced. I think that saying "Maine is nice because it's not Massachusetts" is both perfectly valid and perfectly indescribable using numbers and stats.

1

joeydokes t1_j1zjk4k wrote

Your same observations could be made for Vermont. Where much of the northern half is salty and Hicks in The sticks, the southern half trends more to the manicured look; with very different expectations.

1

OurWhoresAreClean t1_j1zo9c6 wrote

Yup, New Hampshire too.

1

joeydokes t1_j1zr1nf wrote

Moreso even, considering proximity to Boston/N.Shore

UNH grad and 5yrs little Squam area resident before moving to VT; which is uniformly pastoral . Southern NH, unlike lakes region or whites' is really developed; less greenspace between hamlets, more billboards... :)

3

raggedtoad t1_j1zfq7g wrote

The Netherlands is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live, by every measurable statistic.

I've lived there. The statistics are true. But fuck no I don't want to live in a densely populated country that is completely flat and half made of reclaimed seabed. It also has a ton of bureaucracy and a very high cost of living. You probably won't ever be able to afford some land with your own home there unless you are a farmer.

So yeah, 100% statistics don't tell the whole story. That being said, western Mass is a lot like Maine and I would have no problem living there.

−1