Is Eastern Mass. synonymous with suburban Boston

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:It takes us about 3.5 hours to drive from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, a little longer to Williamstown, which is about as far as you can drive across the state. So yes you can get from one end to the other in a half day.

In terms of visiting the key sights then no. A long weekend covers Boston. But it depends what you want to see.



It took me 3.5 hours just to get from Cape Cod to Boston. Took friends 6 hours to get to Springfield from Cape Cod. And we were in Chatham.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Western Mass (Springfield area). In my experience, it is very culturally similar to Eastern Mass. The main difference is that Western Mass has fewer narcissists and strivers.


By strivers do you mean people who want to do something with their lives? That is what striver means.


In much of Massachusetts the greatest aspiration is to live in the same town your family has been in for generations, do the same jobs and associate with the same people. Any deviation from that is suspect.


This is only about half right
Anonymous
Parts of western mass are very much Trump country. All of it is pretty racist.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Parts of western mass are very much Trump country. All of it is pretty racist.


This is true of every single New England state. Every single state period.

Who the phok cares.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:MA is divided up by: Cape Cod, Boston, Central, Western MA and +NY (aka the Berkshires). All very different vibes. Different times of year matter too. Boston is urban/city with adjecent suburbs. Central MA is Worchester and small bedroom communities for Boston. Western MA is the pioneer valley and 5 college area - small rural towns with either a fun college vibe or very depressed small towns with no industry or interest. Go FURTHER west to the Berkshires - beautiful rolling hills, culture with Tanglewood and cute villages but its mainly NY residence.

To answer you question - pretty much "eastern" MA is Boston. Having grown up in Western MA - we never ever called it "Eastern" MA. Anything east of Worchester was just "Boston".


It's Worcester.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It takes us about 3.5 hours to drive from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, a little longer to Williamstown, which is about as far as you can drive across the state. So yes you can get from one end to the other in a half day.

In terms of visiting the key sights then no. A long weekend covers Boston. But it depends what you want to see.



It took me 3.5 hours just to get from Cape Cod to Boston. Took friends 6 hours to get to Springfield from Cape Cod. And we were in Chatham.



I did the Chatham to Boston drive twice this week. Once was 2.5 hours, today was 1 3/4 hours. 3.5 sounds extreme.
Anonymous
I love visiting the state but western versus eastern is so different.

Western is more rural and country. Eastern is richer and more urban overall.

If I was visiting for one weekend, I would probably focus on Boston.

I do also love Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket and parts of Cape Cod for beaches.

And the Berkshires can be lovely as well as Pioneer Valley, depends on what you want to do.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It takes us about 3.5 hours to drive from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, a little longer to Williamstown, which is about as far as you can drive across the state. So yes you can get from one end to the other in a half day.

In terms of visiting the key sights then no. A long weekend covers Boston. But it depends what you want to see.



It took me 3.5 hours just to get from Cape Cod to Boston. Took friends 6 hours to get to Springfield from Cape Cod. And we were in Chatham.



I did the Chatham to Boston drive twice this week. Once was 2.5 hours, today was 1 3/4 hours. 3.5 sounds extreme.


Our mistake was leaving on a Sunday afternoon along with everybody else.
Anonymous
Eastern Mass is suburbia. Western Mass is more rural. Central Mass is the land that time forgot. The Cape is vacation territory and congested in the summer.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:MA is divided up by: Cape Cod, Boston, Central, Western MA and +NY (aka the Berkshires). All very different vibes. Different times of year matter too. Boston is urban/city with adjecent suburbs. Central MA is Worchester and small bedroom communities for Boston. Western MA is the pioneer valley and 5 college area - small rural towns with either a fun college vibe or very depressed small towns with no industry or interest. Go FURTHER west to the Berkshires - beautiful rolling hills, culture with Tanglewood and cute villages but its mainly NY residence.

To answer you question - pretty much "eastern" MA is Boston. Having grown up in Western MA - we never ever called it "Eastern" MA. Anything east of Worchester was just "Boston".


It's Worcester.


Worcester. (Wohstah)
Leiceste. (Lehstah)
Dorchester. (Doorchestah)
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It takes us about 3.5 hours to drive from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, a little longer to Williamstown, which is about as far as you can drive across the state. So yes you can get from one end to the other in a half day.

In terms of visiting the key sights then no. A long weekend covers Boston. But it depends what you want to see.


I went down once on A Friday for a wedding weekend and I think it was almost 6 from Logan. Utter misery.

It took me 3.5 hours just to get from Cape Cod to Boston. Took friends 6 hours to get to Springfield from Cape Cod. And we were in Chatham.



I did the Chatham to Boston drive twice this week. Once was 2.5 hours, today was 1 3/4 hours. 3.5 sounds extreme.


Our mistake was leaving on a Sunday afternoon along with everybody else.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Eastern Mass is suburbia. Western Mass is more rural. Central Mass is the land that time forgot. The Cape is vacation territory and congested in the summer.


Everyone forgets about the stretch from Brockton to Fall River. Which is similar to central or western Mass in a lot of ways except they can go to patriots games.
Anonymous
PS all these people talking about the different Massachusetts vibes should watch
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Can_F**k_Himself
Ostensivly set in Worcester but a lot of it was shot in Brockton. It took me a few episodes to get into it and it’s really weird but it does capture a certain feel of central MA and is a really great send up of the dumb sitcom trope of lazy blue collar overweight dumb giy married to gorgeous ever-patient loving wife.
Anonymous
Depends what you mean by Western Mass. I've heard people think of Western Mass as being the Worcester area, which it really isn't. Worcester has suburbs you'll find similar to Eastern suburbs but not as many upper end ones. Getting out to actual Western Mass, it's very rural. Farms, small towns, or small college towns. You'll find some MAGA, sure, but they are more likely to just go up North and settle in similar areas of NH where gun laws and the like are going to be more favorable to them. There's a drug problem, as you'll find in any type of rural community. But you can also find some great small towns to raise kids if that's the vibe you want. It just won't be an amazing school district and there won't be a lot offered. But life will be much more laid back. That differs very much from the Eastern towns where there are a lot of towns with a great school system and a lot to offer.

Granted I grew up in one of those rich Eastern towns and there was a drug problem back in the early 2000s so I can only imagine what it's like now.
Anonymous
I've heard people think of Western Mass as being the Worcester area, which it really isn't.


Such people are idiots.
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