• Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    63
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    1 month ago

    Oh no! #1 in cost of living and #1 in quality if life? And among the lowest poverty?

    Do people really just need social support to thrive? No way! It’s gotta be stuff! Cheap stuff! That’s what life’s all about!

    • Stovetop@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      25
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 month ago

      No arguments from me, that’s why I don’t want to live anywhere else.

      It does sting a bit to be stuck living with high rent in an apartment when my income would allow me to buy a decent house in another part of the country. But then I likely wouldn’t have this income in other parts of the country, either.

      When I moved back to the US from China, I immediately had health insurance thanks to Masshealth. Helped me have peace of mind while I was searching for a job back here. And now I get to work for an organization that helps other people land on their feet when big life changes happen, which is easier to do here than elsewhere.

      • zeppo@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        15
        ·
        1 month ago

        It’s pretty difficult to find anywhere in the US currently that has good jobs, good entertainment and restaurants, access to healthcare, good schools, and isn’t expensive. Sure, you can get a house cheaper in rural Kansas or something but then you have to live in rural Kansas.

      • frostysauce@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 month ago

        Very well said. I live in the other state from the meme and I’m broke af. I could be living in a better state and still be broke af but getting things from my taxes rather than them being used to put Bibles in schools.

    • Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 month ago

      Pretty easy to have high quality of life and low poverty if all the poor people leave because there priced out.

      • PugJesus@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        6
        ·
        1 month ago

        if all the poor people leave because there priced out.

        What an utterly bizarre take.

        • Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          1 month ago

          You got a better explanation? People are leaving Massachusetts and the cost of living is high . The most likely reason is that poorer people who can’t afford to live there any more are leaving. Otherwise why would you leave a state with such a high quality of life?

          • PugJesus@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            8
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 month ago

            The people leaving largely aren’t the poor, though. They’re the middle and upper class looking for lower taxes. They’re leaving because the high quality of life there benefits those with less money disproportionately compared to those with more money; public transport and good public schools matter less to the wealthy than to the poor.

            • Stovetop@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              1 month ago

              Will also add, not sure how big of a difference it makes, but the data in that article also captures the window of time when Mass implemented its millionaire tax. There was a lot of blustering from the 1% about moving out of state and taking the jobs with them; I doubt the last part but wouldn’t be surprised if a good chunk ended up leaving for elsewhere to avoid paying.

              Also worth looking at how the transition to remote work is a contributing factor. Since the pandemic, it’s no longer necessary for a lot of people who used to work in Boston to live around Boston, and so they can keep their high-paying jobs while moving to more affordable surrounding states (or even other parts of the country). That is definitely middle-upper class migration and it affected regions with high percentages of pre-pandemic office jobs the most, which applies significantly to Boston.

              That being said, I know anecdotally many members of my generation here in Mass (80’s-90’s Millennials) still live with their parents well into their 30’s, and those who did not have that as an option often resorted to moving out of state. Rent remains high and property is even higher, so it’s a waiting game to see if/when this bubble pops. Mass also happens to be close to the bottom in the US in fertility rate (which is not an inherently terrible thing) but speaks to the difficulty of starting a family here.

              I guess the medical care is just so good here that the old people aren’t dying off fast enough!

              • AA5B@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 month ago

                Every company I know are careful to watch where their employees live and adjust wages appropriately. That’s probably the real reason most are hybrid: if you have to come into Boston twice a week, can you really live up in the mountains somewhere cheap?

          • Freefall@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 month ago

            Supply and demand. High quality state is going to be more desirable and so more expensive, where the dumpster states that noone WANTS to live in are so cheap anyone can afford to live there, even if they don’t want to. I would rather bring the whole country up to MA standards, increasing supply of QoL, instead of bringing it down to OK standards because “bUt iT CheEp ThEir”.

          • AA5B@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            1 month ago

            I only know that my town has high population of immigrants and if blue collar jobs and we’re growing like crazy.

            I mean all the land was developed a couple hundred years ago, so we’re getting taller

    • tetris11@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      1 month ago

      Well, all it does is drive up the cost for the working class who live there who are then forced to move out.

      If you were born there, that does indeed suck. If you bought your way in there, it’s a win. If you were born there and can afford to keep living there, also a win

      • Not_mikey@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        ·
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        Not the worst but top 10 in inequality

        Also with the high cost of living most of the poor move out so that would make it seem lower then if you look at the inequality to the neighboring states where people may move to or the u.s. as a whole. Probably harder to find but it would be interesting to see inequality among people born in Massachusetts, including those who left. Would be interesting to see if there system is actually creating successful people, or if they’re just kicking out unsuccessful people and attracting already successful people from other states.

        • Malfeasant@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          1 month ago

          It’s why I left 25 years ago, as much as I liked living there, I couldn’t afford it. The house i grew up in is currently on the market for $2.5mil… my mom sold it for $400k in the 90s. All my high school friends have moved away, though some farther than others…

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 month ago

          The data certainly deserves a deeper look. It may also be because we just have that much more well paid jobs than what people generally think of as wealth inequality.

          I realize that looks inconsistent so let me explain. Most people think of wealth inequality as the different between the Bezos of the world and them. However in this case, I see their measuring by quintile but we have a ton of software and medical- maybe we just have bigger quintiles three and four. Still wealth inequality mathematically but very different from what people expect that means