Have lived in Southbridge most of my life and do not consider myself or my friends poor or trashy, thanks. We have a library, hospital, full time police and fire unlike some surrounding towns. There are two supermarkets, Big Y and Big Bunny on either end of town. The RMV is right in town which is convenient. Crime is not high (I went to law school and had access to those records, and many surrounding towns have more violent crimes and keep them hush hush), and anecdotally I have literally walked through town at 3 am when I was a sixteen year old girl and felt perfectly safe (nothing happened). We have tons of restaurants (mostly pizza and donuts lol). There is community theater. We have Southbridgefest and autumn fest for local crafts and little carnival rides. There is a building where they teach artists on Main St. The Starlite cafe on Hamilton hosts showings for art and photography. There are bars and trivia nights at same. The Pike is literally about five minutes from my house and we have never had a problem getting there. The town/activities are what you make of them. The schools do currently suck. However, you said you don’t currently have children and if you or others considering the town do, school choice is always an option. There’s also a Catholic private school in town for another. Most people who talk smack about Southbridge don’t know the town at all.