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cdcyclist t1_jd7m0rp wrote

I would consider Sturbridge. It's a cool, busy town with hip restaurants. An hour on the nearby "mass pike" highway gets you to Boston or 30 minutes to Springfield. One of the biggest antique shows in the country happens a few times a year just down the street in Brimfield. Hikes in nature just a skip away in the Brimfield State Forest. Centrally located to many other towns for some job opportunities with again, easy highway access.

The ugly part of MA is imo entirely focused on cost of living. You will have stuff like excise tax on your car(s), and housing costs are outrageous unless you go WAY off the path.

I have inlaws in Western NC and going to see them is like driving into Trumptown. I figured the coast would be more progressive but I guess not! One thing I immediately notice is that in western NC everything is spread way out. Driving anywhere feels like it takes forever. If the coast is like that, you may enjoy that it takes far less time to get around Massachusetts. If you hit slow downs it's more likely from traffic around the higher pop areas than just long distances of road.

Good luck with your move!

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jroche1987 t1_jd7qcyr wrote

Just moved out of Sturbridge and can say with confidence it isn’t hip nor cool, pike was convenient and there are a lot of restaurants, seemed like a nice place for the 50+ crowd

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cdcyclist t1_jd8dg8z wrote

Yes, you're probably right. Hip is a relative term, I admit to being nearly 50. Not many younger folks find antiques interesting and such. It's not like a thriving downtown bar scene or something but it's way "hipper" than the boonies of NC or more locally a town like Ware or Monson.

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newestJourney t1_jdaftp9 wrote

Very true. Thought if I were out that way, I'd venture a couple towns over to Wilbraham, which has a bit less touristy vibe. Monson is nice to drive through from a nature standpoint, and Peaked Mtn is a nice hike.

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InspectorFun1699 OP t1_jdqkxbk wrote

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! This place sounds lovely - added it to my research list

ENC is def not more progressive. Probably about the same save for pockets like Wilmington in the east and Asheville area in west. We get mostly the Tucker Carlson-lookalike rich people with beach houses flying “Let’s go Brandon flags,” Trump-themed boaters/flotilla folks (not joking or exaggerating) and then the born and raised “rebel nation” country folks. people here absolutely love love love the local culture and I’m glad they’re happy, but I gotta get outta here.

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