Neither

I don’t understand how people talk like this if they’ve lived in Massachusetts for a long time.

This entire winter has been mud season

Yea, I added as part of the description "some bridges and tunnels have tolls"

Maybe because not everyone drives? We do have the gas tax though, which is not nearly enough for road upkeep

Budget needs to be double what you have now if you want good schools and a home that doesn't need major work within commuting distance.

Anyone know if this will be updated in TurboTax? I’m not sure where I would enter this manually.

I really wouldn’t pay too much attention to those school rating sites that assign numbers to schools. They tend to be heavily based on standardized test scores, which means they are essentially just a proxy for the wealth of a town.

Remember that MA has the best public schools in the US. Even an “average” or above average school district in MA is quite good by US standards.

The other reality is that even in towns with a big income range (and therefore lower average standardized test scores), the middle and higher income kids still have good outcomes. It’s the lower income kids that unfortunately tend to be more likely to struggle, in large part due to reasons outside of school.

The US has shown me it will always put profits before people

You're going to need a lot more money.

He's too handsy and sexually assaulty for the female clientele.

Less money on cops, more money on schools and busing. Easy.

I grew up in the Midwest. We started hugh school at 8:15 and finished at 3:15. Sports etc. ran 3:30-5 or 5:30. Winter sports are indoors anyway (swimming, basketball, hockey) so it didn’t matter that it was dark by the time practices ended.

That is a much better schedule for students, teachers, and parents than the outrageous 7:10-1:45 schedule Worcester has.

Western Mass is great, just know outside Amtrak getting you to CT, NYC and a little into VT you are driving around here. There’s a bus system that isn’t bad but there’s no transit to central or eastern mass and some of the area was hit hard by the pandemic so it a in recovery mode, but pushing forward. Also the housing stock is far more older homes than new but with that price if you can buy something lower than your budget and fix it up you’ll be good.

Just find a CPA.

I had a house in Ashland and loved the area. It has a great school system and I could be in cambridge in 30 minutes except during rush hour. I work 6-2 so it was fine but if I left the city after 4:30 it was an hour commute easy. But that will be the case anywhere if you are traveling at that time.

Marlborough

This is the tale of my two brother in laws. Same school system, the same activities, everything. One was challenged by his parents, went on to get a master's at MIT. The other one, the parents gave excuses for his laziness, got high daily in college and flunked out. It's not the school, it's the parents who make the kid.

Two kids I went to school with,(I went to a highly rated school) one graduated top 5, spent all his time in the music suite, went to Julliard; still at 38 years old playing gigs for near quarters in Manhattan. Another kid, graduated in the bottom half, didn't go to college, but had spent all his time in the business wing of the high school, started a concrete business at 18, and a real estate business a few years later; if I had to guess he makes more a day than the top 5 kid makes in a month.

I think the real key is to nurture your kid and find a house within budget; being stressed about money isn't good at all. Being able to save in your retirement plan, 529 plans, etc will pay off better than almost any public school compared to another.

He's not even from Boston.

I am not saying we should add more tolls. I am simply saying that tolls are not really the reason MA is expensive, that’s housing costs. Tolls here are pretty typical by the standards of a lot of east coast states.

There’s also a teacher shortage. Schools often want smaller class sizes and some have funding for it, to a degree but they can’t get adequate staffing.

“Good parents raise good kids”

Could not agree more. We are in Massachusetts. You will get a great education in pretty much most schools here as long as you have parental support at home.

Haverhill vs. Northampton is a no brainer. Haverhill unfortunately is heading in a not great direction these days.

Westbrook, ME has a super walkable downtown. It's not a "cute" downtown and the park gets a bit methy, but it's not like there are homeless camps there. Good beer there at Mast Landing.

Brunswick is great college town with a great walkable downtown. Traffic there in the summer is tough if you are trying to do something away from Bowdoin - other than that it's a great option.

They can film you and you sign after.

If your budget is under $700K and you want “excellent” schools within an hour to Cambridge, you’re in a tough spot. Most public schools in MA are pretty good. Good parents raise good kids. I would look at Quincy. We got our house for $600K in a quiet neighborhood. Our kids are still in daycare but all our neighbors sent their kids to NQHS and they are all in quite successful careers now (engineers, finance, law, etc). I work in biotech and know a few people who went to NQHS.