it would give you an edge over other candidates where I work

Personally, I think the appointment system is great. I know I won’t have to wait for hours.

Never heard of a quiet farm myself and the woods are only still there because they're a protected hospital burying ground.

Real classy area and you can listen to the sounds of all the Dascomb road industrial traffic all day.

No, I live in Attleboro, work in Cambridge. Commuted by train/redline for a year, then car for a year, now WFH with occasional drive-in.

I’d thought about living in Greater Boston/Providence but don’t think I’d acclimate well to carless life (esp with two small kids), and I really dislike driving in the city.

The Lodge are experts at making the complex look great on the internet. Posting pictures of the resident lounge and leasing office making it look like floor to ceiling windows in every unit.

I see that Joan’s Farm does the same “quiet country woods and rolling farmlands”. GTFO with the shit hahah

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lol I grew up in there. Things have changed even since 2019 (assuming the watermark thing is legit on the Orange pic).

Not sure if that place on the right survived. The brick building on the left does have some businesses in it now.

It’s too bad people can’t fathom that “global” doesn’t mean local either. 🤦🏼‍♂️

In either case I think the problem exists more broad than some politicized argument; nobody is coming up with solutions either, we are all stuck leaving a footprint for food, basic energy needs, commuting, etc.

I used to think this too. But then I had the misfortune of having to deal with the registry departments of Virginia, North Carolina and Ohio. No one should have to go through that! Northern VA is the worst.

I really don't mind the MA RMV anymore. The appointments make it quick and most things can be done online.

We always enjoyed Twisted Fork on Stafford Street

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Most are political hacks who hold election signs for someone. They don't have to worry about job security.

Honestly it depends on where you are looking to work.

I worked for a health insurance company in Central MA and there's no way "hair of an un natural color" would have gotten you a job. And would have gotten you fired had you done it after hiring. But I worked for another company is Worcester county that had no issues with dyed hair, tattoos, piercing's etc. Granted that company also has a VERY high turnover rate and lays off a majority of their cs and sales reps every fall right before Thanksgiving, and then has a Hiring Event every spring. Retail? No problem. Restaurants? No problem. Professional offices. Problem. Heck. I know some horse stables that will not hire people with dyed hair, tattoos, or piercing's.

They don’t require an in person visit for a license renewal, unless you are upgrading to a real ID (which in person is directed at federal level for id verification) or your picture has aged so long it’s no longer relevant.

Source MA RMV https://www.mass.gov/how-to/renew-your-drivers-license

I work for DMH and have full-sleeve tattoos and unnatural hair colors. As others have said, really depends on the climate of the workplace, but you should be fine.

Lmao Lodge wanted so much money for 'the view' and kept negging for committment to 'our next home' or whatever for like $3,000/month. It's a lot cheaper to hang a picture of a lake on the wall and live in a complex with better people and decent maintenance.

Still looked better than Joan's Farm though, the whole place is designed and decorated like a coffin and you could hear the air moving around the next apartment through the walls. $2,400/month they were asking, new they said. One maintenance manager, if you wanted your mail or packages you had to go outside to the central building for mail and pick up packages during business hours. I guess they considered the smell of manure from their farm across the parking lot to be a big enough perk.

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They hate peoples

Ledger in Salem is the move

Pretty vague, but if you're interviewing to be a Lawyer or psychiatrist or something, they probably would appreciate a more conservative look. If you continue your career in art, I doubt anyone would bat an eye.

Was there renting for a few years, do not recommend. There is something in the water that makes the whole town weird.

Pros:

Good library, nice farmers market in the season.

Cons:

People say good access to whatever highways and train stations, but really they mean pick one and add 10+ minutes local driving to get to another. Pick a place and see how you'd have to drive to get somewhere far away? Along 495 is fine, maybe along 93, but if you want anywhere else you'll have to drive all the way through Tewksbury and Billerica to get to the west of Boston or drive 10 miles down 93. Pretty much every other suburb town has better access to anywhere. To go north locally, you have to drive through south Lowell, which can be a hard drive.

Just getting around town, it's all 38. If you live near 38, you will not sleep peacefully. At night it is a straight stretch of unused road, and road rallys were a frequent occurence. It's a major route so even if it's not a rally there's constantly semi trucks, ricers, pavement princesses, and generally bad sounding cars all hours of the day. Liable to get worse as traffic increases. If you don't live near 38, you'll have to get out of your neighborhood to get to 38, then get somewhere. There is no tram system and the bus system is primarily for 38. They've paved some sections recently but despite it being the biggest road in their town they still can't maintain it well. It will destroy your cars suspension system and you will hate coming home. There is not much in the way of biking to get places, you will most likely be killed.

If you want single family zoning or "dense" """"luxury"""" apartments, great. That's all Tewksbury has. Your rent goes up as much as possible every year and they don't care. Of the complexes I looked at, the cheapest one raised prices over $600/month over two years and never had any vacancy. Consider the people that you'll have living in that town. They're either wage slaves or isolated older lower middle class that tend to be very tribal and only come out of the woodwork to resist change. I met some nice people there but in terms of community it's harder to find. The long term residents had community before it got to be such a mess so they still feel it's available but what they know is not what you will get.

In terms of recreation, you go elsewhere. Every other town or city in the area has better nature to see and better activities to partake in. The restaurants are mid-tier at best. People say they're good but I tried most of them and wasn't very impressed. They're not bad, but not great.

In terms of looks, their town hall is ok, but anything outside of that is commercial hell scape. Nothing but road and roadside businesses. You quickly get the feeling that you're not supposed to be in the town unless you're spending money.

For politics, I can't say much because I'm not a statistician. What I did see was multiple days of massive Trump rallies at the intersection of Main and Livingston (or somewhere near 38 is repetitive) that made me scared to drive, and rolling convoys for Trump going through the town at 3-5mph. Incessant honking, people blocking roads and intimidating drivers, extremely unsafe conditions. No police action, and the rallies were most likely permitted. These are things I saw, not my personal politics. Regardless of my view Tewksbury allows dangerous conditions to develop depending on who's organizing.

And the kicker? They want Andover prices to live there. They offer next to no reason to pick them over any other city or town but expect some of the highest home prices in the county.

Tewksbury is a massive headache to get around and exist in, and a strip mall at its core. It's better to drive past it on the highway than drive down its roads, and better to drive through it than it is to live there. I've only been back a few times and absolutely do not miss it.

If you're looking for that area, consider Billerica first, then Wilmington. Farther north is Lowell. There's also North Reading, and farther away is Chelmsford, North Andover, and Haverhill.

If you really have to live there, the bright spots are Wilmington Transmission for car service, and Villa Roma's barbecue chicken pizza. Notable entries include Vic's Waffle House and the fresh orange juice, Donnas, and the $5 chicken burrito Mondays at Mexica.

You’re literally moving to a blue state. We’re civilized here. Welcome to the best state in the union.

Lots of people with dyed hair here. No need to worry

Subway to New York from X is something considering there isn't a direct passenger rail line from North Station to South Station in Boston.

We got rid of the king some 250 years ago.