OT: IF you no longer live in New England

[1960Pats]

I wouldn't say soar but it's still nice. My spirit tends to soar more when I'm walking to the stadium, driving around my old home town, seeing my old friends, eating my favorite marinated steak tips (because that's not a thing in the midwest for some reason) and I actually miss Papa Gino's pizza.

Like Nikolai I don't miss living there. There's so much animosity in the north east part of the U.S. and I think I figured out why it is. It's the driving. To get from point A to point B that's only 10 miles away usually takes 45 minutes because of all the winding roads, one way streets and general traffic and I think that's where most of the pissed off energy comes from. When I have to drive in Massachusetts's I have to change my mindset back to being a total aggressive **** otherwise I wont get anywhere and I'll end up holding up traffic for everyone else and make things worse. I remember one time after getting back to the midwest I still had my Boston driving brain and I ended up cutting someone off (which would have been totally normal in Boston) but the person I cut off leaned on their horn at me and it took me a second to realize "Oh whoops that was a totally unnecessary **** move of me

Our youngest married a lady from Indiana and I remember getting a call from her crying because nobody would let her go into traffic. I could hear the cars behind her honking. I had no advice to give her other than she just needs to toughen up and go for it. That was about 10 years ago and the traffic is worse now.

As for pizza, we moved to a neighboring state and the first thing I did was look and see if there was a Santoro's pizza and sub shop. I was so thrilled when I found one only a mile or so away from our new home that I headed right over. As I came down the street I could see the sign up ahead. When I got there I could see that the sign was the only thing left and Santoro's was gone.

One of the things I'm learning is that most of the massholes who come up here still drive that way and have made an impression on the locals.

 

[1960Pats]

If he likes Mexican or Asian cuisine, you're in trouble.

If he likes fake Chinese or pizza, you got a chance.

He actually kept track of all the different foods that he's eaten and has them broken into land or see creatures.
He lived in China for 5 years after living in S Korea for 10 and is very much a fan of all Asian food.
He's been married for 5 years to a lady who lived in Beijing. She makes delicious dumplings btw.
I think I'll give him a call today and let him know how much he's going to miss.

 

[KCSVEN]

Funny, was just talking with friends about missing whole belly clams.
Moved to NC 3 years ago, it's weird landing in Logan or Manchester (depending on cost of the flight). it's not home anymore even with family there, and we usually visit at Xmas when it is freezing. Generally, it's a feeling of "We are so glad we moved" and "We can't believe people still live here" LOL whenever we land there. Of course, we hated the cold.
We do have a New England club in our community and have get togethers in NC. We are near the ocean and there are mountains though a longer trip here to get there but in reality not much is missed.
You can get Maine lobsters and Whoopie Pies down here at a few places, 1 place an hour away has had whole belly clams but that's it. You can order them online and have the shipped. No sure I have the arms and legs it cost to do that but someday!

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I wouldn't say soar but it's still nice. My spirit tends to soar more when I'm walking to the stadium, driving around my old home town, seeing my old friends, eating my favorite marinated steak tips (because that's not a thing in the midwest for some reason) and I actually miss Papa Gino's pizza.

Like Nikolai I don't miss living there. There's so much animosity in the north east part of the U.S. and I think I figured out why it is. It's the driving. To get from point A to point B that's only 10 miles away usually takes 45 minutes because of all the winding roads, one way streets and general traffic and I think that's where most of the pissed off energy comes from. When I have to drive in Massachusetts's I have to change my mindset back to being a total aggressive **** otherwise I wont get anywhere and I'll end up holding up traffic for everyone else and make things worse. I remember one time after getting back to the midwest I still had my Boston driving brain and I ended up cutting someone off (which would have been totally normal in Boston) but the person I cut off leaned on their horn at me and it took me a second to realize "Oh whoops that was a totally unnecessary **** move of me

Driving in Boston is no joke. It's almost as bad as anywhere in the world in terms of cities.

For a few reasons.

It's small, very congested with an influx of so many different, new people. Most of which have never experienced this craziness. I'm in the trades and all the construction isn't helping. I can only imagine all the rerouting going on with gps. Good luck if you're in Somerville or the peoples republic of Cambridge. You're getting hit with lights every 100 ft. We definitely live to fast up here. A lot of changes though.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

I left when I was 12 and was devastated for years.

As several members have already posted, a lot has changed.

 

[203Pat]

I grew up in New England and moved away from pretty much all of my 20's and I missed it so much. I moved back with my wife in 2018 and I couldn't be happier to be back.

 

[Sfpat]

I read that since the onset of the pandemic more that 200k Massachusetts residents have moved out the state, citing traffic, rising costs of living ect.. I'd like to know how are you experiencing living out the commonwealth?

I moved more than 40 years ago for job reasons, first to the San Francisco then Houston and now Oklahoma. I can't complain about life outside of New England (except Houston) but miss the general character of New England, i.e. small towns, coastal air, food, even the weather (don't have these long, hot, humid summers). After spending a few summers in the south, one learns why Southerners take life at a slower pace than Yankees.

 

[NCPATSFAN1971]

Although a lot of people like the weather in MA, I left for FL in 1998 mainly because of it. I always enjoyed the weather from about mid June through October but from November through most of the spring it seemed like living without sun in a black and white movie. After 10 years in South Florida, I then became a "half back" and moved up to NC where I can get a change of seasons without the bone chilling winter cold of New England.

However, there are a lot of things that I'll always love and miss about living in MA and a lot of them have already been mentioned by other posters to which I'll add being able to talk to people with the same accent I have. And of course the Pats, Celtics, Red Sox and Bruins will always be with me.

I flew into Logan about 5 or 6 years ago and took the bus to where I could rent a car. That place was crazy busy and driving the rental car through the tunnel was fun but I'm glad I don't have to do it often. . . LOL

 

[Real fan 02]

Driving in Boston is no joke. It's almost as bad as anywhere in the world in terms of cities.

For a few reasons.

It's small, very congested with an influx of so many different, new people. Most of which have never experienced this craziness. I'm in the trades and all the construction isn't helping. I can only imagine all the rerouting going on with gps. Good luck if you're in Somerville or the peoples republic of Cambridge. You're getting hit with lights every 100 ft. We definitely live to fast up here. A lot of changes though.

I'm born, raised and live and work in Boston do I absolutely concur with everything you've stated!!! Traffic in and around the city is abysmally bad all times of the day and night. The city speed limits were decreased from 30 to 25 a few years ago. With bike lanes,winding streets, 2 ways that should be 1 ways.. yield signs that no one actually yields too.. so on ,so fourth.. the message is clear to us.. to WALK or take the ever reliable MBTA..

 

[TheRainMaker]

I’ve only been in a Boston airport waiting to fly home to California on a connecting flight. I had a 5 hour delay, so I tried Wallburgers. I walked around the airport to see if I could spot Larry Fitzgerald, but I didn’t have any luck.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I'm born, raised and live and work in Boston do I absolutely concur with everything you've stated!!! Traffic in and around the city is abysmally bad all times of the day and night. The city speed limits were decreased from 30 to 25 a few years ago. With bike lanes,winding streets, 2 ways that should be 1 ways.. yield signs that no one actually yields too.. so on ,so fourth.. the message is clear to us.. to WALK or take the ever reliable MBTA..

Yup.

There's no more "rush hour" you're on by 2 or home by 6-7 anytime after 230-3.

The bike lanes and bike people are some of the worst people on Earth. Terrible awful shameless creatures.

Ugh the MBTA isn't the worst in the country but holy smokes it's bad. Crazy people, homeless, always something happening with delays.

Yea we need to take back the city.

 

[Vindicate]

For those talking about driving, there's actually a pretty compelling body of research that examines the physical and psychological/sociological effects of long commutes to work. The commute to work has increased since 2006 (with the pandemic briefly throwing that off), where long commutes to and from work are more common than short ones now. Couple that with infrastructure that doesn't address that (inadequate public mass-transit, inadequate road that is too small and poorly designed), and suddenly a lot of your surroundings - including the city you used to frequent and people in the car next to you - become objects of resentment.

 

[NormZauchin]

*IF* you moved away for any reason, does your spirit soar when you land at Logan (or Manchester?) for a visit?

I grew up in Western Mass, so when I fly back, it's into Bradley. Did go to school in Boston. When raising our kids, we made sure to vacation at Cape Cod, (usually Chatham), and ski in Vermont. Have lived almost fifty years in the DC metro area, whose weather is like New England lite, whose topography is fairly similar, and with traffic that is almost, but not quite, as bad as Boston's. But I've kept in touch with old friends and relatives, so New England has remained a part of my life.

 

[Real fan 02]

Yup.

There's no more "rush hour" you're on by 2 or home by 6-7 anytime after 230-3.

The bike lanes and bike people are some of the worst people on Earth. Terrible awful shameless creatures.

Ugh the MBTA isn't the worst in the country but holy smokes it's bad. Crazy people, homeless, always something happening with delays.

Yea we need to take back the city.

LOL, you're absolutely right my friend. Growing up in Boston as a kid was so much better.. I never thought I'd see the city like this.. utter chaos, 93 is a nightmare north and south.. around the city.. from 5 am all Dam Day and night it's traffic and chaos.. what's worse the entitled bike riders or the idiotic motorcycles who weave in and out of traffic.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

My spirit soars! Living in Houston now. F --- tacos. Any pizza in boston is better: papa ginos, regina, or my favorite Louies in woburn. I do miss the old north station -- goin' in the arcade before a Celts game. Also miss the Rat, Spit, and the Channel from when I was a young delinquent.

 

[Joker]

I attended BU 1969-73...afternoons on Comm. Ave cars would drive on the ****ing SIDEWALKS. I had a 10 speed I bought across the street from CBS (College Of Basic Studies). Beautiful piece of engineering....got hit by cars at least a dozen times cycling to class until, mercifully,some scumbag stole it outside the student union...chained and locked. After that I just took the friggin' T.

 

[Zuma]

I haven’t been back to Mass since I moved to Florida in 1998. My heart would soar if I visited my favorite fishing holes in the south shore.

 

[Dragda]

Soar for whole-belly fried clams? Yes.

Soar for driving out of Logan (and Boston in general)? No. Most definitely no.

Yeah the traffic and parking are terrible. Having a nice car in boston is like taking a Ming vase bull riding.

 

[kevan2201]

1st reply to a post on this website. I spent my kid years up in NE. Exeter, NH
Hampton Beach, Boston, Portland
I left when I was a young kid but the Boston sports teams had me. I can remember like yesterday the pats 94' season. 3-6 playing the vikings. Been in West Virginia for most of the time but i went back up there as a young adult and had a lot of fun with my younger brother. We were in Boston when the red Sox came back from 0-3 vs the Yankees. My younger brother always stayed up there he just had NE in his heart. I guess I always romanticized it. My brother was living in Taunton, MA up until about 3 months ago. He passed away due to an overdose. He was living in a tent off the railroad tracks by 44th and Dean st. I grabbed a rental car to drive up there and get his stuff. Maybe it was the circumstance but it was all foreign to me. I have become accustomed to slow moving West Virginia. As soon as you get close to NYC it's just a different ball game. I got to see some of our old stomping grounds. I'm always gonna be a NE sports fan but NE itself won't ever be the same. I think before I die I go up there one more time. We'll see. His name was Brady too yall, Go Pats

 

[Dragda]

my family moved out west in 1969. I don’t even have an accent anymore. I moved back in 08. Lived in Somerville. Lasted a year I am back out west again. Boston is my favorite city in the US, but I’m old and live on a farm. I love to visit but won’t live back there. The seafood is so damn good.