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Suck it, New York, suck it, Texas, suck it everywhere that isn't here
By adamg on Tue, 02/28/2017 - 1:06pm
True confession: Every week, UHub News Headquarters is bombarded with all sorts of "ranking" press releases about how we're the eighth best city for middle-aged women to find comfortable running shoes, the fifth worst city for finding gum stuck to your shoes or whatever. And we ignore every single one of them, bwahaha!
But US News and World Report is known for nothing but its rankings (seriously, do they even do news or report on anything anymore?). So, huzzah, USN&WR has declared Massachusetts the best damn state in the entire universe.
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Comments
"The spire of Harvard
"The spire of Harvard Memorial Church rises majestically near the columns of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the Cambridge side of the river." WHAT?
Well, near as the crow flies
If it's a supersonic crow
Yeah, sure, but
My mom still has trouble finding running shoes ;___;
jk, she's more into yoga I think. Putting "We Are the Champions" on repeat for the rest of the day and then I'm going to eat clam chowder for dinner.
Very believable
Boston, and Mass are actually very beautiful and enriching places. I think some people may take it for granted but having been away for a little while now, you definitely start to realize just how charming a place it is.
I mean
Despite our often-crummy weather and creaky public transit and Sweet Caroline and the godawful drivers, I can't really see myself wanting to live anywhere else.
the drivers
arent actually bad hth
Opt out
In other places, you have no choice but to drive with the drivers. Here? There are at least options.
Every time I'm on the road at rush hour
I thank God that I don't have to usually. And since commuters in the Bay State use a lot more public transportation than most other states, I think the feeling is widely held.
Unless they hit me
..
So that's why
Our state reps got a 40% raise.
I didn't grow up here
I'm just a local, but never a native. Boston really IS awesome.
Other places have their share of incredible things and experiences, but taken as a whole, I'll take Boston over any other city (sorry London and Paris.)
That's cool
No snark intended, I wish I felt that way about Boston.
These results are meaningless
Massachusetts only placed high because it has a new dining hall and a big library. Everyone knows the states rig the results.
You have to visit the states before deciding where to live. Actually talk to the residents and former residents. Try to sit in on meetings of bureaucrats and see if you like vibe. Ask how many are working in their chosen careers. Don't trust the meaningless rankings.
I'll be that guy
to point out that despite the top rating, we're 19th in infrastructure and 16th in both government and opportunity. While that latter may not be felt much in Boston, there's still a lot of room for improvement.
sir not appearing on these rankings
They didn't put the ranking on the website but we're also #1 in "Can-Do" attitude :D
If only
.
I'll be that guy to that guy
I drilled down a bit. Infrastructure is 1/3 energy. But energy is based on a few poorly chosen metrics.
Electricity Price! Sounds good, but people don't pay rates. They pay bills. Massachusetts has invested considerably in energy efficiency. This made the rate go up, but made bills go down. So we pay 16 cents/kWh and people in South Carolina pay 9 cents, but their monthly bills are significantly higher (including adjustments for MA residents heating with oil or gas). But the rankings show MA way in the back.
Reliability! Sounds good, but the way they do the rankings is a head scratcher. The state with the least outage gets first, the most outage gets last. But (a) it's not clear how they adjust for per capita, and (b) If first place has 0 hours of outage, second place has 1 hour of outage, and third place has 50 hours of outage, they're still 1-2-3 in the scoring (not 0-1-50). It's a blunt source.
Renewable! Sounds good, but they used the wrong(!) assumption that energy generated in the state is used in the state. Massachusetts consumes considerably more renewables than most states not called Idaho, Washington, Oregon, or California -- but our renewables are purchased from NY, ME, NH, and VT as well as generated in MA, so our ranking was way down (and the ranking of those states was artificially inflated).
More careful analysis would have put us in the middle of the pack for price, wouldn't have included reliability at all (because all customers America-wide have remarkably high reliability), and would have put MA much higher on renewables too, around 20 rather than 35.
47th....
....in affordability. Maybe "Best State for the Wealthy" would be more accurate?
If you are looking for where
If you are looking for where the republican states are ranked keep scrolling down to the bottom.
Charlie Baker
Ever hear of him, he's our republican Gov.
Also its the people and historic institutions which make the area great, not politicians. MA was a great place to live prior to the dramatic influx of liberals.
Dramatic influx of liberals?
Oh, noes, hide the womenfolk and children! It's them there liberals stormin' the border!
Um, what? Sorry, friend, Massachusetts has a "liberal" tradition that goes back to before the Civil War. First court order on school desegregation? Right here in the ol' Hub - in 1850. We had a senator beaten to within an inch of his life in support of what would now be "liberal" causes (you do remember Charles Sumner, no?). Kennedys galore. Mike Dukakis - Brookline native. Tip O'Neill. Even James Michael Curley did some things that would leave Dear Leader aghast (imagine: He set up a hospital just to care for people who couldn't afford health care).
Yeah, about that
Turns out the "Dramatic Influx of Liberals" dates back to first European settlers. (AKA, Immigrants) Historically, It was other colonies that got fed up with Massachusetts telling them what to do.
The state has always believed in strong regulation. It obviously hasn't hurt the economy or the schools. The state long ago came to the conclusion that it was more advantageous to focus on service industries and not manufacturing. It's a lesson Ohio could stand to learn.
As for Baker, he's left of every other Republican governor and politician in the country.
Well, let's maybe not go that far
The Puritans were pretty horrible in their own right - they came here because they hated everybody else and wanted a place to set up their own "city on a hill." Once they got here, the promptly established a theocracy (remnants of which continued through the Revolution - see Article III of the first part of the Massachusetts constitution), hanged people who didn't worship like them and drove poor William Blackstone (who had graciously invited them over to his Shawmut when they realized their outpost in Charlestown had no potable water) so mad he fled Boston on his white bull to Rhode Island. It's a wonder they morphed into Unitarians and Congregationalists.
From a psychological POV
Those on the radical left and right have A LOT in common. Extremists are interchangeable.
Isn't that the point?
The common argument against "Liberal" states is that they impose too many restrictions and laws. People claim that such strong regulation is akin to a nanny state and stifles business and liberty. These arguments are BS but it doesn't stop that mentality from being narrative of blue state vs red states.
Cool. I'll give you two years
Cool. I'll give you two years of Baker and raise you 8 years of Deval, both of our senators, all 9 of our representatives, the mayor of Boston, the speaker of the house, and 125 out of 160 state reps. You really wanna play this game?
Look at this ranking of best states, or a ranking of states for average lifespan, poverty, income, education, obesity etc. The red states ALWAYS lose. This has been the case for decades because republicans can't govern if their lives depended on it and don't care about their constituents. Again, do you really wanna play this game?
I'll see your 8 years of Deval
And raise you the 4 Republican governors over the 16 years before him. With a Romneycare and a MCAS (what NCLB was looking to do nationwide) thrown in to sweeten the pot.
Can I add 8 years of Trump in
Can I add 8 years of Trump in the mix?
No
Trump did not win any of MA's electoral votes. I doubt that he could get elected dog catcher here.
I'm pretty sure that even Twitler voters can handle addition.
But I think (and fervently hope) that eight years is wildly unlikely.
You only got 4 Republican governors in 16 years...
...because they kept quitting and running off with their tongues hanging out, looking for a better gravy train elsewhere. It was wicked amusing when that didn't work out for 'em.
Kinopio why are you such a
Kinopio why are you such a mean person? Life is way too short.
Today we learn, that in
Today we learn, that in addition to being optional, facts are mean.
If, by "mean," you mean "smart and correct"...
...then, yes, Kinopio appears to be very mean.
Life is indeed short if you
Life is indeed short if you live in a red state like West Virginia or Mississippi. People in Massachusetts live several years longer.
Lol you can always identify
Lol you can always identify somebody who grew up in New England when they trot out Baker (or Romney) as Republican Governors. I grew up in Ozark country. You ain't seen republican around here. Baker would be a tarred and feathered libtard out in flyover country.
I like how New Jersey ranked
I like how New Jersey ranked 50th for government.
Hater
I would have put Connecticut or NY @ #1.
Oh yeah we are
Love your post title :)