I was getting my Jeep worked on to make it Mass inspection ready when we moved here. We were in Holyoke and like 50 cops came from parked unmarked cars and stormed what I think was an apartment complex. The guys at the Jeep place said it was just another day. 😆😆

Other than that what we have experienced when in Holyoke has been nice. I

Overall MA is a liberal state so for laws I certainly feel safe. With that said, shitty people are everywhere. My partner knows I've been gradually getting more uncomfortable visiting his family (south of Boston) because a few members clearly don't think I have the right to exist.

A lot of people have said pioneer valley is good, which I think is accurate. I'm in the hilltowns so I probably have some neighbors who'd hate me if they knew but it's not like we talk much. My doctors are all okay with me, I feel safe picking up HRT, and I'm comfortable dealing with my customers so overall I'm happy with the state of things.

Life long mass hole here: nobody cares who you want to be or who you like having sex with. Don’t commit crime (like actual crime, not republican morality “crime”) and help old people when it’s snowy. You’ll be fine. Laws won’t suddenly go rogue here. We’ve been progressive since Lexington and Concord and I don’t see that changing.

it’s getting weird out there. absolutely come to MA, we got your back homie. Personally I’d recommend Salem (bias: live there and love it).

Not everyone has another adult available and willing to watch their kids.

And if I may add, if you two come to MA - welcome!

Lastly, enjoy this political ad from 2018:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aLcDQMQ3Urg

This is true ! Our daughter loves it here in western Mass. she is a young lesbian and we relocated from NW Georgia which is a hellhole . Actually no. Politically a hell hole would be a better place than living in a district that worships MTG and is still fighting the “yankees” in an imaginary civil war errr or as we were taught in school the war of northern aggression (this was the 90s🤦🏻‍♂️).

Watching our daughter become comfort and open with who she is has been worth the move in itself. Western Mass has been and is a great place .

I love littering my DD right out the window. Suburbia, more like trashcan lol

MA is trans-friendly. It's by no means perfect (no place ever will be), but you'll find support here. I live in Plymouth, one of the few places to have a Republican representative in the State House, and yet I pass multiple LGBT+ flags on my 3 mile commute. The oldest church in town (and oldest Parish in the country) flys the same flag.

Check out Greenfield. https://thetakemagazine.com/lupinewood-collective/

Without a story this PSA is worthless

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Who hurt you

Lots of people moving to the state for the same reason. So demand for housing is high. goodluck finding anything reasonable anywhere near Boston. Check out western mass rent isn't as insane and the pioneervalley is very progressive.

Moved to Holyoke because it’s a few minutes drive from Northampton and real estate a lot more affordable. Great city all on its own, downtown mills coming back!

You need to get laid more

Especially lower Cape (e.g, Provincetown)

I mean, if they’re actually audited by a third party every year his pushback kinda makes sense. Better them then someone in the govt tied to a political party do it.

Western mass is queer as hell, and we love it here

I'm cis and straight, but at least from my standpoint, it will continue to be a very LGBTQ-friendly city and I don't expect the pro-trans status of it to change at any point in the near future. We are perhaps the most deeply liberal state and have a very "live and let live" philosophy. There are certainly assholes like anywhere, but I feel like you'd come across far more people who are accepting and especially in comparison to other parts of the country (not sure where you'd be moving from).

I agree with other commenters that there are certain pockets of conservatism, but you'd be unlikely to end up in any of them. They're mostly small rural-ish towns. I also agree with other commenters that P-Town and some of the towns in Western MA are worth looking at from a cost perspective. Boston is where it's at culturally, though, so keep that in mind.

And although it is expensive AF to live in the Greater Boston area, salaries are also higher.

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Wrong USS Massachusetts.

The irony is the State Auditor is elected by the people too, to do the job she’s trying to do now. People shouldn’t underestimate her either.

MA won’t rescind trans protection.

A ballot question in 2018 included an attempt to repeal trans protections, and it was defeated by around 3:1

Boston is very expensive, even for MA which has a high cost of living.

There are towns outside Boston which are good, and others which aren’t. A general way to see good towns would be to look at how the town voted on that ballot question. (“Yes” is the good answer)

You can only get 6 characters so probably not. Lol