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

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 .

Housing is more costly of course and taxes are a bit more.

Philadelphia whipped crème cheese for 8oz here In Chicopee /Springfield is 5.59 The same thing in Marietta GA (which is a similar size city to Springfield is 4.79. I priced a few tools at Home Depot and they were the same price.

The food cost difference is similar at fast food and restaurants as well. So it can add up but it’s not bank breaking considering the pay increase.

minimum wage in GA is still 7.25$ when we moved my wife who works in the medical field got a serious pay increase for doing the same job. We have not noticed the increase in cost of living due to that. We have always been careful with how we spend our money . Kids are expensive as hell so we have had to manage money well to raise ours.

You can google stop and shop and put in our area code (01013) and price compare to whatever store you shop at at home and see how much difference you grocery bill will be every week. That will help you have an idea of the increase in food cost .

I’m from NW Georgia originally. That super friendly southern thing is bullshit. It’s more about an image and I can’t tell you how many times i witnessed the friendly conversation in a store only for one of them to start talking shit about the other after they walked off.

We left GA for similar reason OP. We moved to a nice quite part of Chicopee. Almost 2 years now and we love this state. Every place has its issues sure. And people here don’t go out of their way to talk to you unless you know each other . But almost every interaction we have had people have been friendly. Driving is a bit different in the city. People are aggressive as hell but no difference than driving in Atlanta.

We lived in the MTG district so you can only imagine the political environment there. Things do cost a bit more but they pay is so much better than we made for the same jobs down south. I am a photographer and I was charging the same price I did In GA and people though I was crazy here. (I still haven’t raised them because I make enough at that price )

Good luck with your move ! And good luck learning how to pronounce the towns and cities up here. I still look like an idiot trying 😆😆😆

Thank you! It looks like I’ll claim it next year because they just finished installation.

The payment to purchase was cheaper than my electric bill. Plus this place still has oil heat and we plan to switch it over soon so our electric bill was just gonna increase. And the oil bill has been awful. We have kept the house in the 50s all winter to cut cost. We are from the south originally so the wife has frozen all winter 😆

So by switching to solar and changing out the heating system we will save a ton of money. On top of going green. It’s a win win for us .

You could be living near us. We have one with a little annoying ass white dog that barks non stop. Drives me crazy if I’m doing anything with the windows open or outside.

Not a problem and thank you!

Rockstar father 😊 she has one for a mother as well!

My daughter is very young and openly gay , we relocated from NW Georgia and the political hell hole that area is. Watching women that are like her accomplish things and hold office and be openly accepted has been great for her . Sometimes people in an area that doesn’t have the same social stigma and bigotry as the one we were in tend to forget how nice it actually is.

We now see Pride flags flying on front of homes instead of a barrage of confederate battle flags. No one here that we have encountered bats an eye at her being openly gay. Back in Georgia we were told that they would pray for her , that they love her but hate her sinful life. Even told it was a phase and we should not let her act that way. After years of arguments and me coming close to catching a charge for putting hands on someone, we took their advice. If you don’t like it leave..so we left.

I get it, I’d have thought it may fall under some kinda bestiality charge. I assume those are a thing that could land you on a SO reg. Not well versed in that area. Eitherway the guy is clearly a shit bag excuse for a human

I had assumed the forced sex act with the dog would have landed him on it. Guess they changed and or negotiated that out.

Damn. Most people would still be in prison for the first charge. Seems to be a pattern of behavior. I have a hard time thinking he’d change his behavior considering how minor the consequences have been for him thus far. I’m all for rehabilitation and redemption but this is a pattern that is increasingly violent.

I clearly missed the not required part, thank you for pointing that out to me

How in the hell is he not? That’s insane. I would assume the registry is made for people exactly like him. That’s honestly shocking. With that new data , I 100percent see the outrage and would think myself that he is absolutely trying to hide it all. Still, how in the hell is he not considered a predator after committing such a violent sexual crime🤦‍♂️

Is he in the sex offender registry? If so wouldn’t he still be just with a new last name? And they list the crime convictions as well. Also I think they list aliases which would mostly likely be his former name. And the more news stories about the case the more it will be out there and found with a google search. I mean fuck him, but the name change won’t hide him and his awful crimes from anyone IF he is a registered rapist

Kinda has a hippie Seth Rogan look. I dig it

I agree. I do think the question itself could have been broken up into multiple questions making it easier to vote for each item instead of a blanket vote

Meaninglessness platforms? What “shit”? I’m actually curious as to what you mean by that