Cigarettes, the dollar menu, and lack of exercise matter a heck of a lot more than health care access. Very few affluent people smoke. Affluent people tend to eat healthier. Affluent people tend to be more physically fit. Money matters some but behavior is the critical thing. If you need health care access for chronic behavior-induced problems, it’s already too late.

I’d point out that without knowing the housing budget, it’s tough to say anything useful.

New Bedford is like Fall River. There are sections where nobody would want to live as well as some nice neighborhoods. The West End around Buttonwood Park is solid middle class and is close to Route 140 so access to Fall River is easy.

Agreed. The northern part of Fall River east of Highland Avenue around Bristol Community College is ok.

A couple of points:

Those working class parents rely on the schools as daycare. It’s not like they can telecommute.

The schools are heated and I believe every student in New Bedford gets a free lunch. An awful lot of the working poor in triple decker tenement buildings aren’t running their heat and their kitchens aren’t stocked with food for their kids.

The schools need to be open whenever possible even if attendance is optional.

This was a pre-air conditioning thing. You either grilled outside or used the range in the basement.

Sure. Good school. Hard major. Good grades. No “they’re gonna take mah gunz” here.

No. The queue when you make an appointment is pretty short. I’ve never waited more than 20 minutes and the seating area was 1/3 full. I know I can get through the Registry in less than an hour.

Right. So the people leaving are the poorly educated Trumpers who lack the job skills to afford the housing.

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

In Enfield? I’d stick with Bay State. It would be a huge PITA to go to Hartford.

I think you’re asking the wrong question. You need the best primary care physician, OB/Gynecologist, and pediatrician in your area who is accepting patients. Other than childbirth, you’re unlikely to set foot in a hospital.

Healthcare in Hartford is generally better than healthcare in Springfield. It’s far more affluent. It is a top-20 metro for median household income. It’s easier to attract strong physicians. The Medicaid mix is better. It has a medical school and teaching hospitals.

The only knock on the place is that it doesn’t have a high walk score waterfront village. You basically have whatever the Mattapoisett Inn is called now…. The Inn on Shipyard Park. And a not very functional general store. Shopping means a drive to Wareham, Fairhaven, or the Market Basket in New Bedford.

As a boat owner, it’s not a very protected harbor. For sailing, Cuttyhunk is dead upwind and part of Buzzards Bay is really choppy in the afternoon.

If I had kids in public schools, it would be my first choice on the South Coast.

This. If you scraped the existing house off the lot, what would the land be worth as a house lot. Square footage is not the appropriate way of measuring the value. I just looked at my abutters. If you made a land valuation model, it would look like:

Value = Base house lot value + variable part based on square footage

“I’m pretty much fucked.” — The Martian by Andy Weir

I swallowed, too

I once ate some of the world’s largest kielbasa at the festival in Chicopee. That event sadly fizzled. I’m in the Land of Linguica. Kielbasa here says Hillshire Farm on it. Not quite the same as the local stuff in the Pioneer Valley.

It’s real but it’s filled with the worst sort…. Yankees fans.

I read that maybe 10 years ago. It was a bunch of vignettes. Red Storm Rising but zombies instead of Russians. I thought it was OK but it’s certainly not on my re-read list and I purged the paperback years ago.

…and you’re not going to see a dollar store in Tiverton Four Corners.

Dial pulse / rotary dial is supported by the equipment but it’s usually configured to be disabled. There used to be a lot of false 911 calls with people dialing ‘9’ with the touchpad and then bouncing the hook switch twice to rotary dial ‘1’ ‘1’.

I grew up with 4-digit dialing. Anywhere else in 617, it was a toll call and you had to dial 1+ 7 digits.

It’s not possible to answer this question without knowing details about the plan, the split between employer & employee contributions, and the demographics of the group. Corporate group plans are priced according to the coverage and the health risk of the employees. If you work in a company with a lot of older employees and you have a low deductible PPO plan, the policy could easily be $2,000 per month. Split 80/20, that’s a $400/month employee contribution.

There’s also the River Valley Coop on Route 5 north of the Big Y/Walmart retail.

Personally, I like the complete rewrite for the movie script better than the book. I’d never re-read Ready Player One. And Ready Player Two needs to go die in a fire. That was awful.

Looks like Daphne Zuniga, the Druish Princess from Spaceballs.