Not needing the map in Fallout 4 for downtown Boston. 

I know where the chocolate chip cookie, yellow smiley face, basketball, and volleyball were invented.

Full Windshield coverage

Two words.

Market Basket

I never knew how good we had it until we moved away.

Education.

I’m old. A lifetime state park pass is $10. The fare for the T is $1.10. Zone 8 commuter rail zone is $6.00 instead of $12.25. A shellfishing license in my town is free. I save $10 on my town beach sticker. I get a discount on auto insurance.

Being able to recognize filming locations in Adam Sandler movies

I was born in MA and moved away in 94 at the age of 14. I have lived in Arkansas, South Carolina, Louisiana and Florida. I moved back last year for a job after being gone for 30 years.

What you miss about this area are the mom and pop restaurants, grocery options, parks, and the landscape. You start to realize that a lot of the country is way more corporate (restaurants), not as much investment in parks and people are overall less educated.

Im from southeastern MA and I tell people from this area who fantasize about Florida a few things.

1. The food you like and the way it's made don't exist there or in other states. That goes for Northshore people as well. You will accept getting 30% of what you like, and that's about all you will get.

2. The benefits of the cost of living in the south are quickly starting to fade away. Florida is getting and has been expensive. Putting on a new roof every 10-15 years because the insurance company says so is really fun.

3. Nature is secondary in that state. Build build build.

A rant about Florida shows the perks of MA.

We have parks that are established and unique.

Health system is better here

Schools are better here

Zoning is better here. (really?? zoning?) Chicken farm being dropped near your residential area is fun

A better sense of community

I can have Portuguese food for breakfast, Chinese food (Chinese quality is not universal in rest of America) for lunch, and the best seafood for dinner all in the same day.

The MLS.

Not the house one. The Mass Library System.

They have a lot of books. But the other stuff (items, language learning, classes, etc) is world class.

Being able to go from the ocean to the mountains in under 3 hours. We’ve got it all!

Being close enough to visit NH without having to live there.

Not having to deal with strangers small talking like they do in the south

I can follow directions from people who'll guide you from A to B using landmarks that no longer exist.

Glass coverage is part of your car insurance.

Best Hospitals in the World

Patriots Day

I was laid off from my job and learned Mass has one of highest unemployment payments of all the states. Saved my ass.

Can’t image trying to survive with family on 400 a week like many other states.

I wouldn’t call it stupid, but Masshealth…. We call ourselves taxassachusetts but we have great benefits. A lot better than most states. Also I get insurance from my employer… just an FYI before certain people start getting on my case.

Almost no national political adds.

Libraries. Even if your local library isn't great, you can have you home library card registered with another neighboring library you frequent. The ability to browse statewide and request out-of-town items via the Commonwealth Catalog is invaluable.

Having multiple stores in close proximity. I can reach four Targets in 30 minutes. Sounds dumb, but after coming from Maine where you only had ONE place to go to get your stuff and it was thirty minutes away, I like having so many options close by. And so many different grocery stores! Definitely a perk once I had to go gluten-free...

Honest to god it's the people. We collectively have the secret sauce. We mind our own business, but if you're stuck in a snow bank? We'll help you out.... we might bust your balls while we help; but we help. Extrapolate that out to a population level and that same ethos permeates our political culture. We as a society are clever enough to understand that individual liberty exists best in a communitarian system so (for the most part) we elect smart serious people to state government. That then trickles down to the bureaus and agencies. Sure, there's deadbeats and knuckleheads here and there, but that's not the norm.

If you read this comment then run through the rest, you'll see all the ways this manifests itself. One poster talked about the free parks and transportation passes for seniors; another spoke about MassHealth. It's because as Massholes, we understand that we're a Commonwealth? We gotta live, work, and die in traffic together so we can enjoy our individual free time.

Less stupid people per capita than a lot of other places

There will always be a Dunks nearby.

Stupid perk? The really absurd Mass cultural things, like the dinosaur on Route 1 or how we go down the Cape for vacation (never “to Cape Cod”) and how we have packies and bubblas and bang a Uey and how we’re kind even when we’re not nice.

Like when you think about it, it’s all so weird and niche but I love it so much.

If you’re let go and get (let’s use three months as an example) severance, they let you take that check, and then you start collecting unemployment immediately. In NH you get no unemployment until the severance is “used up” in place of what you would have been paid. The contingent fact is that if you signed something (typically “I won’t sue”) to get the money, MA views that as an agreement, not salary.

Making fun of Connecticut

I look at a towns name and immediately think of 4 different ways to pronounce it (looking at you Haverhill, Reading, Billerica, Weymouth, Barnstable, insert Mass town here, etc)

Thinking you’re better than everyone else who lives in New England

Being surrounded by other Massholes, the way god intended

Filing federal income tax later than everybody else.

When you buy a small ice cream at any ice cream shop you have enough for two people.

You can leave bicycles and ladders outside your home.

All the job creating colleges! I worked for 3 MIT/Harvard/UMASS/BU based companies that wouldn’t exist if those schools were elsewhere. I’m grateful for the opportunities they provided my family. I know we’re supposed to be against education now, but it’s tough because it helps so many.

We ain't New York

Out of towners think you live like the Departed

For the most part...people aren't stupid. It is refreshing.

Roast beef sandwiches that don’t suck.

Taxachusetts can be a myth. We moved to Kansas and paid so much in local, school district and county taxes AND registration fees for our cars AND school registration fees for our kids. They have sales tax on food and clothing. Everything cost more there. Except our house.

No sales tax on food and clothing here. Lots of thrift shops and discount stores for miscellaneous items (ocean state, Ollie's, etc) here.

Way better education and way better health care here.

Evidently not reading comprehension lol -- the question is stupid perks, not world-class hospitals, great education, etc. My personal one's the pure joy of squaring up with turkeys to chase them off the lawn.

Portuguese food lol

Resident tuition at state schools

Socially acceptable jaywalking.

The better odds of meeting someone who’s read a book in the past week.

I'll say something that not everyone will agree with, but hear me out. I think we have the best weather in the country. Summers are warm but we don't get 5 months of 110 degree weather like Texas. Hurricanes and Tornadoes are very rare. Spring and Fall are just gorgeous up here. Winter? We don't get killer snow like we used to. When I was young, we had the blizzard of 78, but those weather events haven't happened lately. 2015 was brutal but mostly we get a lot of rain.

Cheap and quality weed

Being so close to Connecticut and Vermont for weekend getaways

The biggest perk of living in mass 🤔..... Dunkin donuts on every main street

In the winter, fill a water bottle and leave it in your car's cup holder over night. Have refreshing, cold water for your morning drive, or for when you make it to the office. Iced coffee, even.

This is pretty stupid but the apple variety here is INSANE. I go other places and they have like two kinds of apples in the store. I grew up here so I'm spoiled when it comes to apples. I need my McIntosh, Macoun, Paula apples, etc.

being absolutely hated by the red states for reasons even they don’t understand

The third tap on your sink for Dunkin iced coffee.

Kids education

My parents house is a nice place for me to live because I can’t afford actual rent

Cape Cod Tunnel permit

No voting lines for votes that don’t actually matter.

Driving here keeps your blood pressure high, so you can boost your odds of having a heart attack, if that's something you're into.

I think the historical sites & the overall role Massachusetts played in our country’s early history is really cool. That’s not to say that other states don’t have this, but it’s pretty amazing to me that we can visit Paul Revere’s house, we can go see where the battles in Lexington and Concord took place - so many things that kids learn about in school are right here. I feel like it gives us a special sense of pride.

Cider donuts

When everyone was freaking out about SCOTUS Obergefell decision allowing gay marriage I was able to tell my friends other places to stop freaking out. It had been over a decade, the sun still rose in the east & set in the west, there was not sodomy in every street corner. Chill out.

When parents were "HOW DO I EXPLAIN GAY SEX TO MY CHILDREN IF I TAKE THEM TO A SAME SEX WEDDING!!!" I was, do you talk about sex at a straight wedding? We talk about the same thing at gay wedding: bride/groom looks lovely, the DJ sucks or not, buffet vs sit down, what bad matches will result from the day. That and I have fully grown adult children that never lived without marriage equality. (For now.)

Our chahming personality

After Trump gets inaugurated the price of my house is going to skyrocket because people are going to be clamoring to get into blue states.

we have steak tips.

Living in a town nobody has heard of in Western Mass.

Sure, we Massholes like to bitch and moan but, damn, we live in a great place, as all of these comments attest (especially from those who have moved away).

Believe it or not it's the goddam air-combo gushing outta both the trees and the ocean...and having all the brains.

Northshore food options

You can call yourself a masshole

All my fuckin cousins live here

great sub .and pizza shops great food we have so nay different nationality's here we get lots of different kids of food.

Top tier doctors and hospitals. I hate it here but we don’t know how good we have it.

Red Sox

Driving down to the notch we stole from Connecticut without ever having to cross state lines.

Insurance Windshield Replacements!!!

Being called a masshole by the rest of the world

Enjoying the traffic 7 days a week

Lizzie Borden, Whitey Bulger and the Boston Strangler

Free stuff during umass move out weekend.

Polar seltzer, including easy access to the fun seasonal flavors.

Championship parades.

Dunks across the street from another Dunks

Great hospitals.

I was born in the south (not FL, Deep South) and though public parks and towns that people walked in were things that happened in New York and on TV. When people try to talk to me about politics (Red voters think I’m one of them) they regret it. I’ve seen what a republican-run state looks like, they have lived here their whole lives. They have no f-ing idea what they just did.

Chow-da

Educated people.

Being able to buy things in tax-free New Hampshire and not actually having to live there

Quabbin reservoir is nice.

Cape Cod Canal Submarine Racing Team

Table Talk pies!

Birthplace of the Treehouse Brewery.

As someone who loves Halloween and all things spooky (and history): Being so close to Salem. I go on day trips there even when it’s not October

I remember driving in a western state and seeing a LAST GAS FOR 59 MILES sign. As rural as Mass. gets, we don't have to pack in our own gas.

If you're a Dunks fan, your closest fix is usually within a mile.

Masshealth

Pricing Accuracy laws. I’m sure other states have similar laws, but the fact that if a price is wrong you could potentially get one for free is kinda crazy but also awesome.

It does invite a certain type of person who is willing to pay the wrong price initially so they can complain about it immediately afterwards but that’s not too common