Population slightly down in MA 2022 (Boston, Franklin: tax, to live in, professionals)

[bostongymjunkie]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber4

Agreed but the comments about affordable housing and cops
on post # 35 was specific to Barnstable County.

That income stat was the average salary in 2022 being earned by 2010 Massachusetts high school grads (assuming the majority were 18 at time of graduation they are 30 in 2022) still residing in MA. I am mot sure why that particular class was cited.

https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJ...RkODFiN2IyYSJ9

Bottom line, the communities will need to pay more and/or come up with creative incentives if they want civil servants. That obviously doesn't solve the private services sector problem. Are they having issues with non public safety municipal personnel as well? Boston is having issues getting qualified personnel for civilian city jobs as well to the point that eliminating the residency rule was floated. I don't think that will solve the problem though, given the cost of living throughout the area. I guess hiring unqualified political hacks will continue, but that won't work for positions that require actual credentials or licensing.

[Beachcomber4]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

Bottom line, the communities will need to pay more and/or come up with creative incentives if they want civil servants. That obviously doesn't solve the private services sector problem. Are they having issues with non public safety municipal personnel as well? Boston is having issues getting qualified personnel for civilian city jobs as well to the point that eliminating the residency rule was floated. I don't think that will solve the problem though, given the cost of living throughout the area. I guess hiring unqualified political hacks will continue, but that won't work for positions that require actual credentials or licensing.

Yes. The rec director left because of housing issues. Dispatch and fire have been difficult to sustain and the schools are constantly running ads.

Our local paper has been highlighting the plight of people who can’t find year round housing- some business owners included. Woods Hole has made their housing list private as many of their employees have been unable to obtain housing and they are looking to lessen the competition.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Beachcomber4

Yes. The rec director left because of housing issues. Dispatch and fire have been difficult to sustain and the schools are constantly running ads.

Our local paper has been highlighting the plight of people who can’t find year round housing- some business owners included. Woods Hole has made their housing list private as many of their employees have been unable to obtain housing and they are looking to lessen the competition.

With Proposition 2 1/2, the towns can’t do much about it. Very few towns will vote for an override to give raises to municipal workers.

This stuff is all interrelated. We had a restaurant closing thread. Family restaurants that can’t charge enough to attract workers are dying. The bottom of the pyramid of healthcare workers is having a huge problem staffing. Medicaid-funded nursing homes can’t pass on labor costs. They have to live within the financial constraints of Medicaid reimbursements.

At least on the cape, housing prices are cyclical other than the most desirable locations. That’s certainly the case down here in the third world of the South Coast. In the Great Recession, it tracked the Rhode Island meltdown.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

With Proposition 2 1/2, the towns can’t do much about it. Very few towns will vote for an override to give raises to municipal workers.

This stuff is all interrelated. We had a restaurant closing thread. Family restaurants that can’t charge enough to attract workers are dying. The bottom of the pyramid of healthcare workers is having a huge problem staffing. Medicaid-funded nursing homes can’t pass on labor costs. They have to live within the financial constraints of Medicaid reimbursements.

At least on the cape, housing prices are cyclical other than the most desirable locations. That’s certainly the case down here in the third world of the South Coast. In the Great Recession, it tracked the Rhode Island meltdown.

They will if they say it's for schools.

Sometimes we have systems that help people but only to a certain point. I do know people that have turned down raises because they'd lose qualifications for other things.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by mdovell

They will if they say it's for schools.

I don’t think an override to raise teacher pay would pass in my town. The South Coast also doesn’t have a big housing affordability problem and prices are already dropping with rising interest rates. A step 1 teacher can afford rent.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Maura addressed it during her inauguration.

We have untold wealth in the Commonwealth. But record public revenue does little good when families can’t pay the rent, buy a home, heat their home, or pay for child care,” Healey said from the rostrum inside a packed House chamber. “This is — this is! — the greatest state in the union. It is. But people are leaving, at rates we don’t like, giving up on the Massachusetts story.”

Residents “can’t realize their dreams,” she added, “until we end the nightmare of high costs.”

Healey lamented the housing costs and low homeownership rates. She called Massachusetts a “gleaming example of liberty and equality and success,” but said “too many states are trying to pass us by.”

[BostonBornMassMade]

Don’t laugh. New travel poll finds Massachusetts families want to relocate to N.H. in 2023

They polled all 50 states. Not one state had MA as the most desirable state to move to. Even other High COL states like NY, NJ, HI, CA, WA, FL had at least a few votes.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Don’t laugh. New travel poll finds Massachusetts families want to relocate to N.H. in 2023

They polled all 50 states. Not one state had MA as the most desirable state to move to. Even other High COL states like NY, NJ, HI, CA, WA, FL had at least a few votes.

Not surprising. The costs here are over the top and I think more people are becoming cautious of the economy.

[9162]

Originally Posted by bostongymjunkie

We need legal immigration, not illegal immigration. The people doing those jobs by and large came here legally.

You are wrong! People are leaving because Massachusetts is the third most expensive state in the country to live in, behind California and Hawaii. If educated, legal citizens can’t make it here, immigrants can’t necessarily make it either. Of course, many are eligible for refugee benefits, courtesy of the tax payer. Bringing in more immigrants is the worst thing for the state. Rents are at an all time high, vacancy is low. People leave because they have no choice.

[9162]

Originally Posted by timberline742

Which most Venezuelans would have as well, with the 100+ years of our bleeping with their country and working to destablize it.

And I didn't say anything many or most Haitians, I was speaking specifically about the ones I spoke to who were studying to be or were CNAs/nurses.

As a percentage of the population and compared to our land mass, we take in very few immigrants legally. We WILL need to scale that up considerably.

Where do you get your information? Massachusetts is one of the highest states where corporations lobby for more H1B visas. Many of these companies lay off (American citizen) employees, may attempt to send jobs overseas, then say they don’t have enough qualified workers. What they really mean, is they don’t have workers they can exploit, paying less money, than what they would pay American workers.