[M_Six]

Boston is a great walking city with loads of good restaurants and shopping. Lots to see and do there. New England in general offers a huge variety of environments like mountains, coastal, islands, etc. The biggest downsides to New England are the cost of living and the dense population. I grew up in a small MA town in a neighborhood of cookie cutter homes. All originally 3 bed/1 bath. Maybe 1200sf on 1/4 acre lots. Most folks who lived there expanded, like my parents did, adding two more bedrooms and a half bath. But I saw one of the houses that hadn't expanded on Zillow a few months ago selling for $600k. I was shocked. Tiny 1950's house on a postage stamp lot for $600k? Yikes.

There are areas of New England where the housing costs are lower and it's not as crowded. You just have to decide if living in those more remote areas is worth the trade-off.