During the Reagan years, I did a lot of business traveling. The loss of manufacturing jobs in the Midwest due to the rapid adoption of global trade was apparent.
In small cities throughout Illinois and Indiana, I saw relatively little economic activity compared to greater Boston. Those were the “Massachusetts Miracle” years that Mike Dukakis parlayed into a failed presidential bid.
The Eighties were peak years for shopping malls, when they were flooded with a generation of teenagers. Today, malls are dying and many are dead.
JCPenney is closing more stores as malls struggle
https://finance.yahoo.com/small-business/articles/jcpenney-closing-more-stores-malls-184100928.html
There are exceptions. On a recent visit I made to the Natick Mall, the garage and the parking lots were full. On a weekday. Likewise at Shopper’s World, next door in neighboring Framingham.
The garage capacity at the Logan Express airport shuttle in Framingham has been doubled. Yet the overflow lot between Shopper’s World and the Natick Mall appeared to be just about full.
Malls are in trouble outside of the Route 495 belt, and into Western Massachusetts. But closer to Boston, where the money is, good luck finding a parking space.
The median price of a house in my town is now over $1,000,000. So, is it any wonder that many Massachusetts residents consider the state to be unaffordable?