Editorial

Take a glance at the Competitive Index released recently by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Assoc. , and you’ll certainly sense some alarm bells for the Commonwealth.

Indeed, the poor national rankings in several categories, including energy costs, overall cost of living, commute time, childcare costs, and housing cost burden are not exactly news flashes — this state has always been expensive, and the Boston area has always endured extreme traffic — but they do not bode well at a time when professionals have real options when it comes to where they live and work, especially in the remote-work era.

But take a closer look, and you’ll see something else: all or most of those red flags (energy costs are high almost everywhere in the Commonwealth) do not pertain to this region — for better or worse, mostly the former.

The Western Mass. region, with the exception of the Berkshires, which has certainly benefited from the advent of remote work, does not have the sky-high housing costs that are making it increasingly difficult to afford to live anywhere near Boston. Childcare costs are not as high, nor are many other expenses. As for commute time … it’s not exactly something to be proud of, in our opinion, but Springfield does not have unbearable traffic or anything approaching parking shortages, except for Thunderbirds games or events at MGM.

So, if you’re an optimist, you can look at the Competitive Index and see concern for the Commonwealth on the whole, but opportunity for the 413, and some other area codes as well, like the Cape.

Indeed, as people leave the Bay State for other regions of the country, and even some of our neighbors such as Maine and New Hampshire, opportunity exists to convince them to stay in the Commonwealth — just move from one side to the other.

It will take some doing, and some marketing dollars (from where they would come, we don’t know), but it appears that the state can help stem the outmigration of some of its professionals if it promotes some of its lower-cost areas, such as the 413.

And there is much to promote. Indeed, while this region does not have the large employers or workforce of the Boston area, or the nightlife that is attractive to many young people, there is quality of life here, from large open spaces to recreation areas to arts and culture.

There are stories, and a growing number of them, concerning people who are trading the super-high cost of living in the Boston area for this part of the state. Many of them involve people who grew up here, have tasted life in the Hub, and now want to return to their roots for the reasons mentioned above. We could use some more of that, and swell those ranks to include people who didn’t grow up here.

Obviously, the biggest priority for the state at this pivotal time is to address its overall competitiveness in any and all ways that it can, from building more affordable housing to improving the overall transportation network to shorten commute times.

But while doing all that, it can also try to stem outmigration by stressing that there are some areas in Massachusetts that are already more affordable and more competitive.

Yes, within the sobering numbers there are some opportunities.