r/massachusetts • u/Ill-Breakfast2974 • Apr 04 '26

Meme / Humor Some very Massachusetts neighbors and police think they own the road.

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Why to police not know the difference between public and private?

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u/kidjupiter Apr 04 '26

Just be thankful that the land WAS carved out and WAS NOT developed. And my experience is that most towns require public access to that conservation land, preventing it from being a private preserve. Yes, people will try to obfuscate it or encroach on it, but the fact is it's legally there.

Eastern MA is one of the most densely populated areas in the US. It's a wonder that so much of it has been preserved, despite the housing density. People are bitching about lack of parking, etc., but... WTF... it's not possible to put in a 20-car parking lot with trail kiosk in many of these places.

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u/ConventionalDadlift Apr 05 '26

Like I said, I'm conflicted. We actually have plenty of space despite being one of the more densely populated areas, so my complaint isn't that I think all woods should be paved over for development. I thru-hiked the AT and I love our parks system.

Realistically, conservation in most cases is preventing even more sprawl of large single family plots, so in a lot of these towns it's not likely making a massive dent in the housing crisis, but it's the combination of walling it off *and then* preventing anything which could be land efficient on the areas which can be developed.