These days, it's important to embrace good news wherever one finds it. Take the trio of reports issued within the past couple of weeks on the quality of life here in the Bay State.
A UMass Amherst poll found that only 32 percent of Massachusetts residents surveyed felt the state was heading in the right direction. Sounds disappointing until you read that a mere 13 percent believe the country as a whole is going in the right direction.
The results were similar regarding our elected representation. While only 28 percent said they believed that the Legislature was doing a good job, that's more than twice as many as have a favorable view of the job Congress is doing in Washington.
These aren't findings Gov. Deval Patrick and the Democratic leadership are likely to crow about, but it's better than if the figures were reversed.
Delving a little deeper, a group called Opportunity Nation recently ranked Massachusetts third in the U.S. in terms of "how effectively individuals ... can move up the economic ladder."
The Bay State gets high marks for the percentage of the population with access to quality health care, the number of children enrolled in preschool and its high-school graduation rate, as well as its lower-than-average poverty rate.
And a recent MassINC study found the state's middle class is faring pretty well, too. In terms of "Achieving the American Dream," the study found that "many middle-class residents were achieving pillars of the American Dream," and compared to their peers in the rest of the country, "more ... were covered by health insurance, more purchased homes, and more students went on to college and completed degrees."
Something to celebrate, for sure. But at the same time, MassINC's survey of consumer sentiment found "difficult financial conditions are taking a toll," with a third of respondents saying they were in danger of falling out of the middle class, half believing the next generation will be worse off than the previous one and only 18 percent saying they had an optimistic outlook for the future.
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