No, it's not the water. This actually used to be a decent place to live, at least where I grew up, but that was a long time ago. I could probably say that the overlap between academia and politics, especially in this state, is part of the problem, but that doesn't even begin to explain it, nor does history, immigration, and culture. What I do know is that liberty is inversely proportional to population. That is, the more people you have, the less liberty you have, and it is a momentum that is unstoppable. I'd be willing to bet that whatever state you live in, there are pockets of areas that are just as liberal as Massachusetts, and they are only going to grow. Things like this happen a little quicker here but mark my words, the rest of the country is not far behind.