re: Anyone here ever lived in New England area?

More expensive than the south for sure - particularly housing, and more particularly in MA, RI, and CT. ME, NH, and VT are more like the south than the other states. Need to be able to deal with the cold and lots of snow. Beaches are not white sand and the water even in the summer rarely gets much into the 70s. But good fishing (fresh and salt), hiking, and hunting if you are into that.

Generally, the people are not as openly friendly, but there are a lot of great people there once you get to know them.