Sometimes being a resident of western Massachusetts can feel like living on an island that the rest of the state doesn't even know about, let alone care about. While those of us who live here know how much The Berkshires (and the rest of western Massachusetts) has to offer, sometimes it feels lost on our fellow Bay State residents.

Approximately 64 percent of Massachusetts residents live in the greater Boston area, which is generally defined as the eastern third of Massachusetts, including the South Coast and Cape Cod. So I guess it makes a fair amount of sense that not everyone in Massachusetts is an expert on the western part of the state, but what some Boston area residents qualify as "western Massachusetts" is laughable.

A recent viral Tik Tok video showed us just how little respect western Massachusetts gets from our eastern counterparts. So little that they don't even know where it is.

WBZ News out of Boston recently took the streets of Massachusetts' capitol city and asked residents where "western" Massachusetts began, and the answers were comical needless to say.

The most common answer given was WORCESTER. Yes, Worcester, which, on a map, is very, VERY clearly in central Massachusetts. How people think that driving 50 minutes west gets them anywhere near the western part of our great state is beyond me. One guy did try and make a valid point when he was questioned on the central location of Worcester. "One side is western, one side is eastern, you don't need to find a central" GENIUS!

Then there was the gentleman who said, "I don't even care about western Mass". Real nice, pal. Or the guy who said "I don't even understand western Massachusetts as a concept" whatever that means.

The winner from me is the lovely young lady who said Marlboro and Taunton were western Mass when in reality, those cities are only about 45 minutes west and south of Boston proper and are very much considered part of the greater Boston area.

But there was one savior for The Berkshires. One of our own, Denise from right here in Pittsfield set the record straight. She said western Massachusetts starts in Lee, which might be an extreme answer on the other side of the spectrum, but at least she tried.

Check out the entire clip below.

 

@wbznewsradio Where does Western Mass begin? People in Boston weigh in. #WesternMass #WesternMA #Massachusetts #Boston #NewEngland #SpringfieldMA #WorcesterMA #CentralMass #Berkshires #BostonTikTok #BostonCheck #MassachusettsTikTok #MassachusettsCheck ♬ original sound - WBZ NewsRadio

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