Best places in Western Mass? (Lawrence, Holyoke: hotel, house, neighborhoods)

[Abbydo]

We're taking a road trip and I'm looking for a quaint new england village to visit in western mass... the kind of place you would see on a currier and ives christmas card. A place that is beautiful, where there are small shops, nice scenery, outdoorsy things to do, and just a nice quaint town to walk around in. Where are these quaint new england villages in western mass?

[cosmonewman]

Pretty much all of Franklin County. Try Northfield and Bernardston near the Vermont border. Both are easily accessible from 91 or Route 5.

[CaseyB]

Stockbridge.

[nicolepsy]

yes, stockbridge

[ontheroad]

Probably the most picture perfect would be Deerfield. I believe it has been featured in several films, including one English film in the last several years. Amherst, Stockbridge and several others also have that picture perfect look.

[ogre]

I'm not so sure Amherst really fits. Yes, it has a lot of aesthetically pleasing neighborhoods, but it's a pure college town. With the University of Massachusetts as the largest school in town, Amherst is more like State College, PA, or Lawrence, KS, etc., than the classic New England college town that has the ivy-colored brick buildings of a small liberal arts college facing out onto the town green. True, Amherst College has that look, to a degree, but this is really more of a large-university kind of town--hordes of drunken students downtown at night (less so in the summertime, if that's when you're traveling, but this scene still happens) and lots of freaky dropouts from society hanging around town. Seems to me that not too many people are in the middle ground regarding the way they feel about this kind of town--most either love it or hate--but even if you love it, this still is not Currier and Ives. By the way, Amherst does not even have one classic white church overlooking the green. I've never been to Stockbridge, but I've heard about it. If I've heard correctly, Stockbridge is more the town you want, if you're seeking to bring Currier and Ives to life. Another possibility out in the Berkshires would be Williamstown, home of Williams College, and more of the truly classic New England small-college town.

[missionhill]

One idyllic town is Hardwick, near Palmer. It's about as close to Currier & Ives as you can get in the 21st century (but don't forget that Currier & Ives was a New York City firm whose images of early 19th century rural life were mostly taken from New York state and elsewhere.) If you want Currier & Ives plus shops, then Stockbridge may be your place although it's not a town with a green. Same for Deerfield, minus the shops. If you can cross state lines, Litchfield, Conn. and Woodstock, Vt meet your requirements exactly--iconic New England scenes and some nice shops. I think Ogre is a little hard on Amherst: U-Mass is out of sight from Amherst center which has the green, requisite shops facing and nearby, the atmospheric Lord Jeffrey Inn, traditional college buildings, and a significant history (think Emily Dickenson) that transcends the college town identity. And it's a lot less stuffy than Litchfield, although Litchfield has its literary ghosts too, the Beechers. Amherst Center is up on a hill with beautiful views from the Amherst college campus out over countryside to the Holyoke range. A completely charming place in a really beautiful, unspoiled area is Shelburne Falls--very walkable, great shops, restaurants and galleries, no malls or chain crap anywhere around. But it's not a traditional N.E. town with green, Congregational church, etc.

[ogre]

I'll try to give more detail on Amherst, not to take Missionhill's disagreement as a challenge, but to give Abbydo a better idea whether it should be on the list of possibilities, based on the kind of town he/she (Abby? She?) is looking for. Amherst has some appealing features, but I keep looking at Abbydo's description of the sought-after town as being like Currier and Ives, and I'm not seeing that in Amherst. Should tell you, I haven't been to Amherst in several years, but, even though most likely a few businesses have opened and closed in that time, I've been there recently enough to guarantee you the town's basic character hasn't changed in my absence.

Yes, there is an inn-type hotel facing one side of the town green. However, the green itself is tiny compared to many other New England town commons' I've seen. There also happen to be a bunch of big trees largely blocking the view of the inn until you're standing right in front of it. The green is located off at one end of downtown, away from where a lot of the activity is. Amherst College faces one end of the green from across a street, but that street happens to be a highway, so it's a bit of a thouroughfare, which detracts some from the old college-town look. The Amherst College campus itself has some nice areas, but, for an old elite college, also has a surprising number of buildings that look rather straightforward and utilitarian.

There are some small businesses in Amherst. Since Abbydo was not specific about the kind of shops he/she would like to find, I don't really know whether Amherst fits the bill. When I hear classic quaint New England town, however, I'm picturing antique shops and art galleries, and Amherst has few of those. Amherst center has a number of the usual basic businesses, like a bank, a convenience store, a couple of barber shops. Facing the town green on one side is the ticket office for a regional bus company called Peter Pan. Around the corner is (or was, as of a few years ago) a dingy-looking old movie theater. I think it plays artsy movies, but I'm not sure, as I've never been to a show there. Don't know how the place stays in business, since you never seem to see anyone going in there, and the front of the place looks closed up and dusty.

The most visible downtown businesses are restaurants, and some of them are pretty good. There are larger family restaurants, a few small mom-and-pop eateries, and a couple of coffee shops, but then there are also a few hole-in-the-wall bars--not my picture of Currier and Ives, but Abbydo knows better whether this fits. Most, though not all, of the downtown buildings are clean enough, in a basic kind of way, but many of them look kind of new--generic business buildings. There's not as much of the quaint architecture as you'd find in MY idea of a C & I town.

As for the big-university character, I should make it clear that Amherst IS a smaller town than those I compared it to in previous posts. I was trying to capture the town's general feel rather than portray Amherst as a replica of those towns. It is true that, just as the nearby box stores and chain restaurants, just over the line in Hadley, the town right next door, are out of sight of Amherst center, the UMass campus, too, is a little distance from downtown (or Uptown, as the UMass students call it). Still, those drunken college kids roaming the Uptown streets at night, and the tambourine players and dredlocked trinket pedlars on the sidewalks in the afternoon don't scream Currier and Ives to me.

Missionhill mentioned Emily Dickinson, and in fact Amherst was her home all her life. Missionhill also described some of the natural scenery in the area, and it is GORGEOUS. Amherst sits in a broad valley, surrounded by large hills, or small mountains, depending on your view, in a picturesque variety of shapes. Somehow the area also seems especially green in the summertime. It's hard to pin down what it is about the natural scenery in some places that is unusually beautiful, but Amherst is located in one of those breathtaking spots. It would definitely be worth trying to arrange a trip so that it would include a drive through the area, just for the stunning views. Also, if you're interested in literary history, a tour of Emily Dickinson's house could be in order. But Currier and Ives? I don't know. It's not working for me, but at least all this detail may help Abbydo decide whether to consider a visit to Amherst. Happy touring.

[MinuteMan]

Originally Posted by Abbydo

....the kind of place you would see on a currier and ives christmas card..... Where are these quaint new england villages in western mass?

My suggestion would be Old Deerfield in Deerfield. Its one street with a collection of historic homes with no shops or traffic. Its quaint year round. Welcome to Historic Deerfield

[WestMass79]

Lenox is a good one.