Need info on Easthampton, Sunderland, Shutesbury, Belchertown, South Hadley (Boston: rental, neighborhood)

[QuietGal]

Hi all,

I’m a single (40ish) women looking to move from Boston to a small, quiet town in the Pioneer Valley that is open to newcomers and where I can be part of a community.

Can anyone give me feedback on towns like: Easthampton, Sunderland, Shutesbury, Belchertown, and South Hadley (I’ve heard good things about these towns so far, I just need more info). I'm also open to other suggested towns.

Do these towns offer some or all of what I'm looking for?

- A quiet town where I can take walks in quiet areas
- easy access to nature and outdoor activities
- easy access to a natural foods grocery store
- I’d like to avoid dealing with a lot of traffic & people to get to the grocery store, drug store, and medical care.
- I prefer: Some diversity (I’m black), access to cultural activities (i.e. museums), and healthy restaurants (thai, korean, vegan, etc).

Do you know how long of a drive it is to downtown Northampton, and is it a pleasant drive? I like Northampton, but need to apply to other towns for elderly/disabled housing due to waiting lists.

Thanks for any feedback you can give me.

[missionhill]

Quiet Gal, South Hadley is pretty much a regular suburban town with little or no alternative flavor. However, it's quiet and the Mt. Holyoke College campus offers nice places for quiet walks. Amherst has the best developed network of paths through conservation land of any town in the area and the Whole Foods store in Hadley is nearby. There's a ridge trail system in the Holyoke range on both sides of the river. It's strenuous but very accessible to Amherst, South Hadley, Hadley, Easthampton, Northampton, and Holyoke. Sunderland is a beautiful rural town with lots of open farmland along the Connecticut. Amherst and Hadley share the Norwottuck Rail Trail which is nice for walking and cycling. Belchertown has lots of walking and hiking trails in the Quabbin reservation. Easthampton was a factory town once and is now some kind of alternative to Northampton for creative people but I don't know much about it. You should probably begin with Northampton which has lots to offer. Wendell and Leverett are small rural towns near Amherst with lots of craftspeople and probably a natural foods store. Don't know much about Shutesbury except that it seems very small. By Boston standards there's no traffic anywhere in the valley except on Route 9 going over the Coolidge Bridge. Plenty of cultural activity in the valley between the five-college area and the institutions in Springfield and Hartford. The towns you asked about are all pretty white but Amherst and Northampton have a few people of color. Holyoke and Springfield have lots of people of color but these cities are in bad shape and may not be too attractive to a newcomer. Maybe take a look, see what you think. Hartford, CT, is similar in that way except that it has a diverse, Jamaica Plain-like scene in the West End neighborhood and, being the state capital, there's a more concerted effort to revive the city. Doesn't sound like you're interested in cities but I'm just throwing it out there. Good luck!

[cosmonewman]

Check out Hadley. I think it would be a good fit for you. It is just across the river from Northampton and it has a couple of natural foods places (Whole Foods? I forget) & at least one Asian market that I know of. Parts of Hadley are quite rural and there is a state park with good hiking opportunities (Skinner St. Park, Mount Holyoke). From there it would be a short drive to pretty much everything you want.

South Hadley seems like a pretty nice place to live. It has more of a suburban feel than Hadley. A friend who lives there told me that the people are somewhat conservative. I was pretty shocked. But what do I know?

Diversity/Race: I don't think you will have any problem with these issues anywhere in the PV.

I don't know very much about the other towns you mentioned.

[QuietGal]

Thanks for the information! I plan on visiting the area soon to check it out.

[topher441970]

Northampton is the best, Eashampton is GREAT, along with Hadley, South Hadley, South Deerfield, Sunderland, Hatfield... Springfield is TERRIBLE, along with Holyoke... DON'T go there. Those cities are loaded with crime. I like Easthampton because it's lower priced than Northampton for housing, and it has a nice setting. Though Northampton has a great downtown area, full of culture. Anwhere in this area is the best part of Mass. Look around but steer clear of Spfld, Holyoke, Chicopee, pretty much anything south of Northampton/E'ton area.

[willdufauve]

Most people find it easier to start out in Amherst because there's plenty of rental housing, and the UMass community, then move further out in a few years.

[VlyRoadKid]

I agree with willdufauve about starting in Amherst, though your wait for housing often depends upon student enrollment, mostly at UMass. The town center is very nice, with lots of good restaurants, delis and even a movie theater (is it still there?! I haven't been there in a while, but spent many happy yrs. living there!).

On the other end, Shutesbury IS nice, but remote and very hard to get to or from in the winter; it gets lots of ice during storms and fog in the summer. If you need to be near medical facilities, then it's not a good place; it'd be at least 1/2 hr ride to Franklin Med. Ctr. in Greenfield and depending on traffic, 45 min. to over an HOUR to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in N'ton!

Florence, just north of N'ton (and technically part of it) is quite nice, with a cute town center, a nearby HUGE park (Look park), which has a great bike/hike path connecting to the same "rail trail" that goes all the way to Amherst and beyond.

I know I'll get heat for this, but Greenfield is only 25 min. from Northampton & Amherst and has a first-rate medical ctr., a decent downtown with LOTS of restaurants and shops. The housing and rental prices are well below those of Amherst & N'ton. Many people trash Greenfield, but there are lots of nice people here and good places to rent. If you PM me, I can give you the name of a realtor I know who can possibly help.

And most of the towns between N'ton and Greenfield are nice: Whately, Deerfield (S.Deerfield is rather conservative, as is Hatfield), or just north of Greenfield (Bernardston, Leyden, Northfield). Leverett & Montague (just beyond Amherst) are great, too (great cycling!)

As for racism, yes it exists, here and there, but FAR less in the Valley than anywhere else I've ever been...this place is truly an oasis! Good luck!

[QuietGal]

Thanks VlyRoadKid. I'm limited on where I can live, b/c I have a disability, so I'm applying to subsidized housing. Do you know if Williamsburg is a conservative town? A few towns have quiet, decent/safe housing options that I can apply to, including Williamsburg, Greenfield, Montague, & shelburne falls. I've read negative things about the bldg in Florence. I found out that some of these towns don't have subsidized housing.

The wait in Amherst is very long or one bldg. is in a very busy area. One bldg in Noho may be ok.

[quincyguy]

Charming, quiet, leafy quaint and extremely Left, politically.
Add into the mix an overabundance of tarot readers, channelers, bead-shops, senior-citizen hippies looking for 1968 - the good old days....
Also, you'll be driving more unless you find a living place in a town center.
You may have gotten a bit spoiled by quick and comparatively cheap T service in the city, 1st world medical care, too.....
Of the whole hippie menagerie, I'd suggest Greenfield.
Look before you leap