Nice around Springfield? (Worcester, Chicopee, Westfield: appointed, crime, house)

[TShadow]

I must disagree with all these negative posts about Springfield. I'm a single woman in her 40s who purchased a home 7 years ago in the 16 acres area. I grew up in Ludlow and have also lived in Palmer and in Westfield. I was pleasantly surprised at how quiet my neighborhood is. Much better than the loud noises of the aircraft you get in Ludlow from Westover! My neighbors are all very nice and we all keep our houses and yards kept up. No one in this neighborhood has had any bad experiences with crime, break-ins, etc.

Of course, with any city, there are some areas that one would prefer not to live in or even drive thru, but there are "absolutely" many very nice areas! You can purchase much more house for the money in Springfield than in the burbs! Albeit, the tax rate is a bit higher. As for schools, there are some very good private schools (CATHEDRAL) and charter (SABIS) schools and numerous colleges in the area (WNEC, STCC, AIC). Our local rep Sean Curran is very active in the area and we have some great civic groups such as the 16 acres beautification committee, etc.!

The area of 16 Acres between Wilbraham Road and Plumtree Road is very nice. The area of South Branch Parkway and the woodsy area of Parker Street that leads to hampden and wilbraham is also very nice areas. There are many great "pockets" of nice homes throughout the city. One must live in Springfield to truly appreciate what this city has to offer. Access to highways, shopping, restaurants, the Springfield Symphony, the museums, numerous public libraries, and not to mention the largest healthcare facility in western mass - Baystate Healthcare, with its new state of the art cancer facility! There are also some very nice historical homes through the city in nice, safe districts!

Don't be scared off by previous posters! Check it out for yourself. The previous posts make Springfield sound like Roxbury for heaven's sake!

[wpotsie]

Unless you are moving somewhere near the Longmeadow town line, DO NOT move to Springfield. It is the 19th most dangerous city in the U.S. in which to live according to a recent study. The immediate surrounding area is very nice though. If you've got a little extra money, check into Longmeadow, E.Longmeadow or Wilbraham. Otherwise, the Hadleys are very nice as are Hatfield, Northampton, Amherst, Belchertown, Easthampton, Southampton, Palmer, and Southwick.

[etbird56]

Can someone tell me where else one can get a great pizza in Springfield other than Red Rose? That restaurant is overrated. It's lighting is WAY too bright, I feel like I am in a public library when i go there. The food is ok, but not THAT good. I am looking for a brick oven pizza where one can go after partying. Is there anything within 10 minutes of downtown? Many thanks to all who answer.

[Courage]

I worked in Springfield for a year. Coming from a small town, it was certainly a culture shock. The city is dirty. The drivers are rude. The crime rate is ridiculous. Unless you plan on sending your kids to private school, look at the surrounding suburbs.

To the north, check out Deerfield, Granby, Hatfield and Amherst. To the west and south, check out Southwick and Granville. Southwick and Granville seem to be ideal bedroom communities for working professionals in Hartford, CT and Springfield. I lived in Granville for 25 years; you can't beat the small town feel and the great school system.

[MissTwisties]

I have to agree and disagree with some of the things said here.

We moved to Springfield MA about 7 years ago. My husband got an offer to work for a company in Agawam, there was not much time to think and we made the move. Bought a house near Baystate Medical Center and Elm's College. We're right on the border of Chicopee. Let me tell you, this was the BIGGEST MISTAKE we could make. Springfield is NOT a good place to live in. There is NO AREA of this city, no matter what anyone says, that is safe. Let me explain: we do live in a nice and quiet neighborhood. Our neighborhood is not the problem, neither the people who live in it. It's all the people who live AROUND our neighborhood and come here to cause troubles! What someone said about those "island people" is 100% correct. They came here, put themselves on wellfare, then live off out taxes money, steal from people, vandalise our homes and cars, commit crimes, and use food stamps to buy lobsters, filet mignons steaks and what not at the grocery (seen with my own eyes) when most of us (middle and higher income families) are working, paying bills and indulge in that kind of food only once in a while. Now don't get me wrong, you can't put all of them in the same basket. Some of them are hard working people that have pride and self-esteem, and will not associate with the rest of them. Same thing goes with us, there is white trash in this city. So far we have been vandalise many times, so did my neighbors. We've had a brand new mountain bike stolen from our backyard, that we just bought for my husband, the brand new baby seat was on it with our daughter cute little helmet. My husband went chasing after him. Yes it was an hispanic male. We got our SUV broken into, they stole expensive construction lazer equipment, cell phone, flash light, etc. We had paint balls capsules shooted on our house exterior walls. We've had just a few weeks ago, our Christmas decorations damaged and stolen (they cut the wires and took off with our candy canes). My neighbor had their Jeep Cherokee and Mustang broke into, windows shattered. Another one had her child's toys stolen from their backyard, and her oldest's son car smashed into by a "drag racer", they come on our street and drag race at night. I've witnessed and try to stop young men from stealing my neighbors bicycles....they laugh in my face and took of with the bicycles. All the times we witnessed one of those happenings, it was done by hispanics. I wish they'd get a JOB and work for what they want!! The Springfield Police is horrible. You call them when something is being damaged or stolen on your property, they take over an hour to show up. You call them to let them know someone was racing on your street and hit a light pole at 3a.m. in the morning and it fell on the ground, broken in two with electric wires across the street, they take half an hour to show up. A friend of ours who is in the Spfld police told us it is one of the worse police in all Massachusetts, that many of them are corrupted, into drug dealing and what not. Geesh, if someone was to brake into my house at night to steal and kill my family, how long would they take to show up? I'm sure we'd have enough time to be killed a hundred times before they get to our house. Springfield is extremly UNSAFE, DIRTY, it has the worse school system I've EVER seen. Don't fool yourself thinking you'll be able to send your kids to Sabis Charter School, the waiting list is so long! Both my daughters have been on the list for 2 years now, I called them again recently and they told me my oldest will probably not make it in there on time (she's in 5th grade, and was hoping to get her in there before middle school to avoid those horrible Spfld schools), and my youngest is in 1st grade, they also told me she probably won't get in there before middle school. You'd have to put your child on their list when he/she is born! Where I come from the schools are excellent, teachers communicate on a regular basis with parents, they care about our children. They will stay after school to take some time with your child if she's having problems understanding something. Never seen this happening here, the teachers arrive at last minute in the morning and leave at 3:30 right at the end of their class. The principal is the most stuck-up, snobbish, innaproachable person I've met in a school, always right and the parent always wrong.

Good news is, we are moving to Southwick in just a few weeks. We bought a house there, and cannot wait to get out of here. I won't be coming near that discusting city again if I don't have to.

Southwick, Northampton, Granville, Agawam, Easthampton, Westhampton, Amherst, etc. are all much better choices! Anything is better than Springfield.

[dixsechik]

I grew up in Amherst/South Hadley and my husband and I are now in Virginia planning to relocate back to Western Mass/CT area. We're looking at Longmeadow, because it's right in the middle of our jobs. Can anyone tell me more about Longmeadow? We're a young couple, no kids yet, in our late 20's. Definitely looking for good schools because we will have kids in the next couple of years. Looking to know more about the community, average age of people in town, sort of the town spirit if you know what I mean. Anything is appreciated!

[Noodle]

Longmeadow is nice but very hoidy toidy complete with snob zoning and high taxes to go with the high real estate prices. The schools are very nice, but for my money, I'd look at Westhampton or Southhampton because they are not too far off the Rte. 91 corridor, and are very nice with good schools and some nice houses going up.

[prudence]

Springfield is nice, don't believe all the suburbanites. You get a lot more for your dollar in Springfield.

[Noodle]

You do get more! More shootings, more car theft, more drunken bar brawls complete with gang shootings, more welfare recipients per square mile, more lousy roads, more filth and garbage strewn around, more corruption in goverment. That is if Springfeild had a real goverment. I like the latest scandal, where, the city realized they had not taken enough taxes out of the retirees pension payments, and were going to collect back taxes. Of course the retirees cried to their favorite corrupt politician no doubt promosing that the unions would not back him(or her) in the next election. So who gets to pay the back taxes? The taxpayers of course. To the tune of $250,000. Yeah. Thats exactly where I'd like to live. NOT!!

[Yankeecybercraft]

Originally Posted by shakerp

Stay out of Spingfield. Its a dangerous, dirty city with dangerous and yes dirty schools. I live nearby in CT. I only go there to visit relatives,(who have lived there for 20+ years), or to go to Red Rose Pizza...cant beat their Pizza.....I'm Italian, my father will Only eat their pizza. So let me take back the first statement. Eat in Springfield.... but dont live there.

Red Rose is the best. Everytime I visit from Daytona Beach we go there to eat. I grew up in Springfield and yes at this time it is very unsafe to live there.