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Old 11-16-2013, 08:45 PM
 
17 posts, read 20,083 times
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I'm moving to Northampton for the spring semester (Jan-May) for an internship. I'm a student, obviously, but I'm doing online courses mostly that are based in New York, so I'm looking for a place to live.

I'm not all that familiar with the area - so are there good/bad parts?

I have furniture, but since it's such a short period of time, finding a furnished place would be awesome. I found one in Chicopee, but would like if I could get one in Northampton or even Amherst, or any other good nearby areas.

I prefer to live in an apartment complex, rather than renting a room in someone's home. I'm not sure how many complexes are out there. I haven't seen too many that offer a short lease, but with UMass Amherst being right there, I would have to assume there is some kind of student-friendly option in the area.

Any tips would be appreciated!
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Old 11-17-2013, 07:50 AM
 
Location: North Quabbin, MA
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I'd check Craigslist for sublets in Northampton, rather than searching other towns. the area is pretty spread out and most of the apartment complexes catering to students are in Amherst and Sunderland. Those complexes would almost all require two buses totaling at least a 45 minute commute times one way to Northampton (or 20 -25 min by car). There are no bad areas in Northampton so that shouldn't be a concern. Stay away from Chicopee - no easy way in or out of that city to commute to Northampton, and you would be isolated from co-workers and/or student peers - Chicopee is a blue collar townie place through and through that would offer very little social opportunity or entertainment to a twenty-something intern working in Noethampton.

To live in Northampton you might need to expect to share an apartment in an older apartment building or house converted into apartments with somebody rather than live in a complex. The complexes in N'Hamp are mostly Section 8 (gov't-subsidized low income) rather than student oriented.
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Old 11-17-2013, 07:58 AM
 
Location: North Quabbin, MA
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Hadley or Easthampton would be good options too. Close to Northampton about 10-15 min by bus or car. I'd even rule out Amherst if you are looking for a quick commute. Amherst is nice and of course has tons of students, but a long haul by bus to Northampton, ~35+ min each way minimum (20-25 min by car) so not ideal.
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Old 11-17-2013, 11:56 AM
 
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I'd recommend also getting a bike the area is filled with actual bike paths that were rail tracks.

I'd recommend roommates.com it will be about $30 for maybe two months. There's a fair amount of apartments out there.
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Old 11-17-2013, 03:41 PM
 
Location: Funkotron, MA
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Northampton, Easthampton, or Hadley would be your best bets to keep the commute nice and short. Route 9 between Northampton and Hadley gets backed up very often, so I'd avoid living in Amherst.

Check out some of the bike trails. Paths/Trails | MassBike

If you're near the Norwottuck, it's very easy to bike between the the three towns.

There are no real bad parts, and Northampton would probably be the best for a student. Several bars, lots of interesting shops and restaurants, and plenty of music venues in the downtown area.
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Old 11-17-2013, 03:45 PM
 
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Just wondering here now that I reread it. You are moving for an internship? Are you being compensated for this?

Moving for something that is not even a job just sounds odd. If you aren't being compensated that's quite a cost. Even if you find a cheap apartment at say $450 a month that's thousands of dollars out of pocket. Add in the costs of having a car, food, energy etc.
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Old 11-20-2013, 09:11 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mdovell View Post
Just wondering here now that I reread it. You are moving for an internship? Are you being compensated for this?

Moving for something that is not even a job just sounds odd. If you aren't being compensated that's quite a cost. Even if you find a cheap apartment at say $450 a month that's thousands of dollars out of pocket. Add in the costs of having a car, food, energy etc.
No monetary compensation, no. I have to do an internship for college - it's actually cheaper for me to go there and do it, rather than stay where I live (NYC) and do an internship. My lease is up and I need a new place to live anyway, so this actually works out and moving out there saves me a bit of money, too.

Thanks for the input, everyone! I'll check out roommates.com. I'll look into the bike paths - it'd be really nice to be able to ride a bike instead of driving! I'm glad you told me about the traffic backups and everything. My sister lives about an hour and a half west of Northhampton, and I've experienced some of those traffic jams on 9, they're never fun!
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Old 11-21-2013, 12:26 PM
 
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I'll chime in with what everyone else said. It's way easier to live in Northampton if your internship is there than in Amherst, but it's not a terrible drive if you have a car. It's also a quick bike ride (about 10 miles), but during the winter months, that sounds very, very cold. There should be some month-to-month options for converted houses, or with an understanding landlord, if you want to live without roommates for a few months. Craigslist is probably the best way to find housing out there.
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Old 11-21-2013, 01:26 PM
 
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The Northampton-to-Amherst bike path is currently closed for reconstruction; doubt it will be finished before winter. That may affect your plans.
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Old 11-21-2013, 07:38 PM
 
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O ok. I was going to say NYC isn't that far away from the area. If you were from say LA or Seattle I'd say something different.

Some bike paths are on google maps but it's a bit iffy. There's a whole major lawsuit that could dramatically changes the amount of paths in the country. There's a lawsuit basically saying that if rail tracks are abandoned that it should go back to the towns/cities. There's a non profit called rails to trails that rips it up making it work perfect for walking and biking.Northampton has a fair amount but this could be pretty significant nationwide.
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