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Hello everyone... I was offered a job in Greenfield Massachusetts. I am a single mother who lives in N.H. with my 15 year old daughter. I have spent several hours today reading this forum trying to see if iGreenfield would be a good fit for my daughter and I. I have read most of the posts on here but a lot of them are older. We are planing on going there this weekend to visit, in the meantime I was hoping someone that lives there could tell us what they think of the town..I have read some horror stories.. Thanks in Advance
Greenfield I think is nice but frankly I'm more concerned about the next five or so years out. The closing of the yankee plant in VT will cause a exodus of higher paid jobs. From that it will lower other jobs in the area. It can't also be against the amtrak vermonter line and the gas line. Fighting yankee was one thing I get that...but a train? But a natural gas line?
Greenfield really is a very nice town in terms of community ethic and local events, businesses, restaurants, etc. Gainful employment though is hard to find in the area, and it's crawling with loitering down and out folks more and more every year and has been hit hard by the heroin epidemic. Petty crime happens frequently to fund people's next fix. Might not be the best place for a teenage girl unless she really has a hold of her self. Easy to fall in with a sleazy crowd. Surrounding towns may be a better bet, like Montague, Shelburne, Gill, Bernardston, all with different school districts.
Thank you so much for the replies. I'm actually here visiting now. Everything you guys have posted is pretty much spot on. I'm going to start looking at the surrounding areas. Thanks again, I appreciate everyone taking time out of their day to answer questions for me. :-)
The sad thing is it really is worth saving. It has quite a bit there for its population.
That's true. It's a large place and has all those big old houses with the grand front porches. It used to have a good downtown. I haven't been there in a while but I have a good friend who grew up there and goes back to see her family and she says it's even worse than ever. The school system has had a bad reputation, going back at least 60 years.
That's true. It's a large place and has all those big old houses with the grand front porches. It used to have a good downtown. I haven't been there in a while but I have a good friend who grew up there and goes back to see her family and she says it's even worse than ever. The school system has had a bad reputation, going back at least 60 years.
Some of these places need to be rescued somehow.
The downtown is still relatively good. Been to Gardner, Fitchburg, or Ware lately? Greenfield shines versus many similar sized downtowns and I don't understand why people in the valley knock it so hard. Myopia maybe? I hear so many people from W Mass talk about Greenfield with disdain for no reason, usually people who grew up in the local tofu-Valley bubble and have never been to a real hellhole where everyone has given up on downtown and the idea of local enterprise. Greenfield is crawling with down and out people with no opportunities, sure, so bring your thick skin to help ignore the suffering of your fellow human. Because it is worse than ever in that regard. But you can still do things like buy a book or clothes or a good meal from a local establishment and see a movie downtown, which puts it well above the other town centers I mentioned.
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