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That said, the Boston area badly lacks real nature nearby - I look at urbanites in places like Portland OR, Seattle or Denver with some envy as they seem to have urban amenities with true wilderness nearby. The Fells is ok for the kids on the weekends - we do need to drive there but it takes 12 minutes.
Not sure I'd put Denver on the list unless your definition of "real nature" is miles of arid pasture. Culturally they are more outdoors oriented, but I find Boston Metro's extended landscape to be far more diverse.
I love rural areas and the city equally. It's the sprawling overpriced boring suburbs that make me feel dead inside.
The Pioneer Valley, eg Leverett, is great because it's a series of small but jam-packed town centers full of arts and culture usually only found in metropolitan areas but with beautiful rural outlying areas and natural beauty. Rural lite - both worlds.
Grocery stores 20 minutes away? Yup probably. But aren't they typically about that far away in the burbs due to traffic?
Age and stage of life are key factors here. Some who love the urban "scene" change their ways as they get older, "settle down," have kids, etc. Northampton/Amherst has indeed become an arts/culture destination, but maybe mostly for those over age 30.
Great, so drive to NYC instead of drive to Boston, big whoop, still a couple of hours drive in either situation, at least. Few times I want to visit a city? I've been in NYC more than that this year and I live in the Boston area. Weekly is more like it, or multiple times a week.
Amherst/Northampton a big towns / teensy tiny little cities, there is some nice stuff (Easthampton's Flywheel has some good stuff at times), but really, its not a cultural destination. It just isn't.
I suppose in a cop car with the blue lights going doing 90 mph the whole way, you could get to NYC in 2 hours from Amherst. At 2 am, it's 3 hours for the rest of us and easily 4 hours at any more typical driving time.
Between walking and a bicycle, I can live just fine without using my car. I can't imagine living somewhere that a gallon of milk is a 10 minute drive. I live in high density suburban where I have a dozen walkable restaurants. On my bicycle, I can get to the grocery store in 5 minutes or walk it in 30. Along that route, I pass my bank, my pharmacy, where I get my hair cut, my health club, and most other non-big box retail and services. I can also walk to my dinghy dock in 10 minutes and get out to my boat sitting in the harbor. Rural western Massachusetts holds no attraction to me at all. I lived in Easthampton for a bit 20-ish years ago. ZZZzzzzzzz. The 8 seat bar at Nini's is the epicenter of activity in town.
GeoffD, define "rural" western Mass. In present day Easthampton, Northampton, or Greenfield all those walkable things you mention are present if you live in town. The 10-20 minutes for a gallon of milk are in actually rural towns like Leverett or Conway. 20 years ago that was probably true about Easthampton but it's undergone quite a change. The Valley towns are wonderfully walkable and full of amenities typically only found in much more urbane areas, and I see no difference between the downtown amenities of the so-called "rural" life in western Mass small cities and towns and what one would find in the dense inner urban suburbs, except proximity to a metropolis.
I envy you coast dwellers though! Out west we are definitely lacking an ocean.
One other nice factor is affordability. Middle class home ownership is still within reach for folks with less than a six-figure household income.
Sounds lovely to me, Heather, and pretty near to medical care in Amherst, which is a concern for me. I am still working and never miss a day but have to keep an eye on a few chronic problems.
Beautiful part of the world. I love the Berkshires, too, but I decided that wasn't a good idea a few years ago when the excellent hospital in North Adams, MA closed.
Yep; downtown Easthampton has a lot of entertainment stuff these days. For real. The town is gentrifying like crazy, for people who were priced out of Northampton.
That could be an apples/oranges comparison (small, locally useful vs. big and urban). Reminds me of when people put down my local newspaper as compared to, say, the Globe or the Times. But neither of the latter two can tell me that my friend got arrested last night (for example).
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