Catskills Like Towns in Mass? (Boston, Holyoke: renting, movie theater, college)

[mdovell]

I was thinking Brattleboro a bit. ..maybe greenfield but it's small.

[FCMA]

Yeah - the Brattleboro, Greenfield, Shelburne Falls nexus might be in the vein OP is looking for, and becoming pretty covered in hipster. No chance of getting to Needham in under 2 hours though.

Also, forgot to reply and say congrats on the move to Stafford. I like the feel of that town!

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by FCMA

Yeah - the Brattleboro, Greenfield, Shelburne Falls nexus might be in the vein OP is looking for, and becoming pretty covered in hipster. No chance of getting to Needham in under 2 hours though.

Also, forgot to reply and say congrats on the move to Stafford. I like the feel of that town!

I still have some kinks to work out. I feel a bit fortunate of the people I've been working with but there's some other issues (driveway) that need work. I have short, medium and long term plans for it. I have some good history on the property.

[ben young]

The Hipster hunter ,,OP was last on 12 days ago

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by brk330

As an old ski-bum I'm following this also. Peterborough, NH is my quick fix.
Does a mountain hipstery/outdoorsy/ski town exist in Mass?
Around Wachusett we have Princeton maybe but too rural, Westminster too conservative...

I love Peterborough ... similar to Phoenicia NY, but less ‘hipster’ and more ‘WASP’.

As a Sterling resident, I can say there’s nothing hipster about Wachusett. The ski crowd is largely middle/upper middle class metro west families who want something bigger than Nashoba, but aren’t willing to drive to NH/VT/ME ... day trippers. Princeton and, to a lesser degree, neighboring communities do attract well-heeled creative types (architects, artists, custom builders, musicians/composers), but there’s nothing particularly ‘hipster’ about these places. Just people who want rural appeal while maintaining access to healthcare, airports, urban centers, etc.

No ski towns in MA because there are no destination resorts. Wachusett is the best ‘resort’ in the state and on any given day the parking lot is stuffed with SUVs which made the long drive from ... Acton.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by Shrewsburried

I love Peterborough ... similar to Phoenicia NY, but less ‘hipster’ and more ‘WASP’.

As a Sterling resident, I can say there’s nothing hipster about Wachusett. The ski crowd is largely middle/upper middle class metro west families who want something bigger than Nashoba, but aren’t willing to drive to NH/VT/ME ... day trippers. Princeton and, to a lesser degree, neighboring communities do attract well-heeled creative types (architects, artists, custom builders, musicians/composers), but there’s nothing particularly ‘hipster’ about these places. Just people who want rural appeal while maintaining access to healthcare, airports, urban centers, etc.

No ski towns in MA because there are no destination resorts. Wachusett is the best ‘resort’ in the state and on any given day the parking lot is stuffed with SUVs which made the long drive from ... Acton.

The point being that there is nothing “hipster” that is daily commutable to a Boston job with a spouse who needs to be in Holyoke a couple days per week and Needham a couple of days per week. With an enormous housing budget, you could do urban hipster and reverse commute pretty easily out the Pike to Holyoke. There are urban hipster places within a mile of the Turnpike extension.

[495neighbor]

Nothing is going to be a great commute in this situation, but I was thinking Holliston might be a town worth looking into for the OP. That's the closest place I can think of that somewhat has that rural hipster feel with the trail system, independent ag scene, many crafters and artisans, some good festivals on the railtrail and through the historic society in town, strip of indie stores and many small yoga studios peppered through Holliston, Millis and Medway, a lot of folks into alternative medicine stuff too. There's even an Ashram in Millis. Needham can be backroaded. The Western MA commute might not be too bad but for having to go through the 495 / Pike crossing and some jammed areas around Worcester. A new bee product business actually has headquartered off the rail trail. If that isn't hipster I don't know what is?

[missionhill]

Originally Posted by ben young

The Hipster hunter ,,OP was last on 12 days ago

... and has relocated her search to the Conn river valley between Holyoke and Hartford.

[anneg87635142]

Thank you everyone... Yes we also started looking in between Hartford and Holyoke ... We may just do a short term rental in that area and then move back closer to the Boston area once I have to be back in the office. But nothing decided yet Thank you all so much for the suggestions

[anneg87635142]

Thanks! I am going to look at Holliston too