Springfield? (Boston, Worcester, Chicopee: insurance, high crime, public schools)

[xz2y]

Hi, what type of city is Springfield, MA? Does it have a nice downtown area? Bad areas?

[Bostonian08]

Originally Posted by xz2y

Hi, what type of city is Springfield, MA? Does it have a nice downtown area? Bad areas?

It's really bad. Most of it is completely run down. Crime is very high. Poverty is high. It was a manufacturing town up till about 20 years ago and then all the factories closed.

They have a small downtown area with some life around Court Sq and Dwight St. They have a little music st. There's a few interesting places like the Basketball Hall of Fame and Six Flags right across the river.

[MA_brnNrsd]

I would not recommend anyone living in Springfield. I grew up in Chicopee (bout 10 mins outside Springfield) I never went downtown though. Heard too many horror stories. Lots of violence and like Bostonian08 said, very high crime. There is some people who have told me there are some nice areas but insurance sky rockets living there so I don't believe it would be worth it. Also, if you have kids I would be afraid to send them to the public schools. There are plenty of towns outside Springfield to live.

[Vagus]

Originally Posted by MA_brnNrsd

I would not recommend anyone living in Springfield. I grew up in Chicopee (bout 10 mins outside Springfield) I never went downtown though..

So your comments are based on . . . what exactly? You've never even been there.

[MA_brnNrsd]

Originally Posted by Vagus

So your comments are based on . . . what exactly? You've never even been there.

I have been through downtown but never actually went to the clubs down town. And my comments are based on the truth. Read the paper for Springfield. There is always articles in there about the crimes.

[ogre]

I have been downtown in Springfield. Quite a few times. It's as bad as it's been described in the previous posts. If the op is interested in living in the general west-central MA area in Springfield's vicinity, and was asking about Springfield as a possible place to live, I'd recommend checking out some of the suburbs or non-suburban small towns in the area. Moving to Springfield itself would be a bad idea.

[Masterrabbit]

I get the whole living somewhere safe deal...but most of the time people rate the safety of a town by how segregated it is...look for yourself dont let other people tell you if you would like it or not...

[p1cent]

Hi I am going to be working as a traveling nurse in Springfield. I want to be as close to Boston as possible, and have not heard many good things about Springfield. I was just wondering how reasonable it was to live in Worcester and commute to Springfield as this seems closer to Boston, and a better town. Is there a train/bus system that goes between the two without much hassle? Or is there a better place to live and commute into springfield from that will get me closer to Boston?
Also from some of the things I've read I wonder if it will even be safe for me to work there, even if I am commuting in from elsewhere?

Thank you!

[Vagus]

Originally Posted by p1cent

Hi I am going to be working as a traveling nurse in Springfield. I want to be as close to Boston as possible, and have not heard many good things about Springfield. I was just wondering how reasonable it was to live in Worcester and commute to Springfield as this seems closer to Boston, and a better town. Is there a train/bus system that goes between the two without much hassle? Or is there a better place to live and commute into springfield from that will get me closer to Boston?
Also from some of the things I've read I wonder if it will even be safe for me to work there, even if I am commuting in from elsewhere?

Thank you!

I can't say that I've heard great things about Worcester either, so even though it's closer to Boston, it's probably not much "better" than Springfield.

It's about 50 miles from downtown Worcester to downtown Springfield. Probably would take at least an hour door-to-door to drive. You can decide for yourself if that's "reasonable". Plus, the Mass Pike is a toll road, so you'll be paying for that.

I'm going to guess that you'll be working at Baystate, which is literally right off the highway, so you don't have to drive much around "downtown" Springfield.

There's no regular commuter train service between the two. Don't know about busses, but again, it's 50 miles.

[Masterrabbit]

Originally Posted by p1cent

Hi I am going to be working as a traveling nurse in Springfield. I want to be as close to Boston as possible, and have not heard many good things about Springfield. I was just wondering how reasonable it was to live in Worcester and commute to Springfield as this seems closer to Boston, and a better town. Is there a train/bus system that goes between the two without much hassle? Or is there a better place to live and commute into springfield from that will get me closer to Boston?
Also from some of the things I've read I wonder if it will even be safe for me to work there, even if I am commuting in from elsewhere?

Thank you!

Commuting from Worcester to Springfield is a piece of cake(30-35 mins tops) Worcester is right inbetween both Springfield and Boston, i know this because i drive all day because of my job, and the highway goes right through springfield, no problem finding it.

Also Worcester is a very nice place to live in, im there all the time, its better than Springfield by Alot, and dont get spooked about going into downtown Springfield(Since its the safest place there).