Southwick MA, anyone? (Boston, Worcester, Springfield: new home, neighborhood, buy)

[MissTwisties]

Hello! We bought a house in Southwick, will be moving in a few weeks. We are so happy, it will be a BIG change from this horrible city we live in now...

Anyone can tell me a little bit more about the town? Schools, restaurants, little shops, etc.

We are a family of 4, with two girls of 7 and 11 years old.

[smarty]

Don't know anything! Just been to Southwick's Zoo in Mendon years ago

[url] http://www.southwickma.org/Public_Documents/SouthwickMA_WebDocs/links [url]

[Roadismyhome]

Southwick is a nice little town right on the state line. I like taking rides along MA route 57 through Granville and seeing all of the historic buildings along that drive.

The town has grown a little bit over the past five years, but still maintains its small-town lifestyle.

There are quite a few shops along the US-202/MA-5 corridor, and there are quite a few country clubs in the area. It is primarily a bedroom community for Springfield and Westfield.

[capecodjim]

I grew up there. Its a great town for families. The town is committed to bringing up good kids. When I was growing up there, bad families (that did drugs or something) were thrown out of town. And the neighborhood pedophile was put in prison after having his say on Oprah Winfrey back in the '80s. Like any town, there are those soap opera dramas, but because the town is small and the community alert, monsters are often swept out from under the beds and dealt with accordingly.

I enjoyed the woods, hiking, fishing, building forts, biking the trails; lots of fresh air. There are the Congamond Lakes for such water activities, but the lakes never felt clean to me. Having an outdoor/active lifestyle was a great advantage as I grew into a healthy, bright faced adult.

The school system is great, too. Parents from other towns are on a waiting list to get their kids into Southwick Public Schools. And if your kids are too good, I've known one or two, there are several private schools in the Springfield area.

Springfield is 15 minutes drive, Westfield is 10 minutes. They have the all the same big shopping centers found in every corner of America. Holyoke has one of the largest Malls in the US. Its about 25 minutes away. Southwick itself has very few shops at the moment. Especially not for fashion. At one time, everything was located in the Town Center, but the nearby suburban Malls and Shopping centers lured customers away, leaving junk shops in the few available flats. Farmers, mechanics and oarsmen are more catered to in Southwick's retail outlets than society dames.
Hopefully, the center will become gentrified, but its all about economics.

There are a lot of rude people on the roads there, like anywhere. Southwick has a few leftovers from the hicktown days who are anti-social as well.

Fun options also include Six Flags New England which is 15+ mins. in the next town, Agawam.

As for anyone mentioning the Southwick Zoo - it is out of ignorance. There is no zoo in Southwick other than nature itself (or some apes passing as humans). I once worked in a convenience store in Southwick and had a few tourists seeking directions to the zoo - maybe driving all the way from places like Yonkers. I hear the zoo is in Mendon, Mass which is nowhere near Southwick. I couldn't even point to Mendon on the map, but I hear is somewhere between Worcester and Boston.

I left little Southwick after college to live where culture and economics caters to elitists. I tried California for a while, too, but like it better where life is real.

[Noodle]

I'm glad to see you moving to Southwick. You'll be way better off than where you were. Someday all the bleeding heart leftists will get their head out of their a$$ and realize what these "island people" have done to the state. Of course it'll be too late. Can't wait to move.
But anyway, I grew up in Feeding Hills and spent a lot of time in Southwick over the years and on Congamond Lakes. As was said, the locals were certainly "different". Kinda like a Deliverance thing. But there aren't many left these days, and there has been a building boom going on there, with young families moving in.
Kinda sad actually, seeing all the farmland go to houses and all. But it's a really great small town with good schools and an industrial park to puff up the tax base in the coming years.
One thing though, the fire department is still all volunteer. The response time isn't what you'd get with a regular full time department. We call them the Southwick Cellar Savers!
Oh yeah, they have a pretty good fireworks display on the 4th, and there's a Carnival in town every year. Good luck to you!!!

[wpotsie]

Be sure you know about Rebecca Lobo. She is probably the town's most famous person. She grew up there and graduated from Southwick-Tolland H.S. in '91. She still holds the state scoring record in basketball and was a Parade All-American. She went on to lead UConn to an undefeated national championship in '95 and went on to play in the Olympics (won a gold medal in '96) and played in the WNBA until she retired a couple of years ago. I think her parents still live there. Anyway, just a little bit of local history/trivia for you in case you hear the name mentioned. Anyway, congrats on your new home, You picked a great town!.

[gregs]

I would reiterate the positive things that others have posted. I lived in the area for many years and rented for a short while in Southwick. In my opinion Southwick is very much a New England town. There is easy access to highways and I lived in Southwick and worked in Hartford. From Granby, CT, there is commuter bus service to downtown Hartford. You go east on Route 57 and have easy access to Route 91 which is the major corridor up and down the Connecticut Valley.

Southwick had many open fields and some farms. It was great to drive along 10/202, there were road side stands, farms. You could buy fresh produce, pumpkins and corn. Autumn scenery was beauitful. There is also the Congomond Lake, I use to bicycle the perimeter of the lake.