Western Mass (Boston, Worcester, Springfield: insurance, budget, work)

[lprovo]

Commuting from Amherst to Springfield may be a bit of a stretch, mostly due to the traffic patterns around U-Mass and Route 9. My husband worked in Springfield and I worked in Amherst, so we settled on Easthampton. He always made it home before I did!

The housing prices are pretty steep in Amherst and taxes are high. There are many other communities in the surrounding area that are beginning to get noticed - especially for their quality of life and ability to commute to the Springfield area. South Hadley (home to Mt. Holyoke College) or Granby ( rural, small-town feel) may be worth checking out.

Living over the border in CT and working in MA is also an option, but bear in mind that the cost of living in CT may be higher.

The comments about living in rusty trailers are a bit much. Western Mass has held up much better than the Boston area in terms of housing as our economy is largely dependent on higher education and a strong hospital system. Having lived here for 20 years, it has been good for our family.

[DCtoMA]

thanks so much for the comments, both good and not so good...this is potentially a big move, and we would obviously need to get out there again. we visited northampton a few months ago, and did not see many families, but it was school vacation time.

Is anyone aware of any pending development projects in western mass?

[FutureSoxFan?]

Originally Posted by DCtoMA

Is anyone aware of any pending development projects in western mass?

Well, if Obama wins in November, it may get to be paycheck time for Gov. Deval Patrick, so maybe there will be more $$ coming into MA. Unfortunately, from what I've seen/heard, most of that will probably end up in the Boston area, not western MA . . .

[413emily]

A relative of mine used to live in DC then moved to western Mass(springfield) it was a bit of a change but she loves it. i suggest not moving directly into springfield, there is a lot of crime there. I have lived in western Mass my whole life. Currently i live in Wilbraham and i love it. Almost every street you go on will have tons of families on it ranging in age. they're isn't much to do in town, they have a library, and some little shops but if you drive like 5-15 minutes depending on where in wilbraham you live, to can get to Boston Road and there you have endless things to do. Wilbraham houses range in price there is a lower class wilbraham that is on the springfield boarder and then there are huge mansions. Wilbraham just like longmeadow has one of the top schools in the state. i would defiantly suggest either wilbraham, longmeadow, or hampden.

[WestMass79]

I'm a fan of real cities and would urge you to at least consider Springfield. There is great value here, great cultural activities like the Springfield Symphony, AHL hockey, museum quadrangle, hall of fame, great restaurants, etc. etc.

And if you appreciate architecture at all, great houses and neighborhoods at a far better price than amherst or northampton.

Check out this site for more on the neighborhoods:

City of Homes | Choose Springfield, Massachusetts

[Giantone]

Originally Posted by 413emily

A relative of mine used to live in DC then moved to western Mass(springfield) it was a bit of a change but she loves it. i suggest not moving directly into springfield, there is a lot of crime there. I have lived in western Mass my whole life. Currently i live in Wilbraham and i love it. Almost every street you go on will have tons of families on it ranging in age. they're isn't much to do in town, they have a library, and some little shops but if you drive like 5-15 minutes depending on where in wilbraham you live, to can get to Boston Road and there you have endless things to do. Wilbraham houses range in price there is a lower class wilbraham that is on the springfield boarder and then there are huge mansions. Wilbraham just like longmeadow has one of the top schools in the state. i would defiantly suggest either wilbraham, longmeadow, or hampden.

Nothing against Springfield but I don't think it's considerd "Western Mass"...west of Boston yes.

[WestMass79]

Originally Posted by Giantone

Nothing against Springfield but I don't think it's considerd "Western Mass"...west of Boston yes.

So what is it considered? Central Mass? Does that go for the suburbs around Springfield too?

[WestMass79]

Regarding the crime mention of Springfield, like all cities if you aren't dealing drugs or buying drugs you are pretty safe. The neigborhoods in Springfield like East Forest Park, Sixteen Acres, Atwater, East Springfield and others are all as safe as suburban communities.

Somewhat related, it's too bad Northampton is dealing with such an intense panhandling problem these days, they are trying to formulate new ordinaces to react to this onslaught of homeless people. There's a lot of poverty out there, and it's everywhere.

[Xenos]

If "Western Mass" is to include more than just Berkshire County, it must by definition include Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin Counties. I suppose you could be a stickler and use the Connecticut River is a boundary line, so that Greenfield, Northampton and Holyoke are "Western Mass" and Springfield, on the Eastern bank of the river, is not.

It makes more sense to define all four counties as Western Mass, Worcester County and the western edge of Middlesex County as Central Mass, and then define the rest of the state as you see fit. Culturally, economically, and geographically, the eastern halves of Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin belong to Western Mass, not Central.

[in_newengland]

Nothing against Springfield but I don't think it's considerd "Western Mass"...west of Boston yes.

I lived in Western Mass all my life -- Springfield, Longmeadow, Amherst -- of course it's Western Mass. Anything along the river is part of the CT River Valley (or as some call it, The Valley, officially the Pioneer Valley.) Worcester is in Central MA. The Berkshires are the Berkshires.

I would not recommend Springfield to anyone, not anymore. I'd love to see it cleaned up and transformed but they've been trying to do that for decades and it just doesn't happen. Wouldn't it be nice if Boston sent some of that tax money out to the (invisible to them) Western part of the state and got things fixed up.