Move to North Adams<MA

[litlux]

Originally Posted by 12buttons

SO per square foot Adams is the best bet? How close is a whole foods?
Is the shopping strictly blue collar in NA? how much snow did you guys get?
thanks

The price per square foot is not a good way to buy old houses, IMHO. There is a natural foods market midway between Williamstown and North Adams, and a number of seasonal fresh food stands as well. There is even Cricket Creek Farm in Williamstown for raw milk, baked goods without the chemicals, salad greens, local meats etc.

Yes, in North Adams, it is a WalMart kind of place, the downtown is trying, but not doing much better than other cities with SprawlMarts. The locals love it. The nearest Whole Foods is in Hadley, about an hour away. We like to call it by its real name, Whole Pay Check. There is a Trader Joe's there as well.

The best food store in the Berkshires is Guido's at the Pittsfield/Lenox line and in Great Barrington. Super veggies, great meat counter, and all the exotic packaged goods you could want. It is right next to Pittsfield Rye Bakery which is another local treasure.

[12buttons]

Originally Posted by litlux

The price per square foot is not a good way to buy old houses, IMHO. There is a natural foods market midway between Williamstown and North Adams, and a number of seasonal fresh food stands as well. There is even Cricket Creek Farm in Williamstown for raw milk, baked goods without the chemicals, salad greens, local meats etc.

Yes, in North Adams, it is a WalMart kind of place, the downtown is trying, but not doing much better than other cities with SprawlMarts. The locals love it. The nearest Whole Foods is in Hadley, about an hour away. We like to call it by its real name, Whole Pay Check. There is a Trader Joe's there as well.

The best food store in the Berkshires is Guido's at the Pittsfield/Lenox line and in Great Barrington. Super veggies, great meat counter, and all the exotic packaged goods you could want. It is right next to Pittsfield Rye Bakery which is another local treasure.

Thank you for all that great info...12b

[kaday]

Guidos is great. Mazzeos meat market at Guidos is top notch and reasonable for the quaility you get.

[alanwest]

Originally Posted by gongamonga

My husband has a potential job ofer in North Adams. I looked up info on the schools, and it made me a little concerned. One of our kids is in 7th grade, the other is in 2nd with some special needs and delays. North Adams sounds great as my older child is really into the arts. Could anyone tell me if North Adams is ok to live in for a family, especailly in regards to the schools? Are any of the neighboring towns better as far as safety and education go? We are looking to stay in the $300,000 range on housing. Thanks so much for the help.

I lived in North Adams for several years, while attending Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. My girlfriend still lives there with her children. The middle schools are a zoo. The highschool is worse. Her kids both have IEP Individuallized Education Plans. The schools, teachers and administrators systematically deny her children their rights under the IEP. It's a long story, but the schools in North Adams are the worst they could be. I would almost describe them as abusive toward children who do not fit neatly into their square little box. They would rather find ways to kick children out of school then find ways to deal with the IEPs that have been designed by professionals. Have a reading disorder, such dyslexia? Forget about help. You'll get flunking grades. Have a plan that calls for a specialized reading teacher? Not in North Adams. Even the special ed teachers are barely qualified, if they even have standard teaching credentials. Stay away.
There is the BART (Berkshire Arts and Technology) Charter School that is worth looking at. It's in Adams. It is middle school and high school. They have a Web site. Look it up. I substitute taught there for a short period and thought the staff was very friendly and understanding. A lot more so than the regular schools. BART is free, also. They are open and affirming, if your teens have trans-gender issues. If you're homophobic, stay away from BART. For the artist, it's a great haven.
There is Pine Cobble, a private school for the 2nd grader, but there is a waiting list and high cost associated with it. It's in Williamstown.
Williamstown has a high school (I think it's Greylock High School) that is shared with Lanesboro. It is not very good, by local reputation. A poster said they are listed in some top 100 list, but I would want to see which list and where it came from.
Housing is cheap in North Adams, but beware of the ancient run-down houses. A friend just sold his house, near MCLA, for about $180k. It was one of those old, beautiful mansions with lots of rooms on two floors. A grand old house. Needed updating though, as it was kind of funky, but well maintained over the years. If you want to fix an old house, North Adams is full of worthy candidates.
Williamstown is more expensive, but the property taxes will definitely kill you unless you are very wealthy. The west side of North Adams has many beautiful homes and nice neighborhoods, with housing under $200k. But, the schools suck in a major way. I would never put my kids through that kind of low-life abuse. Keep them out of North Adams schools, absolutely.
I think you might be able to live in North Adams, where housing is very affordable, and still send your kids to Greylock HighSchool in Williamstown. I'm not certain of that, but I think that is so.
Be careful about moving to North Adams. There are very limited job opportunities. If you don't like the job you moved out there for, you probably won't find another any time soon and may regret it. Be careful. There are high levels of alcholism out there. The downtown rolls up the carpet and turns out the lights around dinner time. The city is not friendly to children, even though there is an athletic field there. Many children come from alcoholic homes and do not have proper adult supervision. It leads to problems. Teenage pregnancy is BIG in North Adams and surrounding areas. Look that up. There have been news reports and studies that should be findable on the Web.
The newly forming artist community is equally challenged by the old world croanies that run the city. Politics get scary. The city is run with an iron fist. Be careful.
I love the Berkshires. I love North Adams, Williamstown, and Florida. It's a great place, but it really has drawbacks that you need to consider, particularly if children are involved.
The young one with learning disorders doesn't stand a chance in North Adams Public Schools.

[bethmarywhite]

Originally Posted by litlux

The price per square foot is not a good way to buy old houses, IMHO. There is a natural foods market midway between Williamstown and North Adams, and a number of seasonal fresh food stands as well. There is even Cricket Creek Farm in Williamstown for raw milk, baked goods without the chemicals, salad greens, local meats etc.

Yes, in North Adams, it is a WalMart kind of place, the downtown is trying, but not doing much better than other cities with SprawlMarts. The locals love it. The nearest Whole Foods is in Hadley, about an hour away. We like to call it by its real name, Whole Pay Check. There is a Trader Joe's there as well.

The best food store in the Berkshires is Guido's at the Pittsfield/Lenox line and in Great Barrington. Super veggies, great meat counter, and all the exotic packaged goods you could want. It is right next to Pittsfield Rye Bakery which is another local treasure.

Whole Pay Check! Too funny. We have two Whole Foods stores here in the Providence Metro Area and I couldn't agree more. Guido's sounds great. Great post.

[urbie]

Originally Posted by bethmarywhite

Whole Pay Check! Too funny. We have two Whole Foods stores here in the Providence Metro Area and I couldn't agree more. Guido's sounds great. Great post.

Phooey -- WF isn't that expensive if you stay away from the prepared foods and just shop on the periphery of the store. If we had a good supermarket in Providence, it would be another matter -- but for some reason, the supermarket chains put their good stores in the 'burbs and neglect the ones in town. When we go to a place like S&S on Branch Ave., if we're going to buy apples, I spend several minutes doing "Urb Select," going over the bin in search of apples that look reasonably OK, while my wife shops for other stuff. At WF, you can just grab the first half-dozen apples you find, and they'll be good....

Urb