Considering Amherst

[gbunny]

Amherst is amazing. I grew up there and went to Amherst Regional High school. It is a PERFECT/IDEAL place to raise a family. It's a little pricey but not as bad as it sounds like it was where you were.. and yes very open-minded friendly people here, and its diverse. good schools, good people, kinda small, but small town charm is good . if you move here you wont be disappointed. good luck with whatever you decide to do.


AND DO NOT MOVE TO SPRINGFIELD. lol

[terrasurf]

After living there for three years, I've always wanted to post my thoughts:

Things I liked:

Tree hugging liberals, we need more of them anywhere in New England.

[terrasurf]

Ooops, here is the rest of my list.

Things I liked:

The proximity to raw nature, driving the back roads of Conway to Shelburne Falls for instance.
Access to education, and the cultural offerings of living in a five-university area.
Good alternative shopping, ie: Trader Joe's
Wonderful farms with great local produce.
Citizens truly concerned about their communities. Very family friendly.
Closer to the mountains
Low cost of living, housing costs in the area have always been much lower that the rest of MA. The general pay is too though, unless an academic.

The things I didn't like:

The weather..snow, snow, and more snow. And how at the first sign of colder weather, people broke out their hats. People really get into the whole hibernation thing.

The steamy, hot, cloudy summers. I went to Florida in July and it was more agreeable than the Ct River Valley in July. The air just hangs with no breeze. No place to swim, Puffers Pond is a joke.

The town is overrun with stressed, competitive young people, who are very aggressive drivers-- watch out during finals week. Lots of university people with a lot on their plates who want to change the world, but sit on your tail in their subaru like there's no tomorrow.

Some things seemed overrated: Maybe compared to where many people come from, but the art and music scene isn't really as good as it is made out to be. There are good restaurants, but there weren't that many to choose from. Tough to get good pizza or Asian, anywhere in that area, outside of Amherst center or Northampton. For all the buy local stuff, economic development is quite lacking in the area. Too many locals, with low cost of living, homes paid off maybe- no incentive?

It's only diverse in terms of sexual orientation- the area is far from integrated in terms of race and class- like the most of Mass, except for southeast coast.

People don't dress very nice; I practically felt overdressed wearing a skirt.

People too easily rank on Springfield. That being said, there are a lot of unwelcoming areas around Springfield.

The Connecticut River isn't utilized. For all the outdoor resources, people weren't all that fit either.

[western mass and love it]

forget the naysayers Springfield is a decent place to live. it has it's rough spots like any other mid sized city,but it also has it's good spots.