School districts in Western Mass (Hampshire County) (Springfield, Chicopee: sales, home sales)

[Ivyreb]

My husband and I are relocating to the area from NYC. We are considering the Northampton area (yes - for all the obvious reasons), but know it's pricey and so are considering Easthampton or somewhere equally close.

I'm wondering what other towns have a little life AND a good school district? We are starting a family now and I know there are some towns where schools get a bad rep (Greenfield, Holyoke). We will be buying a house for around $320,000.

My husband will likely be working in Pittsfield, which we know is a drive, but we really want to be close to the life of Northampton. We are starting to get familiar with the area (Amherst, Hadley), and would like to consider other towns that are relatively in between Northampton and Pittsfield. Some people have mentioned Williamsburg or Cummington... is there life in these towns and good schools?

[clevedark]

Does South Hadley have good schools? It's a nice town, I went to college there.

Someone I know had considered moving to Florence, but I can't remember if she liked the schools there or if she was considering a charter school if she moved there. She might have ended up in Amherst, which is also a good school district.

Belchertown?

What about more Berkshires-type places--Great Barrington, Lenox. You'd probably like Brattleboro VT but that's out of your orbit.

[missionhill]

Yikes-- I can't quite imagine driving every day from the Conn Valley to Pittsfield and back. You have to go up over the Berkshire plateau--almost to 2,000 feet above sea level, and down again into the Housatonic valley, which means unexpected snow and ice when you had only rain in your driveway in Northampton. And it's just a long drive. My dad commuted from South Hadley to Westfield for years and that seemed like a lot. But by comparison to NYC commutes--e.g., drive 20 min to Poughkeepsie, 2 hrs on Metro North to GCT, 20 minutes more to Fulton Street, then walk to the office--maybe it's a cinch. Clevedark, my sisters would say the S. H. schools were only so-so. One of them got a town scholarship to Mt Holyoke, by the way. South Hadley is divided between the "Center," dominated by the professional/academic class, and the working class "Falls," the two poles of town politics. An education-minded man who lived across the street from us and served on the school committee got fed up one year and moved his family to Amherst. Amherst has the best schools in Hampshire County and Longmeadow has the best around Springfield. Northampton schools (including Florence and Leeds) must be pretty good these days considering how upscale the city has become. Belchertown is something to check out re. schools, although would make an already arduous commute considerably worse.

[thesixps]

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I am from the Berkshires (Lee MA) and live in Hampshire County, South Hadley. I graduated from Amherst High and while in college (UMASS) I have lived in Amherst, Easthampton and Northampton. Our first few homes were in Chicopee and Holyoke. I think the ride to Pittsfield is a snap, right down the Mass Pike to exit 2, 40 minutes. In terms of schools, that is a very personal choice. We have a small selection of catholic schools, a nice selection of private and public school "rating" so to speak changes every couple of years. (Principle moves on etc.) We have four kids, two college graduates 2 in college and we selected high schools based on their academics. At one point, I drove to 2 different high schools. South Hadley has a nice HS program but I can give you families that hated the school. One of our sons graduated from Holyoke High (which has a bad rap) and he went on the Air Force Academy. For us, school was a choice for each child’s strengths and weaknesses. Lenox is beautiful, has lots of culture but is small. Personally, I would not choose Pittsfield as a place to call home. We are in the construction business and home sales are down right now. If you want Northampton, the Florence section could be the best of both worlds. About 6 years ago, Hadley schools had a very good rating but that may have changed...Good luck and welcome!
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[mommytotwo]

Originally Posted by missionhill

Belchertown is something to check out re. schools, although would make an already arduous commute considerably worse.

Northampton to Pittsfield vs. Belchertown to Pittsfield=
65 miles vs. 40 miles, or 1 hr. 9 minutes vs. 1 hr 17 minutes
Belchertown is certainly farther mileage wise, but a lot of it would be on the Mass Pike, which is probably in pretty good condition most of the time, and if you are in the southern portion of Belchertown you are closer to the Pike.

I would think to look at towns west of Northampton to shave off the 40 miles/1 hr 9 minute commute, or look for something west of Springfield off the pike.

I don't know anything about Williamsburg or Cummington, I am sorry, but they both appear to be closer to Pittsfield so you would def. be going in the right direction

[cmor]

What is the strong draw to Northampton? Very curious as I haven't been there and hopefully will get the opportunity to move up there or to Lenox this August if all works out.

[FutureSoxFan?]

Originally Posted by cmor

What is the strong draw to Northampton? Very curious as I haven't been there and hopefully will get the opportunity to move up there or to Lenox this August if all works out.

It's a (very) liberal/progressive town with a major college (Smith), a vibrant downtown, a decent amount of culture compared to the rest of the area, and less, ummm, "gritty" than many other towns in the area. It's also got a large gay community if that's your inclination.

[cmor]

Ah! Excellent. Thanks......

[westernmass101]

Originally Posted by Ivyreb

My husband and I are relocating to the area from NYC. We are considering the Northampton area (yes - for all the obvious reasons), but know it's pricey and so are considering Easthampton or somewhere equally close.

I'm wondering what other towns have a little life AND a good school district? We are starting a family now and I know there are some towns where schools get a bad rep (Greenfield, Holyoke). We will be buying a house for around $320,000.

My husband will likely be working in Pittsfield, which we know is a drive, but we really want to be close to the life of Northampton. We are starting to get familiar with the area (Amherst, Hadley), and would like to consider other towns that are relatively in between Northampton and Pittsfield. Some people have mentioned Williamsburg or Cummington... is there life in these towns and good schools?

Well, Chicopee is good for affordability, close proximity to Northampton, and the school system is the best in the state.

[Green Mnts]

I'm not going to be much help on the school system but I can tell you you might want to look into the hilltowns, ie. Willamsburg, Goshen, Ashfield, Cummington. All of the mentioned towns with the exception of Ashfield are a direct drive to Pittsfield via RT 9. I used to live in Goshen and always thought of it as a very central area with easy commutes to Pittsfield, Greenfield, Northampton, Amherst, Springfield, and these cities/towns are most likely where you'll find the most jobs. The hilltowns are very nice and community based, very gay friendly. The biggest drawbacks people say about the hilltowns are the longer and colder winters than the CT river valley, ~20 minutes to the grocery store, and being rural. To me these "drawbacks" are what make the hilltowns a great and special place to live.