Moving from Florida to MA - Springfield? (moving to, suburbia)

[arigold1975]

Originally Posted by WestMass79

Ari, glad you like walkable communities and cities instead of suburbs....but if your zip code in your profile is right, you live in Malden.....and you are calling Springfield "suburban"? Cmon Ari...lets be real hahahaha

Thanks for stalking me WestMass79. I thought those days were over when I got married. Yes I live in Malden. I took a 1 year lease here and now I am moving out. I guess I missed the part of the thread that said "Springfield vs your town". OH wait there wasn't one.

Originally Posted by mc12301

Excuse me, but if I may I would like to interrupt those of you that are ignorant and uneducated and put in some decent facts about Springfield. Springfield is first off...not a "$hithole"...as you put it...and you think your better then people that live in Springfield, my god look at your mouth...

Sorry to have offended you. From this post forward the word $hithole will be replaced with the word dump.

Originally Posted by mc12301

What most people do not get is that Springfield is a CITY, not a town like Northampton or Amherst.

People who are not from the area need to understand what you mean when you say "city" I am going to add some photos showing the Old Hill & Mcknight neighborhoods you are fond of, downtown, and a couple from Forest Park. It is really suburbia with some skyscrapers downtown.

Originally Posted by mc12301

To those of you who say Springfield is a "$hithole", please feel free to post some pictures of your neighborhoods, and I will put up some of our numerous 4 story Victorian mansions

You are right there there is some fantastic housing stock. However the neighborhoods really aren't as fixed up as you would like people to believe. If you do post any pictures of the mansions please remember that the pictures I am posting might are only be 1 or 2 blocks away and could be as close as 1 or 2 houses. I didn't see anyone post saying my town is nicer than yours. This post was never about my town vs your town so don't try to twist it that way. Holyoke has even nicer mansions from when it was the paper capital of the world does that make it a nice city overall because there are fancy houses? You can also find amazing mansions in Detroit ( mostly boarded up or burned down) Does that mean Detroit overall is doing good?

[arigold1975]

2008 cost of living index in Springfield: 117.7 (more than average, U.S. average is 100)
Estimated median household income in 2007: $33,171
sounds alright until you see the average for the state
Massachusetts: $62,365
Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2007: 25.8%
maybe because they pay scale is low?
http://www.city-data.com/city/Spring...achusetts.html


All the Springfield fans, both of you, should just quit while your ahead. You post your opinions based on your fantasies and hopes for Springfield then I come post my opinion based on facts and photographs. Like WestMass79 said everyone is entitled to their own opinion and mine is that Springfield is a DUMP

[WestMass79]

Ari, there's no stalking needed. YOU put your zip code in your profile. In the midst of calling other peoples hometowns $hitholes, you must have forgotten that. How dare we find out you yourself live in a suburban $hithole? Sorry kiddo!

So now you'd like to get into a posting war posting bad photos of each town? What purpose does that serve?

You talk about urban environments and walkable communities, all one has to do is type "Malden, MA" into google, click on the map and see what the first street view is that pops up. It's a beautiful urban environment you have there. Looks really enticing. Or not...

We can post photo after photo of glam shots of Springfield, I don't think that serves a purpose. The City of Homes | Choose Springfield, Massachusetts site has plenty of photos of great neighborhoods in the city. Are there bad sections? YES - I've said it a thousand times. Springfield has neighborhoods that have been decimated by foreclosure and low income housing. I don't debate that. Every city on the planet has that. Go take a walk through the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston.

My point was its a big city with lots of great neighborhoods too, and I'm an actual resident that loves living here and happy to see another poster chime up with the same. Relax, it's not so bad to actually like where you live......but then again, how would know that living in Malden......hahahhaha KIDDING, enjoy. Good luck picking a new place to live, maybe New Hampshire is more your speed.

[arigold1975]

WestMass the word we are using now is dump. Somebody else got sand in their drawers due to my language so I changed it. There must be something in the water in Springfield that effects comprehension. Please quote where I said that where I live is better than Springfield. That was not what this thread was about. Let me try saying it in big letters.

***THIS THREAD WAS NEVER ABOUT SPRINGFIELD VS WHERE YOU LIVE***

Go back and read the first post. The point of the thread was whether or not the OP should relocate to Springfield, Mass from Florida. You might see me posting pics as bashing but I see it as shedding some light on the city for people who live out of state. If you want to know about Malden it is a hodge podge. There are little sections with single story storefronts scattered here and there. Malden is sprawl, people only walk if they have no other choice. It does rate a little better on this site than Springfield for crime and schooling. Before anyone talks about how much bigger Springfield is those ratings are per capita. When I relocate I am not putting my zipcode up this time so I can avoid the stalkerazzi on this forum

To the op yes you should definately relocate to springfield. Don't think about the factors of Springfield at all. The reason you should live there is because westmass says where I live is dumpy* too. What a great reason to move to springfield.

* WestMass' vocabulary has been modified to prevent certain posters from getting sandy drawers

PS Original Poster don't look at the pics I posted or you will get scared off. Just know that where I live is allegedly dumpy and that means you should move to Springfield.

[WestMass79]

You are right, the post wasn't about Springfield vs. your hometown.

You made it that way when you decided to call it a $hithole. And then, when I defend it and say I live here now and love it - you accuse me of lying, being a realtor, etc.

So, to me, if you are willing to go to that extent calling another place names and then getting upset that others like and defend it, you are big enough to put your own town on the table for discussion too.

Enjoy your life in suburbia, I think there might be free apps at TGIFriday's tonight...hurry!!!

[arigold1975]

I am going to repost the images instead of attaching them because the attachments do not work good and people probably did not see the pictures. We can let people judge for themselves.

Here is the abandoned downtown. Anybody that wants a better look (as if anyone would) can just type the address into google maps and use streetview.


The next photo shows just 1 block off Main Street.


This photo is where you end up going beyond the downtown.

[arigold1975]

Some of the nice houses that have been mentioned.


The second and third show where you end up if you get adventurous and walk a too far, like for 5 minutes (I am not exaggerating. The second pics are 3/10 mile from the first) The photos also show that much of Springfield is more like suburbs than city.

[arigold1975]

Here are a few pictures from Hill & McKnight. I am not sure if that third house, the red one, is considered Victorian or not.

[CaseyB]

Enough with the bickering back and forth on this thread, you've both made your points.

[WestMass79]

I agree Casey. Not sure why someone would work so hard to discredit a city? It's bizarre. And, I've agreed with him - there ARE some tough spots in the city. My only point has ever been that there are great neighborhoods too - a lot of them, and I live here and love it. To color the whole city with the problems of small neighborhoods means you must do the same to Boston, Providence, Hartford, and every other city on the planet.

Since he was so kind to spend the day trying to find negative photos, lets end this string on a positive note with a tour of photos from real Springfield neighborhoods - Atwater Park, Forest Park, McKnight, Indian Orchard, Sixteen Acres, etc....and the whole city isn't Victorian. Even if you like newer homes you'll find that too.

Anyway, enjoy, and I promise I'm done here. I doubt Ari will be, because he'll hate these photos!