How's it like living in Greenfield,ma ? (Springfield, Amherst: houses, neighborhoods)

[AandD]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

wow i guess someone was expecting to live in nirvana.look,every city,town has there issues and good points...

Just to support TT... there's a WORLD of difference between "issues" and "***ISSUES!!!***". Downsides are one thing - ending up in a cesspool is quite another. My town has issues, sure, but I can tell you they are NO WHERE even in the same GALAXY as schools in receivership and horrific murders.

People come to a site called *CITY DATA* looking for information that will enable them for find a town that is a good fit for their situation. When I was moving, with two small boys and a desire for safety and quality education, you can bet your bottom dollar that I was looking for information like that TT provided. And his/her view MAY indeed be a bit skewed - but there's always some truth in even the nastiest rumors. And I know that many people, such as myself, when given the CHOICE of where to raise their children, are GRATEFUL for those that provide the "issues" in detail so I could cross that one off of a list that offered several higher choices.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by AandD

Just to support TT... there's a WORLD of difference between "issues" and "***ISSUES!!!***". Downsides are one thing - ending up in a cesspool is quite another. My town has issues, sure, but I can tell you they are NO WHERE even in the same GALAXY as schools in receivership and horrific murders.

I don't know of any evidence that shows the Greenfield schools to be in receivership, or even considered to be an underperforming school system. I see places like Holyoke and Randolph listed as underperforming, but if you look at MCAS scores for Greenfield, they seem to be about the middle of the pack.

[AandD]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

I don't know of any evidence that shows the Greenfield schools to be in receivership, or even considered to be an underperforming school system. I see places like Holyoke and Randolph listed as underperforming, but if you look at MCAS scores for Greenfield, they seem to be about the middle of the pack.

Casey, I was going by the post from TT which said the town was in talks with Mass DOE about putting hte schools in receivership. Whether or not that's a fact, it is definitely a talking point and information that a parent with school age kids would NEED to know. My point was just to not jump all over TT for providing information that points out the negatives - I would think that many people come here to rule OUT cities just as much to find the ideal fit.

[Atlantica]

I lived in a "tough" town for years. It was always made out to be worse than what it was. Old stories perpetuated the reputation- things that happened in the 1970's were referenced in 2008.

For those who are fortunate enough to live in "better communities", it's not fair to question those who aren't. Buying a home is an accomplishment- no matter where it is. Sometimes in life you have to just make the best of a less than perfect situation. Good people live in bad places and visa versa.

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by AandD

Casey, I was going by the post from TT which said the town was in talks with Mass DOE about putting hte schools in receivership. Whether or not that's a fact, it is definitely a talking point and information that a parent with school age kids would NEED to know. My point was just to not jump all over TT for providing information that points out the negatives - I would think that many people come here to rule OUT cities just as much to find the ideal fit.

Oh, I know you were just responding to another poster, and you are new to the state and all. I just was trying to get some facts to back up some of these claims I am reading here.

[Djames9]

Originally Posted by teachertype

Greenfield has probably the worst public school system in Massachusetts. Last year a $2.25 million shortfall was discovered, the superintendent left, and the school committee chair quit in disgust. At the end of the 2008 school year every administrator quit for better jobs in other towns, leaving the town with no superintendent and no principals to run the schools. The current school committee chair ran against the current mayor in the last mayoral election and lost, their politicking, games and backstabbing never end. The Greenfield public school system is in a shambles and the Town Council has asked the state DOE to take over in receivership.

Greenfield is full of young punks, alcoholics, and addicts. There are not so many murders in number but they tend to be horrific and brutal. Many of the old homes you see in town are actually halfway houses or alcoholism/methadone treatment centers. It's the most hostile and openly racist town I've ever been in and there have been many recent racist incidents. Backstabbing, slander and gossip are the norm. There's a hip newcomer population downtown but the outer neighborhoods like down Green River Rd past GCC are mostly paranoid, right wing gun nuts and head cases.

Even the local radio show hosts joke that Greenfield is where you can marry your own cousin. If you have a college degree in Greenfield it's not viewed as a sign that you're educated, it means you're from somewhere else.

Greenfield marches to it's own drummer, not in any good way, and is 50 years behind mainstream Massachusetts. Therefore, houses are relatively cheap but you'll end up commuting to Amherst, Northampton, or Springfied to work or have any kind of normal social life.

Uhhm, Ok. I Don't have kids so i don't have to worry about that kinda stuff.....lol But i appreciate your input.

I don't know why you have such bad things to say about this small suburban town...with no crime and such bad things as compared to bigger cities with Actual crime and Gangs. Lol none of which little ol Greenfield,Ma has.. Plus it's Barely even Diverse in Ethnicity .lol it's not like here in california... where it's extremely diverse come on now...lol

I think i'll be fine..when i possibly move to Greenfield,ma I can hold my own... it's a lot more dangerous crime wise... Out here in Fresno, California.. then anywhere in Massachusetts

plus isn't the Graduation Rate for schools in Massachusetts like in the 90% range... Especially in Massachusetts it's way way way lower out here in California... you have kids out here in some schools that don't even speak English...lol It's True

[teachertype]

Originally Posted by franklincounty

Well... I live, own a business and socialize in Greenfield and love it. All those crimes teachertype talked about were spread out over years of time and extremely exaggerated. Not to mention at least two of those I know about were crimes committed by people that didn't live in Greenfield. The baseball bat kids were from Northampton (thanks Noho!) seeking revenge on some kid and the washington st murderer wasn't from town either.

And if you like the outdoors, theres plenty of hiking in the state forest in town.

Teachertype is just whining like many other people about Greenfield. They even admitted they don't hang out in town so what do they know, right?

The Washington Street murders and body mutilations took place last November on Washington St., Gfld. The baseball bat murder was two 16-year-old Gfld High School students fighting over a girl, at the Mackin Co. gravel pit in Gfld; the murderer was convicted recently and is currently in prison.

The Gfld Town Council President, with TC approval, recently submitted a bill to the Massachusetts Legislature, through MA State Senator Stanley C. Rosenberg, requesting that the Massachusetts Department of Education takeover the Greenfield Public Schools into receivership under the MA DOE.

There is no state forest anywhere in Greenfield.

[sunshine_daydreamz]

well, anyway i moved to greenfield last january for gcc's nursing program, the music scene, and the central location between boston, vt, ny, and ct. since then i have decided greenfield is a wierd place, but i kinda like it. its partly really nice earthy crunchy people, part redneck counrty folk (yes, probaly racist), part crackheads/addicts, and part kids that either think they're gutter punks or white kids that think they live in the city. then you have the people that moved from somewhere else and the people that used to commute to greenfeld for labor ready/ temp jobs that are no longer here. i think greenfield is a place with potential, but i mean when you get into greenfield, it's not even sure what it is...the sign reads "the city of the town of greenfield". self-explanitory. anyway i love gcc and i love amherst, noho, etc, and greenfield really isnt that bad with the worst crimes as bike stealing and stealing in general because of the addiction/poverty problems that have arisen in greenfield. wierd place... im moving to brattleboro, my bike is gone and my house got robbed.

[clevedark]

Years ago my friend went to boarding school in Greenfield and yikes the school was so druggy, the townies were big old drug dealers (and the girls at the boarding big old drug takers).

[NJ Bear]

Surprised no one else picked up on this, but despite claims to the contrary Greenfield still sits on the west bank of the Connecticut River -just like it always has!!

Other than that, it sounds like Greenfield is a pretty average northeastern large town/small city. That;s been my impression whenever I drive through. Some love it, some hate it, some say it's ok. Just like most comparable places.