Looking for Black and/or diverse community in Western, Ma (Boston: house, school district)

[immabrickhouse]

I will be moving to Western, Ma this summer. I am looking for a thriving Black community or at least a community with diversity. I'd like to live close to UMASS as that's where I'll be working. I've heard Amherst is my best bet. I've also heard that the Amherst school district is great. Other areas that I've house shopped so far include Belchertown and South Hadley. What are your thoughts?

[western mass and love it]

well in my opinion Amherst is by far the most diverse of the 3 hands down.

[Woof Woof Woof!]

Where are you coming from? The South? I don't know that we have "thriving" black communities here. We seem to have more lesbians in the area more than anything. But I would say that overall, people tend to be more accepting of differences than in other areas of the country. Your best best is probably to simply find a town that you like, and make your home there.

[Missmoose]

There are *thriving* black communities all over the US. Not that unusual a request.

HTH
HAND

[teachertype]

I have friends in Belchertown, a black/white interracial couple, who have had negative things to say about that town and it's schools racially. It's safe, for sure, but it's a "townie" town, especially as you get further away from Amherst. Civil rights icon Julius Lester has lived in Belchertown forever but he may be the exception, not the rule.

Amherst or Northampton would be your best bet but most of my black friends and family have found it somewhat limited socially/dating and job wise. Socially, you might look toward NYC, Hartford, Springfield - but not to imply that you wouldn't be well accepted in Amherst/Noho. There is no thriving black community in western MA, outside of Umass campus, as the black population is small in number. Even back in the 60's when UMass was essentially integrated, black students went elsewhere to socialize. If you're a professor you'll do fine with others in your department.

You will definitely want to avoid the Franklin County hill town areas like the plague (Greenfield, Orange, Athol, Colrain, Turners Falls, New Salem, etc.).

[western mass and love it]

how could you possibly say that there is no thriving black community in western mass.Springfield,Amherst and Northampton all have a very lively black community,and saying that the black population is rather small in western mass is also untrue.maybe if you are talking about the hill towns and the Berkshires.but the metro areas of western mass have a very diverse set of ethnicity.

[dognh]

The comments about "sure there are thriving black communities here" are a joke. There are not.
Sure there are thriving black residents, but they live in majority white communities.
"Black communities" in Massachusetts (meaning communities with a majority black population) are slums.

[teachertype]

I work in Springfield, with mostly minority Springfield people, every day. In ten years I've never heard anyone describe it as a thriving black community, or say it would be smart to move there. It's more Hispanic than AA anyway.

Amherst is a liberal/progressive college town; it's safe - there's the assumption of civility, I'm ok, you're ok. The most recent data I've seen is it's about 11% black, 17% Hispanic, 32% various minority total. There's a substantial affluent, educated, African-American middle class/professor class and noticeable black students. Sometimes there's friction in the Amherst schools and on campus. It's not a black "community" by any means.

[Urban Peasant]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

how could you possibly say that there is no thriving black community in western mass.Springfield,Amherst and Northampton all have a very lively black community,and saying that the black population is rather small in western mass is also untrue.maybe if you are talking about the hill towns and the Berkshires.but the metro areas of western mass have a very diverse set of ethnicity.

I would still be careful about Springfield. Although it is clearly not the utmost dangerous place in the world unlike what some people say and I would be more than happy to visit it from time to time, it is the truth that Springfield is currently a downtrodden city with a seriously struggling economy. It is very diverse and does have a substantial Black population but then again it is not the best place to move to at the moment. In any case that the OP has school age children, then he/she should really avoid the Springfield Public Schools. I had a friend that returned from teaching there recently and told me that there is scarcely a week in the school year that a major fight or other mishap breaks out. He considered it the worst school district in the entire Commonwealth, even worse than Boston and we are already pretty bad over here. It just doesn't seem worth a try.

[teachertype]

Safety in Springfield for many young people rises and falls with gang activity. Lately, not so good.

I disagree strongly with blanket non-specific negative comments about the Springfield schools, because I know better. It's very possible to get a good education and have a great experience in SPS. It does take some parental involvement and attention to details, working the system helps, and a plan. There are some extremely dedicated teachers, great small programs, and opportunities for excellence in the system. Kids that fight or have gang involvement are dealt with and there's an internal "Safe School" system/program that addresses that very effectively at all grade levels.