interesting conversation (Boston, Worcester, Springfield: living, area, waterfalls)

[western mass and love it]

i was at the top of MT Greylock yesterday with my wife and kids and we struck up a casual conversation with another couple.they were from sandisfield(sp) and frequent the summit a lot with there kids.they asked us if we were from mass and we replied that we were from western mass also coming from west springfield,to which they replied "oh hampden county isn't part of western mass,there is just much and to many people living there,western mass is the other 3 counties(hampshire,franklin and berkshire).
i have never ever heard this before and am wondering if anyone else has ever heard of this sentiment?it kind of surprised me because i would never have thought that was the case.

[Snowman27]

Was there in September. Hiked for 6 hours! Strenous trail. Was good. View at top was great..but too many people IMO. Wasn't a "mountain" hike per say. As you hike up the mountain... you actually have to cross roads to get to other side... Wasn't secluded enough. No brooks. No waterfalls. Not even any wildlife.

Great get away trip and I would do it again...but probably with a little snow on it.

[CoastalMaine]

I grew up in Westboro and have lived on Cape Cod since 79. I call anything west of Worcester western Mass.!!!

[Lowerdeck]

To me, anything west of Sturbridge is western Mass. If it's in the 413 area code, it's western.

Sometimes it's tempting to take some of these rural hill towns west and northwest of Worcester and throw them in. Ex: Spencer, Barre, Gardner

[western mass and love it]

i know of a few people who consider only the Berkshires western mass,but to say that hampden county is not a part of wmass because it's to crowded was just amusing.to each there own i guess.

[missionhill]

That will be a surprise to the Springfield Union/Springfield Republican, which has--oh, maybe 150,000 headlines featuring the term Western Mass in them over the past 150 years, most of them referring to events in Hampden County.

I hope you set those hikers straight.

[clevedark]

People say that kind of thing all the time, tailored to local customs and prejudices. For example, someone once told me that I wasn't from New Jersey because I wasn't from the same kind of town he was. And we shared a chuckle and that was the end of it.

[ScituateAl]

It's definitely a natural defense mechanism for those of us from the Berkshires...we're so used to having Bostonians think that life ends at 495 that we sometimes act out towards those in neighboring counties. I think the fact that you knew how to get to Mt Greylock demonstrates that you both know and appreciate the Berkshires.

As a side note, even within the Berkshries we have our divisions. Yes, Sandisfield may technically eb in the Berkshires, but it's no the sam as those towns along Rt7 (a-la Great Barrington, Lenox, etc.).

[in_newengland]

I always lived in WMass until a few years ago and anything west of the Connecticut River is Western Mass to me. Those towns around Worcester are Central Mass to me.
Eastern MA--Central MA--Western MA--The Berkshires.

That's Mass as I've always known it. I hope you set those hikers straight.

[western mass and love it]

well that is an interesting way to break it down,but what about Springfield,Chicopee,Ludlow and the meadows and the list goes on and on,all are east of the river but most definitely western mass.i for one usually considered everything west of exit 9 on the pike as western mass.even though i still feel as this state is just to small to broken down into sections. Seeing as how you can drive to just about anywhere in the state in under 4 hours from just about anywhere,unless you are heading to P-Town from pitsfield that might take a little longer.