Visit to Holyoke (Boston, Hampden: fit in, 2013, apartment)

[KellyCrash]

The kids and I made a visit to Holyoke yesterday. The 8 year old was ready to turn around and go home. The place was really rundown and scary looking. We went to the Holyoke Children's Museum. The Children's Museum was small, but a lot of fun for the kiddos. After a couple of hours tho they were done with it all. It's right on the river and there is a state park right beside of the museum. There was a small playground in view of the river. And we walked over for a ride on the Holyoke Merry Go Round. It was $2 a person. It was the fastest Merry Go Round I've ever been on. I couldn't believe how fast it went!

It was a nice day trip. The parking garage charged me $0.50 to park. I was shocked! Admission to the museum was $6 per person.

It was a cheap day for sure compared to visiting the Children's Museum in Boston.

I can't say that I'm interested in rushing back for a 2nd visit, but it was a really nice day with the kiddos.

[thenewtexan]

Something positive about a Holyoke, a city that does not get a lot of positive ink. Thanks, Kelly.

[in_newengland]

That merry go round is the one that used to be at Mountain Park, isn't it? I rode it as a kid and then went to Holyoke about 15 years ago and rode it again. It was interesting learning about the hand carved horses too,

(I don't know if there's anything they can do to bring Holyoke back. BTW, for those from EMass, it's Hole-Yoke, not Holy-oak.)

[lrfox]

As a architecture and city-planning geek, I find Holyoke fascinating. I certainly understand that it's in rough shape, but it has a GREAT collection of gorgeous older buildings that seem like they would fit in cities that are far larger. Most cities in MA, even the run down ones, have a solid collection of architectural gems downtown. Holyoke is no exception. However, Holyoke also has some awesome apartment buildings outside of the city center that you really don't see except in much larger cities (i.e. Boston). It's this type of building that I'm talking about. Holyoke has plenty of these. If the city ever rebounds, these types of buildings are going to be in high demand, because you just don't find them in many places. I certainly wouldn't live in Holyoke now, but I do like passing through just to look at the buildings. Architecturally, Holyoke is stacked.

[nei]

Originally Posted by lrfox

As a architecture and city-planning geek, I find Holyoke fascinating. I certainly understand that it's in rough shape, but it has a GREAT collection of gorgeous older buildings that seem like they would fit in cities that are far larger. Most cities in MA, even the run down ones, have a solid collection of architectural gems downtown. Holyoke is no exception. However, Holyoke also has some awesome apartment buildings outside of the city center that you really don't see except in much larger cities (i.e. Boston). It's this type of building that I'm talking about. Holyoke has plenty of these. If the city ever rebounds, these types of buildings are going to be in high demand, because you just don't find them in many places. I certainly wouldn't live in Holyoke now, but I do like passing through just to look at the buildings. Architecturally, Holyoke is stacked.

I agree Holyoke is a hidden gem, at least in its collection of old buildings. The city center also has these row house like buildings that also seem a bit surprising for a city of size, though not as much as the ones you posted

holyoke - Google Maps

I saw an apartment ad for one of those on craigslist. Price wasn't extremely but not very high either (I have $500 for a bedroom but not really sure)