Pittsfield Area Places to Live/Commute Times (Lowell, Northampton: real estate, crime)

[subwife1010]

My husband has recieved a job offer for a company based in Pittsfield, after he gets out of the military in a few months. We are looking at selling our house in Washington State, and moving back home to New England (well, home for him...he's from Lowell). We are looking to spend anywhere from 200-300,000, and need a 3 bedroom, preferably 2 bathroom house, ranging from 1600+ sqft. I would love to know of some places around Pittsfield (or neighborhoods within Pittsfield) that would be safe, with nice schools for our two kids. We don't mind a commute, my husband and I both commute about 40-45 minutes to work at the moment. We have seen some places that we really like in Peru, Beckett, North Hampton...but, I'm wondering how bad that commute will be in the winter. Any advice? Thanks for your time

[subwife1010]

I'm kind of surprised that this seems to be the only post not getting a response, does anyone have any advice?

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by subwife1010

I'm kind of surprised that this seems to be the only post not getting a response, does anyone have any advice?

I didn't feel I had enough information to respond. My first question would be whether your husband has an "essential personnel" type job. If that were the case, I certainly wouldn't live far from Pittsfield because of uncertain winter road conditions. You might need to allow time for clearing your driveway in winter, or in bad years, that you can't get out at all. It's best to ask local realtors about the quality of winter road clearing, as it's very unlikely that anyone on this board would know specific small towns.

In general, I wouldn't live in Northampton because it's over 40 miles away. The shortest road is narrow and twisty, and taking the Pike would take you a lot longer.

Otherwise, I don't know what you are looking for. If you want to be in out in the country, Becket is not a bad option. The elementary school gets a decent rating from Greatschools.com.

I can't figure what school system Peru is in, maybe Hinsdale. It seems kind of isolated. Do you want your kids to have neighbors to play with?

Since Peru has 800 people, and Becket about 1800, I don't think crimes is a serious issue.

My personal favorite towns are Lenox and Great Barrington, as I am no fan of living out in the boonies. Some areas of Pittsfield are nice, but I am reluctant to recommend anything, since I don't know your tastes in housing.

[subwife1010]

I spoke with a real estate agent today, he told me that most of the crime in Pittsfield seems to be localized around the hospital area and about a 5 or 6 Block radius around it. He also told me that the crime is mostly drug related and tends to be criminal on criminal crime. I had this huge fear of Pittsfield because of a lot of the bad things I've heard about it, however looking at the population sizes and the population per square mile, it's really not all that crowded, and I feel like a lot of the fears have been eased. Our housing budget is between 200 and 300,000. I've looked at homes in Lenox and Great Barrington, however, for our budget they don't seem like very nice houses. I would prefer a newer home that doesn't require a lot of work, probably less than 15 years old, and I'm not super preferential on property size, just somewhere that I feel safe, and I know that my kids will be safe playing in the yard. I'm from town double the size of Pittsfield (which really surprised me), and we thought it was a "town" not a city. The schools need to be decent with a well-rounded special education system for my son. I'm hoping that I can find something that will fit our needs.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by subwife1010

I had this huge fear of Pittsfield because of a lot of the bad things I've heard about it, however looking at the population sizes and the population per square mile, it's really not all that crowded, and I feel like a lot of the fears have been eased.

I'm glad you don't mind Pittsfield. I was looking at school statistics on Greatschools, and there's a lot of variation in the town schools. The Williams and Stearns Elementary Schools are rated 9 of 10, versus the Silvio Conte school at 3 and the Crosby school at 2. I'm pretty sure you find something in a good school district in your price range. It may be harder to find the newer house, as there is not a large population growth.

There's no advantage to being in the Becket school district (rated a 7 of 10) or the Hinsdale school district (6 of 10).

[kaday]

Originally Posted by goldenage1

I'm glad you don't mind Pittsfield. I was looking at school statistics on Greatschools, and there's a lot of variation in the town schools. The Williams and Stearns Elementary Schools are rated 9 of 10, versus the Silvio Conte school at 3 and the Crosby school at 2. I'm pretty sure you find something in a good school district in your price range. It may be harder to find the newer house, as there is not a large population growth.

There's no advantage to being in the Becket school district (rated a 7 of 10) or the Hinsdale school district (6 of 10).

Williams is a great school with great parent participation. If you can find a home in the Juliana/Filomena Dr neighborhood you will like it. Its been a while but I think its considered Southeast Pittsfield. I think you can get a home there for around $300K. Brookside drive is also very nice. We lived in Pittsfield for three years. These neighborhoods were nice, had lots of kids and helpful friendly adults. You may want to check out some neighborhoods in Lenox as well. Dalton also has some very nice areas...not sure how the schools are but I believe the elementary was well regarded when we lived there. We used a realtor Kathy from Coldwell banker Rose and she was very helpful...can't recall her last name.