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Old 11-15-2012, 08:35 PM
 
3 posts, read 5,894 times
Reputation: 11

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Hi all. My husband and I are making a big move from Florida to Massachusetts. We are in our early 30's and have a 3 year old son and 5 month old daughter. We are looking for a suburb that is safe to live in and family oriented. We really want to be in a neighborhood with kids (similar to where we are now). Any suggestions on the best areas, schools, daycare, etc. are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!
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Old 11-16-2012, 02:55 PM
 
Location: Springfield and brookline MA
1,348 posts, read 3,098,971 times
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Where is the job going to be? I Would definately not reccomend Springfield proper if schools are a concern. But you can't go wrong with Longmeadow,East Longmeadow,Wilbraham,Ludlow,West Springfield,Agawam,Southwick for the immediate Springfield area. These are all immediate suburbs of Springfield and are all safe with decent to outstanding schools.

Depends on how far of a commute you are ok with you could always look into Northampton,Easthampton,Amherst,Hadley,Belchertown . but these are all about 30 minutes to Springfield so the commute times would vary but all are perfectly good towns.
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Old 11-16-2012, 07:49 PM
 
3 posts, read 5,894 times
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Thanks!! We definitely don't want to be in the city and were hoping for a short commute. The immediate suburbs sound good (those all have been ones that have been popping up in our searches, we were trying to get insider info to confirm they were decent ). Out of those, are there any that are more "kid oriented"? We are trying to find an area that has parents our age and kids around my son and daughters age for friends. I really appreciate the help. We are flying up next week and will definitely check out some of those areas
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Old 11-17-2012, 07:01 AM
 
Location: NH
132 posts, read 467,056 times
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Check out Monson also.....just about 30 minutes outside of downtown Springfield.
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Old 11-17-2012, 08:28 AM
 
325 posts, read 925,021 times
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You may find Longmeadow to be a little stuffy. While you're out here, I would take a drive up to Northampton to check it out. It's a TOTALLY different vibe from the Springfield area and one of the more desirable locales in the area. I know lots of people who live here and work in Springfield - about a 20 minute commute. Look Park is great for kids and there are a lot of bike paths and cultural activities.
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Old 11-17-2012, 04:16 PM
 
Location: Springfield and brookline MA
1,348 posts, read 3,098,971 times
Reputation: 1402
Also don't rule out Northern Connecticut. The Springfield area sits right on the border so a lot of the towns in CT are very commutable to Springfield. Look at Enfield,Somers,Suffield,Ellington,Stafford, all of these are also good places to live.
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Old 11-17-2012, 06:01 PM
 
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I also would recommend checking out Northampton, especially Florence which is a section of Northampton. There are so many kid-friendly things to do in the area. Easthampton is also great, more affordable, and a bit closer to Springfield. Check out the Hilltown Families site which has more information on various activities in the valley.
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Old 11-20-2012, 01:20 PM
 
35 posts, read 138,848 times
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The bottom line with any place in this area is that if you want a variety of activities, you will probably have be driving around to different places. There is no single town that has "a lot" of stuff going on, kid friendly or otherwise. You may be driving to different towns for different activities, depending on how common or exotic your kids interests are.
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Old 11-20-2012, 01:37 PM
 
Location: Central Florida
362 posts, read 559,990 times
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You can't go wrong with Agawam or East Longmeadow. Both are very nice, family-oriented and have good schools. West Springfield can be iffy, depending on the location, and by all means avoid Holyoke and Springfield itself.

Good luck with the daycare though.... You're not likely to find as many daycare center options as we have in Florida, and they will be expensive. Be sure to check out your options before you go, so it's not quite the surprise I got when I moved up there.
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Old 11-20-2012, 02:53 PM
 
Location: Springfield and brookline MA
1,348 posts, read 3,098,971 times
Reputation: 1402
Day care around the area is mostly a private in home service. Meaning that most are home based and not in a center. There are websites to for these but I just don't know any off hand,I'm sure a quick google search will produce some results. I really don't know of any sketchy areas in West Springfield, There are some areas with mostly 3 family homes and more densely settled but I wouldn't consider them sketchy.

I think sometimes people equate urban with sketchy which is unfair. I do agree with avoiding Springfield and Holyoke for school purposes,but if I didn't have kids I would definately buy a house in Spfld.
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