Let's Talk About Athol

[FCMA]

He was referring to Petersham, which is just fine with a country store, a liquor store, a breakfast restaurant, a curling rink, no gas stations or traffic lights, and no other businesses. Besides Athol and Orange, the tiny surrounding towns are actively NIMBY and anti-development. The word choice was not great though.

[FCMA]

I'm also not sure why people keep saying there is "no" public transportation. There is not "good" public transit, but there is a sufficient east-west bus route run jointly by FRTA and MART along the Route 2 corridor from Greenfield to Gardner - you could live in Athol and take a bus to Greenfield or Gardner to work a 9 to 5 gig. From Gardner there is a connection to the commuter rail in Fitchburg. It would be a hellish public transit commute from there onto the Fitchburg MBTA rail line, but it is actually doable. 6AM bus in Athol to Gardner at 6:45, connecting into Fitchburg for 7:15, and onwards to wherever you need to go (ouch) - if you like a 3-hour oneway commute, that's the routine for you.

[TS808]

Originally Posted by pennyone

"I think that anyone trying to open a business in Petersham would actually be lynched"...

While I understand your point about Atol, but to use that word "lynched" in your sentence above does little to dispel the perception of Atol as being insular, backward and altogether unattractive, especially in a state like Massachusetts. Maybe you don't care about it, but it seems to me that you are trying to extoll Atol's little town virtues....Should a quaint little town insist on "lynching" those who step out of line? The verb has too much historical baggage to be useful in your post.

The lynching line was about Petersham, not Athol. It was an exaggerated wat of saying that a new business license will never, ever be approved in that town. The powers that be there have no interest in growth. I believe they only allow one or two residential building permits per YEAR. Keep in mind that folks that Petersham is a very large 68 square mile town.

Athol is a booming metropolis compared to Petersham, Royalston, and the other small towns mentioned. It is against the law to have a house painted in any other color than white within Royalston's town common. Off the top of my head I know of only two businesses currently operating there, a restaurant that is open part time and a country store. In Petersham, a gas station and a country store. There are probably more but certainly not the HUNDREDS that Athol has.

These towns are much larger in physical size than Athol yet they contribute zero to the growth of the area. They try to discourage it in fact, which is why it irks me that Athol, the hub of the area, is ridiculed for its poor economy.

[wolfgang239]

Originally Posted by FCMA

I'm also not sure why people keep saying there is "no" public transportation. There is not "good" public transit, but there is a sufficient east-west bus route run jointly by FRTA and MART along the Route 2 corridor from Greenfield to Gardner - you could live in Athol and take a bus to Greenfield or Gardner to work a 9 to 5 gig. From Gardner there is a connection to the commuter rail in Fitchburg. It would be a hellish public transit commute from there onto the Fitchburg MBTA rail line, but it is actually doable. 6AM bus in Athol to Gardner at 6:45, connecting into Fitchburg for 7:15, and onwards to wherever you need to go (ouch) - if you like a 3-hour oneway commute, that's the routine for you.

While this is technically public transit, it isn't very helpful. Leaving Athol and going to either of these places provides very little in terms of meaningful job prospects. As to the bus to bus to bus to commuter rail, I'd rather commute from Boston to nyc every day if I had to deal with that kind of commute.

[FCMA]

Originally Posted by wolfgang239

While this is technically public transit, it isn't very helpful. Leaving Athol and going to either of these places provides very little in terms of meaningful job prospects. As to the bus to bus to bus to commuter rail, I'd rather commute from Boston to nyc every day if I had to deal with that kind of commute.

In case you weren't aware, this is status quo public transportation for small milltowns and Gateway Cities in Mass outside the immediate Boston area. It's there, though not particularly helpful, it ends around 6-7pm, and you're lucky if it runs on the weekends. A route from Athol/Orange to Amherst would be a bit more helpful in terms of locals' access to jobs. And actually you'd be surprised - Greenfield and Gardner do provide much more in the way of job prospects than Athol itself, so at least it gives folks a transit option for a day job in the broader region. I honestly don't think anyone in their right mind actually does the Boston commute by public transit though - I was just illustrating that it's possible - while there are certainly people around here who work well inside 495 or even in Boston, they drive.