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My friend and I yesterday took a day off and toured through Fitchburg, Greenfield, and Northampton as we are curious to see more of MA. I am from Wellesley and he is from Somerville, for background.
Greenfield looked pretty good. All of the store fronts are full, which is much more than you can say about Fitchburg (one of the worst places I have ever seen). The town center is clean and presents pretty well. There are some good-looking restaurants and coffee shops, and small sculptures and artworks around the town give it a good cultural feel in a small way. We went to People's Pint, as per the recommendations of board members here, and thought it was a good bar. The people in there all looked like college graduates and otherwise educated people, definitely crunchy but still clean-cut and respectable overall. On our first walk through the town, most of the people were that way.
Some sketchiness crept out of the woodwork on the way back to the car. A zombie girl approached us on the sidewalk and asked for a dollar - whatever. But when we got back to the car, we witnessed an odd scene starting with two adults dressed for bedtime leading around four incongruous children (different ages, colors, who knows). It was like "ok, they're a family" until this shirtless twenty-something rode up to them on a bike and started chatting with the big guy... then these two, ratted out dudes roll down the sidewalk (0 of 10 on the personal hygiene scale), exchange something with the big guy, who gives rat king (aka the fattest rat) a half-burned cigarette, everybody is chummy... Until some other guy emerges for the convenient store and starts screaming at two of the kids. A motley crew in the truest sense of the term. There may have been a drug deal.
We walked up and down the main streets and rode around on some of the outlying side streets. Greenfield is fine. Haven't been there at night but I would feel safe living there. Certainly better than Framingham Center from my neck of the woods. Not sure why people would knock it as my friend and I both thought it had a fair amount going for it.
Ah yes sounds like the Greenfield I know. My icon of Greenfield is the strung-out grown men with neck tattoos and wife beater riding around on kid-sized bicycles and in close second the burnt out middle aged folks drinking at 7:30 AM at The Vic. But despite the semi sleaze at least there are people around and occupied storefronts with some decent businesses and eateries. Nice contrast in your Greenfield and Fitchburg posts, mwbms28, well written!
A little late to the game, but I live in Deerfield, which is drop-dead lovely, reasonably priced, and ridic safe; it's 10 minutes to Greenfield.
I know many young professionals in Greenfield raising families in perfectly nice neighborhoods who are very happy, and things are only getting better. There are some nice schools, like the Greenfield Center School.
Yeah, there are junkies. It will pass. There is a big emphasis on treatment here rather than arrest/jail/vicious cycle. Downtown is, as has been mentioned, a lot better than most downtowns. There is some great food, and the entertainment has been slowly reviving. Nothing's boarded up that I'm aware of.
You can now take the train from Greenfield to NYC and from there anywhere.
Yeah, there are junkies. It will pass. There is a big emphasis on treatment here rather than arrest/jail/vicious cycle. Downtown is, as has been mentioned, a lot better than most downtowns. There is some great food, and the entertainment has been slowly reviving. Nothing's boarded up that I'm aware of.
Uh yeah about that. You have to keep in mind if you open a door to things like that sometimes they keep coming. Hospitals attract sick people and rehabs attract users. It all depends on how it is managed. You also have to keep in mind that with the yankee plant closing and the rail coming in that means prices might drop.
Uh yeah about that. You have to keep in mind if you open a door to things like that sometimes they keep coming. Hospitals attract sick people and rehabs attract users. It all depends on how it is managed. You also have to keep in mind that with the yankee plant closing and the rail coming in that means prices might drop.
"Things like that"? Like hospitals and rehabs? How are good hospitals and rehab centers bad?
And I should hope that hospitals "attract" sick people; that's what they are for! It's pretty weird to phrase it like it's a problem. Do you think sick people are criminals? And what is your proposed alternative to rehab, more jails? Good luck finding a police chief who thinks we can (or wants to) arrest their way out of this epidemic.
How does rail access to the rest of the country depress prices?
I think it's a good thing that Greenfield has an excellent hospital, a railroad stop, and treats drug addicts instead of jailing them.
There are no rehabs in this county and it's a real problem. The heroin problem around here is homegrown and insidious, and right now there are no rehab beds for 50 miles due to state neglect of its rural areas. We export users far away to detox instead of treating near home. I don't quite see what getting at either.
"Things like that"? Like hospitals and rehabs? How are good hospitals and rehab centers bad?
And I should hope that hospitals "attract" sick people; that's what they are for! It's pretty weird to phrase it like it's a problem. Do you think sick people are criminals? And what is your proposed alternative to rehab, more jails? Good luck finding a police chief who thinks we can (or wants to) arrest their way out of this epidemic.
How does rail access to the rest of the country depress prices?
I think it's a good thing that Greenfield has an excellent hospital, a railroad stop, and treats drug addicts instead of jailing them.
I would not say that rail depresses prices as long as it isn't facilitating a wealth transfer. No sick are not criminals.
Rehab is a good thing but frankly it seems like the state is just dumping problems on Greenfield. Many of its hotels are filled with homeless people subsidized by the state. Then DESE comes in and asks why test scores suddenly took a hit (duh )
The state used Springfield as a dumping ground and it took some time to turn it around. When a place is on the rise and people can't do things there (zoned or financially) they'll look at transit and relocate there.
If you read the development documents that springfield has for its plans pretty much all new properties are market rate. The north end pretty much protested a rehab out although it might stay in Holyoke. Once union station is made that makes it much easier to move people for govenrment programs.
Public housing has changed from a local list to a state list. Why's that matter? Well cities are going to be sending homeless people more into the suburbs as the state subsidizes space it makes sense to have a state list.
Lastly the closing the yankee plant makes a huge dent in the southern vt, franklin county and southwest NH area. When you have 100+ employees making 100K or year on average go away it takes a number of jobs with them.
So you can see this is a perfect storm. High end job losses coupled with rehabs opening and better train access along with a change in public housing. I'm not saying Greenfield is a bad place, far from it. What they have for a place of 20,000 is much more than what other places can offer.
However, they are in the middle of things well beyond their control.
Hi all. I've never posted on any of these threads before, but I thought I would jump in because I too am looking for current info re Greenfield.
My spouse and I currently live and work in Brattleboro, Vermont. She works in mental health and I am an attorney. We are looking to move out of Brattleboro as my wife finds it difficult to live in the same town where her patients are. We love Vermont and have scoped out some of the surrounding towns, but we really want more resources than many of them have to offer (see below for our interests).
We are a lesbian married couple getting ready to start a family. We love hiking and skiing (and being outdoors in general). We are both vegan and we love going out to eat. We love grabbing a beer at a local pub. A friendly bar (or bars!) is a must. We want to live in a town with a vibrant downtown - it doesn't have to be huge and bustling; we just want a place where people actually choose to spend their time downtown.
We love Northampton, but we feel a bit priced out of that entire region. Still, what draws us to the Northampton area is that it is generally safe, a great spot to be a lesbian, there are good schools and an emphasis on education and the arts. That being said, the home prices there are roughly $100,00.00 more than the home prices in Greenfield. While I am a lawyer, I am a Vermont lawyer, which means that money is still a pretty big factor. Also, the commute time from the Northampton area to Brattleboro is a bit long. It gets even longer if we start considering the hilltowns or other areas around Northampton, which don't seem to be much cheaper. Easthampton seems safe and less expensive, but also exceptionally boring and a decent commute to Brattleboro.
Greenfield has piqued our interest because the homes are reasonably priced, the east side neighborhoods look great, and we can get a great home in Highland Park for less than it costs to buy a major fixer-upper in Northampton. We like that it's a 20 minute commute to both Brattleboro and Northampton, and that it's on Rte 2 for those sporadic trips to Boston (go Red Sox). My biggest concerns about Greenfield are the schools (though Center School seems like a great private school alternative), the crime (holy cow the crime index reads like New Haven), and the influence of drugs. Living in Brattleboro, we have our fair share of heroin addicts, too. While I would prefer not to have them at all, I could settle for a town where the drug problems are clustered to one area.
Is Greenfield really up-and-coming? It seems like people have been saying this for YEARS, but it also seems like it really might be finally happening.
How prevalent is the crime? Can we avoid it by avoiding Hope Street and the far west side?
Prices are typically more in certain areas for a reason. Is it worth coughing up the extra dough for a smaller place in Northampton, or is it better to get a better home and take a chance on Greenfield?
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Also considering Greenfield
