Finding the right community to semi-retire to in a Pioneer Valley hilltown... (Boston: how much)

[schleppenheimer]

Husband is shifting work to consulting full time, possibly, which frees us up to choose where we want to live and maybe retire. We may be spending $500,000 to $700,000 for building a house or buying and renovating a house. We are planning on having said house be a place where a) children and grandchildren can visit and vacation, b) possibly have our mother come and live with us as she ages, and/or c) possibly have one son living with us as he attends college and beyond. He may or may not move out in the future ...

Having said that, we are looking in the Hilltowns of the Pioneer Valley, specifically Haydenville or Goshen.

I am wondering about the type of community that we will find out there. Wondering about how much people in Goshen interact with each other ... if there's any kind of town meeting place such as a library or a town hall. We are in our late 50's, and are friendly, but know when to back off and allow friendships to develop at a snails pace if needs be.

We lived in Williamsburg for five years in the 90's, and absolutely loved it -- so we know to a small degree what living in a hilltown would be like. Our kids were very young then, and we were churchgoers at the time, so between school and church, we were very busy and well-integrated into a preschool in Haydenville, and the elementary school Williamsburg. At the time, husband worked in Northampton, and the commute didn't seem too long. Winter never seemed to prevent him from getting to work, either.

Goshen is at a higher altitude, so I'm guessing they get more snow. We are older, now, so we don't have children to help us mix into a community. We are also no longer churchgoers -- so you can see why I might be concerned about community. I'm going to have to work harder at making friends.

I am an avid knitter (visit Webs in Northampton yearly), would join a book club, and love to hike. We own an Aussie Shepherd, so I will be taking agility classes with him. I also love to kayak. Husband will still be working for the next decade or so, and having Bradley airport in CT would be good. We also lived in Northampton at one time, and so we appreciate that art community as well as the accepting nature of the people. I have a daughter who lives close to Boston, and my son's family lives in Philadelphia.

I'm sure I've given you way too much information -- but I've found that the people of City-Data usually really know what they're talking about so I wanted to give you as much to work with as possible! Thanks!

[in_newengland]

I've known people in Haydenville but not in Goshen. So I can't offer much help. With that amount of money you could buy or build just about anything.

For me, I wouldn't want to be that far out as you would be in Goshen. Hills, snow. And you aren't getting any younger. It could be quite a drive too if you want people to come out and visit you and stay with you.

I always said Haydenville was about as far as I would live away from Northampton.

[tovarisch]

Goshen is very small, but I have friends there who love its size and privacy (I live in Northampton). They don't seem to mind the commute. More snow, yes; they seem to say that the General Store is a locus for connecting. Combination of blue-collar permanent residents/natives and Northampton/Amherst/Springfield commuters seems to live there.

[schleppenheimer]

Thank you so much for your answers ... they absolutely provide the sort of information I was looking for!

As far as getting people to drive out that far to visit us ... our grown kids love the area with a passion that is sort of weird... we have often driven specifically to Northampton/Williamsburg for vacations over the years out of nostalgia for when we lived there. I'm pretty sure getting them to come there, even as far as Goshen, wouldn't be hard.