Thinking of buying in Chicopee or West Springfield (Holyoke, Amherst: crime, house)

[forzadepor13]

After several months of research and living in the valley, wife and I are starting our search for a home. Thinking Chicopee and West Springfield to be close to interstate for commute to Springfield and Northampton. Longmeadow, Springfield, Holyoke and Agawam don't really interest us because of commute and public schools. Can't afford any of the Hamptons, Granby, Amherst or the Hadleys, which leaves us with Chicopee and West Springfield. What do people think about these two cities? What are the good neighborhoods and bad areas to avoid? Leaning towards West Springfield but Chicopee has better prices and taxes for sure. Are both places decent for raising a family?

[massnative71]

Never heard anything good about Chicopee. I know a few people from Agawam (born and raised), who think it's fine.

From my limited knowledge of that area, I would rank them in this order from best to worst:

1. Agawam
2. West Sringfield
3. Chicopee

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Never heard anything good about Chicopee. I know a few people from Agawam (born and raised), who think it's fine.

From my limited knowledge of that area, I would rank them in this order from best to worst:

1. Agawam
2. West Sringfield
3. Chicopee

I'd say the same thing. I never thought much of Chicopee although I do have a good friend who lives there now. For some reason I also think of some industrial smell that we always attributed to coming from Chicopee. There must be some decent areas because my friend has a pretty good house in a nice neighborhood.

West Sringfield seems like it might be good to live in. You would be right across the bridge and you have Riverdale Rd which does have some good stores and some sort of cinema that is popular.

Agawam I think of as a slightly "classier" place than the other two. It seems to have rural areas and doesn't have that urban vibe that the other two seem to possess. I don't get a sense of grittiness in Agawam. I was there a couple of weeks ago and it was close to my destination of Easthampton via rte 57. It's very close to Springfield, rte 5, and rte 91.

I would vote for West Springfield or especially Agawam even though Chicopee is cheaper. I don't know about the schools except that Agawam schools are highly rated. There's an area called Feeding Hills that supposedly is nice.

https://www.agawam.ma.us/35/Community

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

I'd say the same thing. I never thought much of Chicopee although I do have a good friend who lives there now. For some reason I also think of some industrial smell that we always attributed to coming from Chicopee. There must be some decent areas because my friend has a pretty good house in a nice neighborhood.

The area around Westover (or just north of) seems decent.

[FCMA]

Chicopee is pretty much awful but in a totally fascinating way that involves kielbasa, dive bars, air force oriented trailer parks, and a lax zoning pattern. Urban, suburban, and industrial in alternating patches. West Springfield seems more like an average middle class suburb but has the unique feature of the Big E plus very good Indian food (Pintu’s) and grease-burgers (White Hut). My sense is that West Springfield has the better schools. They both have nice neighborhoods but I am unable to describe where off the cuff. In both cities, the general pattern seems to be the closer to Springfield proper or Holyoke, the more tired the neighborhood.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by FCMA

Chicopee is pretty much awful but in a totally fascinating way that involves kielbasa, dive bars, air force oriented trailer parks, and a lax zoning pattern.

And Paczkis!

[Boston_Burbs]

Chicopee by Burnett Road (Exit 6) is pretty suburban and convenient but the schools are not great.

Have you looked at Ludlow? Some cheaper homes near East St.

[mdovell]

Chicopee is kinda having a bit of a management change. In a nutshell they were kinda known for not showing up at regional plans. There's some new younger leadership that hopefully will change things. One of the first times I was in western Mass I was around in Chicopee and saw a closed down hardware store....until I walked another 20 feet and found out it was still open?!? Gradually I learned that not everything that is run down is closed. Chicopee seems to be more involved in some of its own issues rather than economic/community development. I can't totally blame them because there are federal mandates (sewerage)

Housing in the whole region I think is going to go up significantly due to the foundation issue in CT and the Longmeadows. As schools in the area improved and crime dropped. The CT rail extension starts next month and in about three months is MGM springfield

Checking zillow springfield and holyoke have gone up dramatically in the past year (8-12%) even other areas in the region are at 3-4% a year, that adds up.

With respect to schools there are private, charter and religious ones. Pope Francis high school should be opening this fall.
West Springfield is starting to develop more. Sometimes they have some odd places/restaurants. I highly recommend Creps Tea House. https://crepesteahouse.com/

he big E is the annual fair but the fairgrounds itself does have events year round. Eventually I heard that west springfield will try for its own riverwalk which would be great. Sadly the river is too wide to do what they have in providence (waterfire).

[forzadepor13]

I appreciate the replies about Agawam but because of my wife's commute and lack of diversity in the school system, we crossed it off the list. We're a biracial couple so diverse schools are a must.

Originally Posted by in_newengland

I'd say the same thing. I never thought much of Chicopee although I do have a good friend who lives there now. For some reason I also think of some industrial smell that we always attributed to coming from Chicopee. There must be some decent areas because my friend has a pretty good house in a nice neighborhood.

West Sringfield seems like it might be good to live in. You would be right across the bridge and you have Riverdale Rd which does have some good stores and some sort of cinema that is popular.

Agawam I think of as a slightly "classier" place than the other two. It seems to have rural areas and doesn't have that urban vibe that the other two seem to possess. I don't get a sense of grittiness in Agawam. I was there a couple of weeks ago and it was close to my destination of Easthampton via rte 57. It's very close to Springfield, rte 5, and rte 91.

I would vote for West Springfield or especially Agawam even though Chicopee is cheaper. I don't know about the schools except that Agawam schools are highly rated. There's an area called Feeding Hills that supposedly is nice.

https://www.agawam.ma.us/35/Community

[forzadepor13]

Do you think there's a positive change coming to Chicopee?
Aware of the rail extension and casino coming into town, but what's this foundation issue?

Seems like West Springfield's a decent place to live in.

Originally Posted by mdovell

Chicopee is kinda having a bit of a management change. In a nutshell they were kinda known for not showing up at regional plans. There's some new younger leadership that hopefully will change things. One of the first times I was in western Mass I was around in Chicopee and saw a closed down hardware store....until I walked another 20 feet and found out it was still open?!? Gradually I learned that not everything that is run down is closed. Chicopee seems to be more involved in some of its own issues rather than economic/community development. I can't totally blame them because there are federal mandates (sewerage)

Housing in the whole region I think is going to go up significantly due to the foundation issue in CT and the Longmeadows. As schools in the area improved and crime dropped. The CT rail extension starts next month and in about three months is MGM springfield

Checking zillow springfield and holyoke have gone up dramatically in the past year (8-12%) even other areas in the region are at 3-4% a year, that adds up.

With respect to schools there are private, charter and religious ones. Pope Francis high school should be opening this fall.
West Springfield is starting to develop more. Sometimes they have some odd places/restaurants. I highly recommend Creps Tea House. https://crepesteahouse.com/

he big E is the annual fair but the fairgrounds itself does have events year round. Eventually I heard that west springfield will try for its own riverwalk which would be great. Sadly the river is too wide to do what they have in providence (waterfire).