Touring Western Mass - Need to be convinced to live there (Boston: buying a home, buying)

[dentite21]

Hello,

I posted about a week ago and got excellent replies. I am a healthcare professional seriously considering the move the Western Mass. My wife is from a town outside Boston so we would be closer to her family than we are now (currently out of state). The jobs in the area are really top notch for my profession. I do not know a whole lot about the area. So this coming weekend we are flying out and touring around. We have a great feeling about East Longmeadow in terms of buying a home there eventually (considering Wilbraham as well). No kids currently. We are Jewish (though not really religious) and would like to be around others who share some of our values. We also enjoy malls. I plan to check out the one in Holyoke and Enfield. I also plan to visit Northampton as I've heard the downtown is cute. Forest Park is another spot I plan to visit. Any other cool downtown spots, or areas I should check out? Thanks!

[western mass and love it]

There is no mall in Enfield, and the Holyoke Mall is average. However there is always Evergreen Walk in South Windsor CT, The Buckland hills area in Manchester CT and the Westfarms Mall in West Hartford. All about 30 minutes from Springfield.

[Whitey1]

Northampton is a great town....lots to do especially if you’re into the arts or outdoors. I know a Jewish gentleman and his wife who moved up from NY. They bought in a “nice part of Holyoke” but do all their socializing 10 minutes away in Northampton

[in_newengland]

Longmeadow is a beautiful town and it has a lot of Jewish people. However, it's kind of boring and sterile. One big advantage is that it is adjacent to Springfield and rte 91 if needed. I think there is only one entrance now to beautiful Forest Park and that is in Longmeadow. East Longmeadow was traditionally the poorer sibling but it's a nice place too. Both are very much suburbia with no downtown and not much to do. Just residential.

Northampton is a vibrant small city with a real downtown of funky shops and loads of restaurants. Any towns around Northampton would be good to live in--They have Look Park--much smaller than Forest Park but still good for picnics and for kids to play. Not as scenic as Forest Park. There's always something going on in Northampton so if you want some fun and excitement, that's the place to be. You don't have to live right in Northampton but you could live on the outskirts. Just about everything that isn't downtown or off Main St is out on rte 9--and I mean Everything.

Northampton and its area does tend to appeal to younger people due to the presence of the colleges--and students bring the bad with the good. So you get lots of fun things to do and trendy shops but you also get the "kiddie" vibe. You get students driving drunk on weekend nights, that sort of thing. There is a large alternative culture.

That's in opposition to the "boring adults living in suburbia" vibe that you would get in Longmeadow or E. Longmeadow.

If your wife is from a town outside Boston, Longmeadow would be like Wellesley but without any shopping other than maybe a Talbots and a few others plus pharmacy and grocery store. Northampton might resemble Newburyport.

[Traveler1026]

Originally Posted by western mass and love it

There is no mall in Enfield, and the Holyoke Mall is average. However there is always Evergreen Walk in South Windsor CT, The Buckland hills area in Manchester CT and the Westfarms Mall in West Hartford. All about 30 minutes from Springfield.

I believe he is talking about the Enfield Square. However that mall is dismal at best. Most of the department stores have closed, and all that is left are little tacky nick nack stores. Definitely recommend Evergreen Walk as previous poster suggested, or West Farms Mall for some very nice shopping.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by Traveler1026

I believe he is talking about the Enfield Square. However that mall is dismal at best. Most of the department stores have closed, and all that is left are little tacky nick nack stores. Definitely recommend Evergreen Walk as previous poster suggested, or West Farms Mall for some very nice shopping.

West Farms Mall is down in CT just past Hartford so you probably wouldn't be going there if you lived in Northampton. You might go there if you lived in the Longmeadow area though. I don't know where Evergreen Walk is.

[bizcuit]

Aren't malls (in general) dying anyway?

OP, I just moved to the Florence area of Northampton and so far I am loving it. Florence is a kind of in-town suburb of Northampton. We have our own little village center that is overall quieter with less traffic than downtown Northampton, but I'm still close enough to be able to pop in and out of town easily whenever I want.

I've only been here since February (finally unpacked!), so take this with that grain of salt.

Good luck with your search!

[grlwthprl]

One of the benefits of living in Western MA is being close to the Berkshires. SO many gorgeous towns, green space, woods/hiking and culture: Tanglewood, Jacob's Pillow, The Clark museum in Williamstown and, if you like modern art, the fabulous MASS MoCA in North Adams, an old mill town with a growing arts community.

[tovarisch]

Plenty to do in the Conn. River valley, too!

[western mass and love it]

Originally Posted by grlwthprl

One of the benefits of living in Western MA is being close to the Berkshires. SO many gorgeous towns, green space, woods/hiking and culture: Tanglewood, Jacob's Pillow, The Clark museum in Williamstown and, if you like modern art, the fabulous MASS MoCA in North Adams, an old mill town with a growing arts community.

From the Valley to the Berkshires it's roughly an hour, more depending on where in the Berkshires. Plenty to do in the Valley on a day to day basis. The Berkshires are nice for day trip every now and then.