Opinions on Northfield, Shelburne Falls (Boston, Springfield: rent, coop, houses)

[New place]

Hello; please share your thoughts on quality of life in Northfield and Shelburne Falls. Pros/Cons.
I am considering a move there and am a bit concerned about finding a place to swim and conveniences of shopping/medical should the pandemic come roaring back.
Thanks!

[mdovell]

I don't think the medical would be bad. I mean from there to springfield for mercy/bay state and shriners is maybe a half hour at most down I91. Shopping? To be frank I don't do that much for shopping in person anymore but you should have amazon prime and instacart. Pretty good coffee in the area that's for sure. I know a thrift shop further south that has great deals but maybe I'll pm you that. I don't want deals to go away :-/ the holyoke mall would be the biggest mall in the area but I don't know what you really want for shopping.

If you go down I91 you have a fair amount. Hadley has some box stores. You have your trader joes and whole foods. There's also Quarters for retro gaming. Plenty to do outside.

[New place]

Thank you mdovell! For shopping I was thinking of food and if there is instacart that is good. I know that there is curbside pick up at the Brattleboro coop if you want to head north.


Trying to get a vibe of the area and quality of life! Most people head to Northampton area but lots of traffic.

[OutdoorLover]

I don't really know the area, but have heard good things about it - charming small towns without too many tourists or outsized prices... as far as swimming goes, I think there are bound to be some good swimming holes on the Deerfield River - it's the right size and there is some topography in the area to give a variety of water (might be decent for trout too! :-))...

[in_newengland]

OP, where are you moving from? Where will you be working?

I haven't been to Shelburne Falls in several years and it's been a long time since I've been to Northfield. A friend who decided to live in Shelburne Falls lasted one year though. The towns were charming and she was already familiar with the towns because she came from Greenfield. She thought it would be wonderful but surprisingly, the people seemed unfriendly to outsiders.

Another thing--she was isolated. She had to go on rte 2 back to Greenfield for almost everything and if she wanted things to do, she usually had to go on rte 2 and then down I-91 to Northampton. It might not have been so bad in summer but it was a nightmare in winter. Bridge of Flowers, and those glacial potholes sound like a dream but it's nice to visit, wasn't so nice to actually live there.

I guess you could head north to Brattleboro but, again, that can be a pretty scary drive in winter. Nice place to visit the rest of the year.

Your closest hospital would probably be in Greenfield, a division of Baystate. There are probably places to swim--rivers and maybe ponds, but I don't know them. The towns up there are cute and old fashioned and they're entertaining in summer but isolating and probably boring in winter. My friend was in love with Shelburne Falls and Buckland until her dream came true and she got to live there. She either stayed home alone or drove and drove and drove to see anyone or do anything. At that time Wilson's was still open in Greenfield but I hear even that is gone so I don't know where the good shopping would be.

Hopefully someone else will know more than I do and be more up to date. I would not want to live out there by myself though. As a family, maybe, but not alone. Just my opinion and a friend's first hand experience.

[tovarisch]

Shelburne Falls and Northfield are both beautiful in a small-town New England way. I've lived in and around Northampton since 1980. Most of what in_newengland and mdovell are saying, above, is correct, although to get to Springfield is an hour, not a half hour, from either town you mention. Swimming places will abound and winters may feel long, depending on where you'll be moving from.

[mdovell]

To be frank I think it really depends on what you want to do. Franklin County and Berkshire County have been losing people for a while now. Years ago I went to Greenfield and four town of just 19,000 people that actually has a fair amount. You have a local newspaper and radio station and nice library and some nice places to get coffee but like what was mentioned the retail died out. Lower operating costs of property values to attract smaller businesses to Western Massachusetts. But having said that the amount of Capital that many of these businesses had didn't cover as much when covid hit.

Sometimes Franklin County in Berkshire County can be a little bit of a paradox because they don't have a whole lot of highly paid jobs, you have second homeowners come in that might not live there year-round but they are in propping up the housing market.

Seasonal events can be nice but if there isn't something for every season you're going to see a lack of that. I'd also add that there's a significant guns for drugs trade between Vermont and Massachusetts on I-91 and Franklin counties right there. Rehman has very low gun laws and there were people there that are addicted and further south is a fair amount of heroin and it gets traded probably every day. State police on both sides are aware of this but until there's a either an increase in the gun laws in Vermont or more drug reforms Massachusetts will probably continue. Some people act like drugs or just an inner-city problem but there's many suburban and rural areas where it is all over the place.

[Apple Country]

OP, can you share a bit more about what you are looking for? Some of your previous posts in other forums were looking for amenities like lap pools or walkability. Are those still important?

Shelburne Falls and Buckland are fairly low-key year round. Most tourists from Eastern Mass., NY, and CT drive past the area going to Southern Vermont so you don't get the tourism related amenities so much. There are a couple posters kind of bullish on Greenfield for more amenities.

[FCMA]

Quality of life is great in both. Shelburne has the upside of a postcard downtown with shops and restaurants, though not many open during pandemic. The only larger town easily accessible is Greenfield about 15 minutes east. Northfield has the upside of proximity to larger towns Greenfield, Brattleboro VT, and Keene NH all within a half hour or less. However just about nothing for shops and restaurants right in Northfield these days beyond a diner and a pizza joint. Housing stock is reasonably priced and many homes have historic character. Your surroundings are sublimely beautiful in either place. As others have mentioned, there’s a nearby hospital in Greenfield. Instacart delivers to both places from Stop & Shop, Big Y, and BJ’s in Greenfield though if you pick Northfield you may as well make in-person shopping trips to supermarkets that aren’t awful such as Market Basket or Hannaford’s in Keene, Hannaford’s in Brattleboro, or the excellent food coops in Brattleboro and Keene (Greenfield and Shelburne have small food coops too, but rather mediocre and overpriced). Unsure if Instacart delivers over state lines. Hadley is about 35 minutes south with Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods etc.

Shelburne has access to better swimming spots along the Deerfield River and the South River in Conway. Can’t think of anywhere to swim in Northfield - some probably go in the Connecticut River but I find it creepy (lamprey eels, downstream of the leaky decommissioned VT Yankee nuke plant). Cabot Camp at the Miller’s / Connecticut River confluence is a popular swimming spot if you don’t mind swimming in the runoff of Gardner, Athol, and Orange. By that point it’s had many miles to purify itself or something.

I’m probably one of the posters “bullish on Greenfield.” It’s a great underrated town with a good set of shops and restaurants and cultural / music events that people from supposedly more advanced places travel hours to attend. Just don’t buy there due to its terrible property taxes and notable disconnect from the ability to make six figures just for being highly educated and showing up like the suburban Boston labor force is accustomed to. Most of the local economy in Franklin County is based on social services, scented candles, restaurants, organic farms, yoga, healing crystals, boarding schools, and being an outer suburb for well-paid Five College professors. But if you’re looking at Northfield and Shelburne Falls, the economic isolation must not be weighing too heavily on your mind anyways.

[in_newengland]

^^^^ Good to hear from you, FCMA. Your posts are among my favorite as you are knowledgeable and honest and such a good writer. I've been wondering where you were!

And I will agree with you about Greenfield although it has seen better days, but it had seen better days when I was about 10 years old. Sounds like it's turning into a version of Northampton now with the crystal healing, yoga, food coops, etc. Personally, I would rather rent there in one of those huge old multiple family houses and be a little bit isolated than rent out in Shelburne Falls and be really (to me) isolated. You can always drive along the Mohawk Trail to Shelburne Falls during fall foliage or go out that way in summer for cute shops, scenery, and book stores. But if the OP really wants to live there, go for it!