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Consider Nashua, NH- on the Mass. border, more walkable and buses to possible work. More affordable than Northampton but no rights being tormented there, either.
Chicopee is a failed mill town, heavily Hispanic and high-welfare population. At least as far as I know.
Consider Nashua, NH- on the Mass. border, more walkable and buses to possible work. More affordable than Northampton but no rights being tormented there, either.
Chicopee is a failed mill town, heavily Hispanic and high-welfare population. At least as far as I know.
Nashua appears to be even more pricier than Northampton.
In my initial days (with my family) of thinking of moving to New England, New Hampshire was our desired location for some reason. I've kinda backed away from it not just because of the lack of suburbs, but because it's more on the line politically than I'd like. NH introduces crazy bills, much like Oklahoma. They oftentimes don't have the power to go through, but I don't want to stick around and see that happen.
WestieWhitie: Hm... My research indicated that both towns were pretty blue in their voting record (West Springfield being less so, though). That's a shame about the rest, these are the things I need to know. I've gotta find a way into the state. =(
Geoff: I just started a job in data entry a few months ago. I am a very fast, accurate typer, so jobs of that sort are my strength. I used to be a great grocery stocker, but I can no longer physically handle it. My actual career path is musicology/history, to be a professor. But that's kind of a pipe dream at this point. The last several years have been rather rough between the pandemic and my disability making it hard for me to get work until recently (I only had experience in retail, so I had to go through my city's DRS), so I haven't been able to even think about that. I'm getting back up on my feet with this data entry job, finally. Only to be hit with the crushing reality that Oklahoma is taking away my rights and there's nothing that can be done about it.
My, no air conditioning? Well, I did live in an older apartment complex with a window unit for air conditioning and heat for a couple of years. Since my apartment was so small, it worked fine, the worst about it just being that I couldn't set it to automatically turn on or off and thus had to use it all manually. I most certainly would not be ending up in an apartment any bigger than the one I was in previously - one bedroom/bathroom. I didn't mind that arrangement, TBH.
Why not consider a city like Cleveland or Pittsburgh instead? MA sounds great on paper but only if you're a well-paid professional pulling in six figures, poor towns affordable on non-professional or non-skilled trade paycheck are every bit as run-down and depressing and quite often as backward as those in Oklahoma, and if they're on the blue side more often than not they're every bit as unsafe as Tulsa.
Why not consider a city like Cleveland or Pittsburgh instead? MA sounds great on paper but only if you're a well-paid professional pulling in six figures, poor towns affordable on non-professional or non-skilled trade paycheck are every bit as run-down and depressing and quite often as backward as those in Oklahoma, and if they're on the blue side more often than not they're every bit as unsafe as Tulsa.
Pennsylvania and especially Ohio will not guarantee my rights.
Don't get me wrong, I've considered Pennsylvania and Michigan and living in a blue area of them, but it just isn't enough.
I don't know anyone in Holyoke but I know one person in Chicopee. Mostly they are places that not many people go to and there's not much there apparently. They guy in Chicopee does ok, but he raised his family there and is now retired and never goes anywhere.
I don't think you'd care for NH. I lived on the state line and it was rednecks. Southern NH isn't too bad if you can avoid the rednecks and there is seacoast but the nice parts are expensive and the rest is semi rural. I can't think of any bus service there.
You are right about Northampton being the perfect fit. It even has bus service (mostly for the students but other people can use it too) and you could work at UMass IF you could get a job there. I wonder about Greenfield, just to the north of Northampton. Haven't been there in many years but maybe someone else here will be more up to date on it. One other problem is jobs though. Everyone wants to live in the Northampton area but jobs are few and far between. UMass is huge but it's probably hard to get a job there--it would be perfect for you though.
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Out of curiousity, which rights are they trying to take from you?
Providence RI isn't usually considered a budget breaker (although much more costly than it was 10 years ago) and it's better than far Western MA in my opinion. It also still has a fairly vibrant gay community. Even more so than Boston. You don't need to go to a deep blue area to find more tolerance that you may find in Oklahoma. Indeed, in deep blue areas you'll simply find intolerances of different kinds. You'll be going from far-right religious fundamentalism to far-left Bolshevik fundamentalism (another religion). That said, Springfield is pretty working class so there shouldn't be a lot of the latter. Most of the Bolsheviks live in exclusive enclaves.
Hello, all. I have lived in Oklahoma all of my life. I know this sounds crazy to other people. It will be such a shock climate-wise and people-wise, right? Well, the thing is that I hate the climate in Oklahoma, and when it comes to the people, well, I'm not one for the fake "niceness" of the South. When I'm out in public surrounded by strangers I want them to mind their own business and I'll mind mine.
Why MA? I've been eyeing the New England region for years now as a destination. A combination of factors has led me to be most interested in MA. A combination of these factors:
1. A place that is blue and protects my rights as a woman and a member of the LGBT community.
2. A place that has four seasons, and less of the severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in OK.
3. A place that has a good suburb-city balance. I currently live in a suburb town of Tulsa.
I have landed at Massachusetts versus the other New England states (and the rest of the US) after much consideration. There are many other reasons that draw me to MA, but instead of delving into that, I want to get into the questions I have for MA residents.
Moving to MA is going to be a challenge for me as a single, disabled (in a way where I can not drive. D: I'm pretty functional otherwise, just limited standing/walking so I must have a desk job) woman from OK. I know this much. Oklahoma has really low cost of living, thus in order to make this transition I must find somewhere cheaper.
I have done some research and it *seems* that some of the suburbs of Springfield have a very similar cost of living to where I live. The two I have been really eyeing are Chicopee and West Springfield. I've read a lot of what people have to say about them, especially Chicopee (West SF seems less talked about). I know to avoid Holyoke, and I dream of Northampton.
Does anyone here have any experience living in either of those two towns? The worst I hear about Chicopee is that it's "boring", but it seems so close to less "boring" places (but that's a problem when I can't drive), I also hear to avoid the Walmart.
I also have some other questions:
1. How are the medical facilities and doctors in and around Chicopee? I have been blessed with my doctors in Oklahoma. I wish I could take them all with me (ironically one did just move to Boston. I am so jealous!) This is very important for me as I have some health problems.
2. How bad is Springfield as a destination to go for short bursts (like watching a symphony)? Now I know that Tulsa is also a pretty risky town and I do go see symphonies there, but it's scary to walk alone at night. I'm wondering if Springfield is comparable to Tulsa, or worse?
3. Grocery stores. How are the grocery stores? The reports of the Walmart in Chicopee being bad concerns me. I use Walmarts a lot where I live. Are there other good alternatives in town? Are the ones in Holyoke in an okay side of the town (I know Holyoke has a Target), or should that be avoided?
4. Are there standard chain restaurants like Domino's, Pizza Hut, Arby's, etc.?
5. What are the "bad" areas of Chicopee and West Springfield to watch out for and not rent an apartment/walk through?
6. Flooding, flooding is the largest concern I have in regards to natural disasters in the Northeast. Kinda like the bad areas, I have no idea what I'm getting into in this region of the country. I know that Chicopee and West Springfield are near rivers. I'm also relatively close to a river where I live, but we don't have flooding in my neighborhood. I need to find out where flooding doesn't occur, or if everywhere's dangerous.
7. How is the transportation in Western MA? Honest to goodness, one of my reasons for wanting to move to the Northeast was because I know they have better infrastructure and in fact, some places more people use public transportation than cars. However, I know that Western MA is a different animal from the Boston area (which I couldn't even dream of affording).
8. Colleges... I do ultimately plan on going back for Grad School. I know that New England has some pretty great universities and colleges, but are there any in this area?
8. Any other towns to recommend? (Understanding that I need them to be affordable, and not full of Trumpers)
These are a lot of questions. I appreciate any anyone can answer for me. This is not an imminent move for me, unfortunately. I just began a desk job where I live and I want to get a lot of experience in that before I start trying to present myself in this "foreign" land. lol
I can't answer all your questions but I'll do my best with what I can!
You're not going to run into many abortion issues here, or really much that will upset you as a left-leaning person as it comes to a policy standpoint. Obviously not the 100% rule but MA is the second bluest state for a reason. That area of Massachusetts as you get into the rural areas will definitely have plenty of republicans in it, though. Frankly not sure what they really go for out there but the brand of suburb republican that I run into in the eastern portion of the state (and am myself) definitely isn't the crazy Q type I'd imagine you run into in the south.
Grocery stores are honest to God one of my favorite parts about living in MA. There's one everywhere, and so many have different options! Lots of great cultural markets as well where you can get stuff you wouldn't be able to at Target/Walmart etc. Getting to those places if you don't live right near one might be a challenge, though. Springfield is a part of the PVTA (Pioneer Valley Transportation Authority) which has busses operating all over the valley, although at limited intervals. There was a deal just struck to extend a train line all the way out to Western MA, which in a perfect world you would be able to commute to Boston reliably on, but that is still a long way away and a lot stands in its path to completion.
Won't have any problem finding chain restaurants! We got em all except Canes, but signs show more might be coming. I hope so at least!
Amherst, which is about 20 miles north of Springfield, and connected via the PVTA is probably the most well-known college town in New England, it hosts 5 colleges all of high merit. I'm sure there's a few closer as well, but Amherst has the really good ones. Hope some of this helps!
Amherst may have decent transit and could be less expensive than Northampton.
OP - I get your reasons for wanting to move. Unfortunately, mass transit is terrible in the country as a whole, and the only places where it is decent are in a few major cities. Western MA doesn't have great public transit. But Amherst is a college town, and as such probably has more transit than most other areas.
I would investigate RI and CT a little more. Hartford and Providence are both lower cost of living areas than Boston and both are larger cities that have more to offer than Springfield does.
OP, none the reasons you have listed so far are compelling enough to justify a move to Mass.. You seem to be motivated by a "grass will be greener" dream, of which people who follow through with are almost always disappointed when they arrive. The posts so far about the more "affordable" places probably being a big disappointment to you, are full on accurate. And I also don't understand what you are saying about New York not having many cities and suburbs, Buffalo is much larger than Springfield and will have a greater expanse/variety of suburban areas as well. Probably Rochester, Syracuse and Albany as well.
Consider Nashua, NH- on the Mass. border, more walkable and buses to possible work. More affordable than Northampton but no rights being tormented there, either.
Chicopee is a failed mill town, heavily Hispanic and high-welfare population. At least as far as I know.
Frankly, I don't think Nashua is really any more affordable than this area. I moved to Northampton from Nashua three years ago and my costs are/were about the same. I regularly look at real estate listings in both places and would say that the prices are pretty equal and maybe even a little bit more expensive in S. NH. The property taxes are definitely higher in NH, however, they don't have income or sales taxes.
There is bus service in Nashua, but it's pretty much contained only to Nashua and not surrounding towns and I doubt the routes are very comprehensive, I've never taken the buses myself. The bus service in Northampton and out to surrounding towns appears to be more varied and available, but I haven't taken one, so can't really speak from experience there. We also have e-bikes (Valley Bike, similar to Citibikes that you would find in NYC) throughout town and lots of bike paths that connect various parts of towns as well as Easthampton & Hadley.
OP, you might try to find some kind of apartment share situation. The rental market here, at least in Northampton, is pretty tight and not cheap overall, but you might find sine like-minded people for a share? I'm not sure how to go about starting such a search, but it may make the area a bit more approachable for you. You might even get lucky and find a housemate with a car.
btw, while we definitely do have chain restaurants here, there are so many wonderful independent restaurants, coffee shops, breweries, bakeries, etc. that, if you did live here, you probably wouldn't find yourself going to them much. Northampton also has a decent music scene, although, no symphonies that I am aware of.
As mentioned upthread, it sure does sound like Northampton would fulfill most of your wants (btw, we have plenty of grocery options and there is also a Walmart in town and we are arguably the most blue city in the country). But, as you say, the housing cost might make it out of reach. A house/apartment share may be a possibility though. You might also consider Easthampton, which is right next to Northampton. It's a cute town with a lot going for it and it should be more affordable overall. No college in town there (I don't believe), but there are plenty of colleges close by.
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