Thoughts on Northampton/Springfield (Boston: cheap apartment, rent, home)

[Taboo25]

I'm a recent College grad with a BA in English who is looking to move. I'm currently in Orono, Maine and can not wait to leave. I've actually been looking into moving out to California but also thinking of other options closer to home (home was NH before now) that would be a little easier to move to - I have a relatively large dog, a cat and a horse that need to come with me so California is going to be a bit tricky but still not out of the question. But I've been thinking about the Northampton area more lately because I don't really want to move to Boston and when I visited Northampton last summer I fell in love with it. It's a great little town and I felt really at ease there. I love the atmosphere, liberal vibe, all the coffee shops and things to do downtown and the people were extremely nice.

My questions are; what is it like living there? Are there good job opportunities in Northampton and/or Springfield? I wouldn’t mind living in between the two, working in Springfield and playing in Northampton. What are some good, safe towns in between Northampton and Springfield? How are the apartments price and cleanliness wise? How are the winters? Is there still stuff to do or does everything shut down? I grew up in Meredith, NH and where the summers were full of things to do, the winters were the exact opposite. I'd like to be in a place where there are activities all year long and I'm thinking since the college's are all pretty close by there would be more to do all year. I’d really like to at least think about moving down to that area at least for a few years to get more work experience in my field (which I don’t really know what that might be yet with my pretty useless English degree!), save up some more money, and have a more solid idea on how I’m going to get out to California. Any advice or info would be much appreciated!!

[lettuce]

Originally Posted by Taboo25

I'm a recent College grad with a BA in English who is looking to move. I'm currently in Orono, Maine and can not wait to leave. I've actually been looking into moving out to California but also thinking of other options closer to home (home was NH before now) that would be a little easier to move to - I have a relatively large dog, a cat and a horse that need to come with me so California is going to be a bit tricky but still not out of the question. But I've been thinking about the Northampton area more lately because I don't really want to move to Boston and when I visited Northampton last summer I fell in love with it. It's a great little town and I felt really at ease there. I love the atmosphere, liberal vibe, all the coffee shops and things to do downtown and the people were extremely nice.

My questions are; what is it like living there? Are there good job opportunities in Northampton and/or Springfield? I wouldn’t mind living in between the two, working in Springfield and playing in Northampton. What are some good, safe towns in between Northampton and Springfield? How are the apartments price and cleanliness wise? How are the winters? Is there still stuff to do or does everything shut down? I grew up in Meredith, NH and where the summers were full of things to do, the winters were the exact opposite. I'd like to be in a place where there are activities all year long and I'm thinking since the college's are all pretty close by there would be more to do all year. I’d really like to at least think about moving down to that area at least for a few years to get more work experience in my field (which I don’t really know what that might be yet with my pretty useless English degree!), save up some more money, and have a more solid idea on how I’m going to get out to California. Any advice or info would be much appreciated!!

I think a lot will depend on the type of work you do and what kind of income you need to support yourself. If you've lived in Maine, the winters in western mass won't bother you. northampton is more expensive, but you can find more reasonable areas to live, such as hadley, easthampton, and so on. i would say, apply for jobs and then when you come out to interview, spend some time in the coffee shops and hanging around. talk to people.

[Vagus]

What are you gonna do with the horse?

[Taboo25]

Originally Posted by lettuce

I think a lot will depend on the type of work you do and what kind of income you need to support yourself. If you've lived in Maine, the winters in western mass won't bother you. northampton is more expensive, but you can find more reasonable areas to live, such as hadley, easthampton, and so on. i would say, apply for jobs and then when you come out to interview, spend some time in the coffee shops and hanging around. talk to people.

I'm honestly not really sure what kind of work I want to do, I'm open to a lot of different things. Probably something in advertising, media, copy writing, publishing, magazines, editing, or something along those lines. I know thats a bit of a stretch but I still really dont know what I want to do yet, anything I can find like that will work for now!! As far as what kind of income I'm going to need to support myself, I've been hanging in there so far with a part time job (anywhere from 24-40 hours a week most weeks) that pays $10 an hour. I definitely cant be making any less than that, I'm barely able to get by with that. Decent pay, a relatively cheap apartment in a safe town near where I work would be great!

As far as my horse goes, I'll have to look into boarding facilities down in that area, it's usually not too hard to find at least a handful to choose from but it also sucks to have to practically pay rent for my horse! Oh well, he's gotta come! )