Quote:
Originally Posted by SallieandJames
I am posting here to humbly ask for help and opinions, opinions, opinions! My family will be moving to Western Massachusetts within the next few months as my husband has accepted a great position based in Agawam, Ma. We have no family or friends in this area, and we are very unfamiliar with the cities, towns, and schools. We need serious help, and I am really hoping that the members of this forum can help us as we make some serious decisions.
We have one son who is a toddler now. We are looking for an area that is close to Agawam (husband will be working long hours and we do not want a long commute on top of that). We of course want access to excellent schools for when my son will be of school-age. We will be purchasing a home before we move and we would like an area where we can find a newer-ish home, around 2000 sq ft, for approx 300K with a decent sized backyard. I am a stay at home mom, and we love parks, we love getting together with other moms/kids, we love being close to decent shopping, etc. We love side-walked line subdivisions and being around other families.
Could you please weigh in with your advice about areas to focus on? My husband's employer suggest Wilbraham - but I am really looking forward to hearing your opinions and hope that someone can steer us in the right direction.
Finally, thank you in advance. It is a very vulnerable feeling to be moving to a place that you are not familiar with - we will be flying in next week to go on a tour of the area and get more information. I look forward to reading your responses!
|
It's great that you're planning on moving to our region it's a nice and active area to be raised in.
Wilbraham is expensive... as I have heard.
Personally, I am from Chicopee. Chicopee is stuck in between Holyoke and Springfield. However, Holyoke's crime rate has significantly dropped and as long as you don't live in the border of Chicopee- Springfield, than basically it's a nice place to live.
Chicopee is VERY SAFE... I am a freshman in college come Fall and I lived in Chicopee my whole life. The schools are excellent, we have one of the highest quality of education in New England. There's plenty of school activities liek clubs, PTO, etc... We have many private schools (particularly I went to St. Stans) that place is very high in quality.
Chicopee is also one of the only cities to have two brand new state of the art high schools. Chicopee High serves only as academics, while Chicopee Comprehensive is both academic and technical. Everyone in Chicopee are really nice and outgoing. We are very community supported. The best places for family wise would be a section in Chicopee known as Aldenville. Fairview is okay.
As of your choice of buying a house, Chicopee is relatively affordable. However, land size is limited, but there is many places that have large backyards and newer homes. As for ranging in the 300k range, i don't even think we have homes in that price.
East Longmeadow is close to Agawam and the homes range in your designated price.
Either way, our region is home to many universities and colleges so you have many choices to choose from when time comes.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
