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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!
Wilbraham is a very nice town but it may be more rural than you're seeking. You might want to take a look at Longmeadow. Longmeadow is even closer than Wilbraham and has perhaps the best-regarded public schools in the area. It's consequently one of the more expensive towns in the area (probably the most expensive), but there should be some options in your general price range and sellers are open to negotiation these days (or rather, they should be and they are if they really have to sell). Also check out East Longmeadow. The trick in that area is to avoid the more troubled cities like Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, but there are only a few other towns with any kind of sidewalks. It gets rural pretty quickly.
You might have a bit more trouble with the newer house, though. Massachusetts doesn't really do new so much, and the new houses that are built tend to be high end. There are a lot of gorgeous 1920's-era homes in Longmeadow that are honestly much better built and have great period details. I'd take one any day over new construction.
Otherwise, look into Easthampton and Northampton up 91 a bit, Agawam itself is not terrible; part suburban and part rural, but I think the built up areas in the town are a bit nondescript. I find most of West Springfield nice, but others have disagreed. You may want to go back to the main Massachusetts forum page and toward the top right is "Search this forum." You can enter these town names and see what's been said in the past. Good luck!
Yes if you have no particular attachments to any city or town Wilbraham is nice.
I know people in Agawam with a special needs child and they are NOT impressed with the school system. Their other two children are not in school yet so don't know how they will feel about it with them.
Southwick is a nice area but kind of rural. You can also look into Suffield, CT. It is also nice. As others mentioned, Wilbraham, Belchertown and Longmeadow are all nice but will be kind of a hike. The main way into Agawam from those areas is also the main way to Six Flags. It is not very pleasant to go that way during the summer months.
My family and I were in a similar situation about a year and a half ago. We settled in Feeding Hills (a section of Agawam) and it's worked out pretty well for us. Not sure where you're moving from, but you may be a little disappointed because there aren't as many stereotypical subdivisions as you may be used to. Wilbraham and Belchertown are nice towns, but are pretty out of the way (30-45 minutes each way) if you're husband will be working in Agawam. Also, as mamom mentioned, Agawam is the home of Six Flags New England...so coming from those areas into Agawam you'll likely be faced with some awful traffic in the summer. Southwick, the town over from Agawam, may be a good place for you to start...more new construction out there and from what I hear pretty good schools. Feeding Hills is nice too, short commute and Agawam schools, which were highly recommended to us a year and a half ago. Also, Agawam has one of the nicest libraries I've ever been to. Finally, I agree with Holden, avoid Springfield and Holyoke like the plague!! Two broken down, crime ridden towns...probably the exact opposite of what you're looking for. Anyway, good luck with your move...feel free to drop a note if you have any more questions!
Agawam has one of the nicest libraries I've ever been to.
Totally agree about the library! I grew up in Agawam and I remember when it was just one floor about 1/4th the size it is now. It's funny, I was just there last week and I was making copies, and I was thinking about when there was just one copy machine and they would give you a limit on the amount of copies you could make if there were a lot of people waiting. Well, maybe it's not that funny, but the library is so much better than it was.
In fact, I drive all the way from Ludlow to go there. The Ludlow library is awful!
I live in a nicer section of Springfield but agree that you don't want to move to this city, Chicopee or Holyoke---especially with school-age children. I've lived here for a number of years, and my choices would be Wilbraham (first choice) or East Longmeadow. Both have very good school systems and are nice family-oriented towns. Wilbraham is more rural, East Longmeadow more commercialized---although both have very nice neighborhoods that are close enough to, yet comfortably removed from, shopping. I know many lovely young families from both towns, who are all delighted with where they live. All have had great experiences making friends with other families in their neighborhoods. I think you should visit both. Feeding Hills is also nice, but I'm not sure about the school system. Longmeadow is a beautiful town with great schools---more pricey and socially competitive. As for the commute through Six-Flags traffic, depending on where your husband works, there are alternate routes into Agawam to choose from. I'm on the road a lot with my job, and no commute between these towns is that big a deal---for heavens sake, we're not Boston!!! (where I also work from time to time) Good luck, and God bless---Welcome to Western Mass.!
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