How's it like living in Greenfield,ma ? (Boston, Leominster: violent crime, co-op)
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I work in Greenfield, specifically at a social services organization. I grew up in Western MA (Hatfield/Noho) in the 80's/90's and my parents always taught me never to go to Greenfield. In my college years at UMASS Amherst in the 00's, I was also told of my scary land of Greenfield. Still today I do not enjoy the atmosphere of the town. It does have some great qualities (co-op, maybe local/independent organizations, etc.), but the drugs, mental illness and whatnot in this town are out of hand! Especially in the schools, high school, specifically. Maybe I'm more negative since I see it more often in my line of work, but even in college I saw a lot of people getting drugs and whatnot from Greenfield. Then again, I was, well, just about the only person ever to attend UMASS that didn't drink OR smoke, even though I was of-age to do both!
I am beginning to think that people who think it is rough in Greenfield have not ventured outside of Franklin or Hampshire counties. Yes it does have it's issues with crime and socio-economic problems. But for the most part it is a sleepy little town nestled along the Connecticut river where life tends to be a little slower. I also think a lot of the issues here have to with that ugly word "diversity". A lot of the people in the area are very much acustomed to having everything lilly white,and whens things start to change they just don't know how to deal with it.
I lived in Amherst in the '90's. I never went to Greenfield during that time. I heard that the town was old and faded, but never heard anyone describe it as an especially dangerous place. I certainly never heard anything about mobs of lunatics roaming the streets of Greenfield.
Interesting that the quoted post mentions Northampton in the same sentence as Greenfield, saying the psychos were dumped out onto the streets in both towns. I did spend time in N'h' while in that area. It's a nice clean upscale town, and I don't think I ever saw even one lunatic wandering the streets of N'h'. Not a single one. Might give you some idea of the accuracy of the quoted post. I'd suggest taking that post with a wheelbarrow load of salt.
Northampton has a surprising number of homeless people around, probably more so than Greenfield. Greenfield feels slightly gritty, and does seem a bit downscale and poorer compared to Northampton. But there are still some nice shops and has a bit of the Northampton-like vibe without some of the yuppieness. I never found it uncomfortable and the downtown feels in much better shape than a lot of upstate NY towns.
People knock Greenfield, but it seems like their spite is a bit myopic, and based on comparing it to Northampton and Amherst.
Not too far away to the east are Orange, Athol, Gardner, and Fitchburg/Leominster. Just take a little drive (you won't want to get out of the car most likely) through those godforsaken dumps full of people who seem to have given up on life, and you'll come back to Greenfield thankful to have such a healthy, thrivingdowntown full of nice local businesses and very few vacant storefronts. You can see a movie there, get a nice meal, buy books or gifts records or office supplies, or drink a local beer. Can you do much of that in the aforementioned downtowns without venturing to the hellish malls of Leominster? Good luck!
I've always equated Greenfield to be a combination of Pioneer Valley quaintness and local business amenities, with a dose of the post-industrial socioeconomic doldrums to keep it real. The Greenfield crackheads, at least, are too lazy to mug or stab you - they're going to take it out on each other. Those who knock Greenfield need to take a little ride to an actual hellhole for some perspective on just how good they have it!
People knock Greenfield, but it seems like their spite is a bit myopic, and based on comparing it to Northampton and Amherst.
Not too far away to the east are Orange, Athol, Gardner, and Fitchburg/Leominster. Just take a little drive (you won't want to get out of the car most likely) through those godforsaken dumps full of people who seem to have given up on life, and you'll come back to Greenfield thankful to have such a healthy, thrivingdowntown full of nice local businesses and very few vacant storefronts. You can see a movie there, get a nice meal, buy books or gifts records or office supplies, or drink a local beer. Can you do much of that in the aforementioned downtowns without venturing to the hellish malls of Leominster? Good luck!
I've always equated Greenfield to be a combination of Pioneer Valley quaintness and local business amenities, with a dose of the post-industrial socioeconomic doldrums to keep it real. The Greenfield crackheads, at least, are too lazy to mug or stab you - they're going to take it out on each other. Those who knock Greenfield need to take a little ride to an actual hellhole for some perspective on just how good they have it!
So you prop up Greenfield by putting down other towns you don't seem to know very much about?
Let's see - grew up in Fitchburg and Gardner, currently live in Orange and work in Leominster - have worked in social services with youth from Athol and Orange. Have lived in Fitchburg, Gardner, Orange, and Greenfield.
I think I know a little about the region
Greenfield was an excellent reprieve from the rest of those places. Lots of awful social problems there too, but at least it has a nice downtown.
Leominster is nice if you like NJ-style chain store developments, pavement, the plastics industry, and generally boring and benign mediocrity, so I guess you could say it's getting better. It has an easy commute to Boston (if long) and Worcester.
Let's see - grew up in Fitchburg and Gardner, currently live in Orange and work in Leominster - have worked in social services with youth from Athol and Orange. Have lived in Fitchburg, Gardner, Orange, and Greenfield.
I think I know a little about the region
Greenfield was an excellent reprieve from the rest of those places. Lots of awful social problems there too, but at least it has a nice downtown.
Leominster is nice if you like NJ-style chain store developments, pavement, the plastics industry, and generally boring and benign mediocrity, so I guess you could say it's getting better. It has an easy commute to Boston (if long) and Worcester.
Well since you apparently judge a place strictly on it's downtown, I will not dispute you on that point (not that DT Leominster is bad, just that I've never been to DT Greenfield to form an opinion). To be using words like "godforsaken" and to suggest people not get out of their car, sounds a little loopy to me. I was just at the Market Basket in Leominster last week, boy was I in fear of my life! Enough with the drama.
There is nothing wrong with stores, we all need to eat and make occasional purchases. They bring tax revenue in and provide needed entry level jobs. We are lucky any of them exist being that close to NH, would you rather them move over the border? As long as they are not in my front yard I could care less, it's not like all of Leominster is a strip mall. And the plastics industry is largely gone, unfortunate for the local economy. At least it has access to other job markets, unlike Greenfield.
Leominster is not a bad town. Not the best town either, but there are as many worse places as there are better. Even Fitchburg has nothing on the ghettos of Western Mass. like in Springfield, Holyoke, etc. Those are truly cesspools.
Greenfield is a nice place to stop if you need gas on your way between Northampton and Brattleboro,
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Enough with the drama. 
