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I usually find it pretty amusing when people have a fairly negative opinion of a town like Greenfield, Athol, Leominster... Some of the words used to described these places really makes me think two things: either these posters haven't actually spent significant time in an unsafe area OR they haven't actually spent significant time in the towns their criticizing. I have lived and operated in areas that are unsafe and significantly challenged. I can tell you without hesitation these sleepy towns do not compare in any way, shape or form. All working class towns have their economic and social issues. And it seems that whichever town a person lives in out here is exempt from the same judging criteria of which they hold other former mill towns. And that fact that Northampton is the benchmark for these locales is completely bizarre. Fitchburg, Athol, Greenfield, etc...take your pick...although these towns have very distinct and specific characteristics they also share countless similarities and are virtually interchangeable in terms of crime, diversity and economics. I was taught some valuable lessons from my parents. One of them is regardless where you are, what you're doing or whom you're with...it's all about what you make of it.
Last edited by Nicolapalooza; 10-28-2012 at 03:36 AM..
I've never lived in Greenfield, but I've gone to many shows for weekends out there (probably why there are druggies, since they are all hippy shows). I have hung out in the "bad" areas and it is not a place you feel unsafe. There is not much out there and it is kind of far from where most people would wind up working. With that said, the first post is crazy. I had never heard of these brutal murders and violent crimes so i checked the city data site. 6 murders since 2000 and aound 10 robbiries a year, hardly some war zone where you cannot walk down the street
I recently moved from the Boston area to Greenfield and I quite enjoy living there! I did my research before moving and this thread was a little off putting. After actually living there, it's a nice place with a great community feel. I am enjoying the lack of students and like other people have said, it's a working class town. I appreciate that. It is no Northhampton in terms of entertainment, but there are some really great restaurants and cool places to hang out, and it's quiet at night (and on Sundays). There's lots of green space to enjoy too. The people are extremely friendly. It is not a place that I would leave my car or house doors unlocked, but who in their right mind really does that anyway? Coming from Boston, I have seen it all- drug deals on street corners, escalating mentally ill people, car thefts and break ins, MURDER, you name it. I moved to Greenfield because you can't beat the real estate prices and it's the only AFFORDABLE place where there are still things to do. Plus, boston.com voted it #20 out of the top 25 places to live in MA!
I recently moved from the Boston area to Greenfield and I quite enjoy living there! I did my research before moving and this thread was a little off putting. After actually living there, it's a nice place with a great community feel. I am enjoying the lack of students and like other people have said, it's a working class town. I appreciate that. It is no Northhampton in terms of entertainment, but there are some really great restaurants and cool places to hang out, and it's quiet at night (and on Sundays). There's lots of green space to enjoy too. The people are extremely friendly. It is not a place that I would leave my car or house doors unlocked, but who in their right mind really does that anyway? Coming from Boston, I have seen it all- drug deals on street corners, escalating mentally ill people, car thefts and break ins, MURDER, you name it. I moved to Greenfield because you can't beat the real estate prices and it's the only AFFORDABLE place where there are still things to do. Plus, boston.com voted it #20 out of the top 25 places to live in MA!
That boston.com article is a grossly arbitrary due to the criteria used. I've been out this way for some time now; living in Northampton, Greenfield and Montague. I don't see the people being any less or more friendly than Boston area folk. The one thing I do miss is access to quality food establishments and health care. On the flip side the cost of living is a fraction of the cost in comparison to inside the route 495 belt. Although, most homes that are considered updated or renovated are done so with far less quality, detail and focus on how today's families use their homes. The properties that do consider those details are just as expensive as the homes of the same caliber outside Boston; just with more land. All in all, the overwhelming sense you get out here is people are less educated, persistent and focused on progress. There seems to be a contentedness with mediocrity and stagnation. BUT, for some people that's part of the motivation for escaping metropolitan areas. You either enjoy the grind or you don't. If you do, you'll miss it being out here. If you want out of it, then Pioneer Valley might be the answer.
The Boston.com ranking only considers malls, Trader Joes, and other really arbitrary factors, true. But mediocrity and stagnation? MA has some places like that, but the area surrounding Greenfield has done itself quite a bit better than many other of the forgotten pockets of the Commonwealth, with a good mix of arts, industry, and local business success. Less educated? Overall, probably, though the presence of the nearby five colleges throws off the curve compared to the few other working-class towns left in this state. The upper Valley serves partially as a bedroom community for PhDs, mixing up the education demographics of what otherwise would be a truly working-class town centered in an otherwise agrarian area. For now, Greenfield remains a quaint experiment in not yet selling out its downtown's integrity for the sake of malls and Cheesecake Factories and Starbucks and other nouveau-riche mediocrity and stagnation which that Boston Globe town finder would call "fun" and "hipster," and yes a nice place to avoid the metro grind. Agreed it does lack in the world-class food quality you'll find in the heart of metro areas yet I'd gladly take a Mesa burrito, a Brass Buckle sandwich, Hattapon's Thai, etc, over the food options (fast food, donut shops, Panera, ten nasty blah blah houses of pizza) surrounding my day job in a truly rather stagnant pocket of central MA. Indeed it is all perspective. Guess I'm content to stay mediocre, stagnant, and non-persistent with my small business, two masters degrees (less educated ya know), and lack of progress. Soon I'll join the grind - a move to the city seems in the cards - but it will be with an appreciation for the many other places in MA, though the overwhelming sense I get is that a whole bunch of city folk with their education, persistence, and focus on progress, can be rather provincial and geographically illiterate such that most won't know or care when I tell them about the pros and cons of different regions of our fair Commonwealth, maybe ask me how it was, living out there in "The Berkshires." Their loss to never know or care about the distinctions of places beyond the grind.
Greenfield is unfortunately a town that time forgot. It's run down and not very safe. The downtown area is like a ghost town with cheap and nasty shops and a crappy cinema which very few people go to. There are one or two nice restaurants but on the whole it's a place to avoid. At night the town can be very dangerous with gangs on the streets and poor police presence.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Redmundo
Greenfield is unfortunately a town that time forgot. It's run down and not very safe. The downtown area is like a ghost town with cheap and nasty shops and a crappy cinema which very few people go to. There are one or two nice restaurants but on the whole it's a place to avoid. At night the town can be very dangerous with gangs on the streets and poor police presence.
SOOOO very wrong. It has many great shops (including one of the best record stores in the State), nice brew pub and many other small shops. There are no gangs there. Ridiculous that it could be considered "unsafe". I wouldn't call it lively at night (is during the weekends), but in NO WAY a ghost town.
In fact, it is downright cool. There and Brattleboro are two places I'd love to live if I could find work (which is the real problem).
For a town of the population it has quite a bit I would argue. If you want small shops you have them. Home turf | The Recorder
Yes it is no Northampton I'll give you that but it's pretty nice all things considering. I can find plenty of small towns in Mass with the same population with not nearly the same amount of features. You have the highways but also white water rafting. You have a co-op and a stop and shop, you have Wilson's and also have a Adam and Eve, you have bars that make their own beer and soda, you have a movie theater and a performing arts area. Run down? Yeah there's some buildings but every place has run down buildings in the northeast. Ghost town? Hardly. I went into the library and it was half full on a Tuesday afternoon.
I think what might be interesting is if the electricity of the whole Northern Pass might come down due to the proximity of the old Yankee plant. Also don't forget the rail line is coming in as well.
Very dangerous? Compared to what? You want danger try East St. Louis.
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Greenfield is scary
