What are the Cons of living in the Northampton area? (Springfield: home, train)

[Dm84]

Originally Posted by mdovell

The other problem is to be frank is that unless you work in academia the chances of making enough to live there just don't work. There's nothing wrong with bars and restaurants and clubs but frankly that's more dependent on tips.

Once MGM opens up we're going to see a shift and if Herbie can reopen the Paramount (and I think he will) that will cause a significant shift to where acts play. Even without that much for capital Gateway City Arts has done a great job attracting smaller acts. The Root Cellar in Greenfield has also stood out. If the smaller acts end up going to Greenfield and Holyoke and larger go to Springfield I'm not exactly sure where that would leave entertainment.

MGM? Really? Look at how well casinos worked out for Atlantic City. Casinos don't pay well and the increases in crime and homelessness they produce offset whatever revenue they throw to local government.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by Dm84

MGM? Really? Look at how well casinos worked out for Atlantic City. Casinos don't pay well and the increases in crime and homelessness they produce offset whatever revenue they throw to local government.

Don't pay well? That really depends. Look at what the study actually says

https://www.gao.gov/assets/230/229051.pdf

"We found no conclusive evidence on whether or not gambling caused
increased social problems in Atlantic City."

The pay at MGM isn't huge it averages at about $45,000. But the houses in springfield are averaging about $150K

It's hard to generalize all casinos as the same because some are slots parlors, some are resorts and the biggest is native American vs private.

Long ago I had an internship at Middleboro working under the late Anna Nalavanko. She dealt directly with the tribe on their casino. It was during this time they'd hop place to place and make deals and I was surrounded with reams of binders on the findings. It fell apart when their tribal leader had a criminal record. I tried to advocate for the area economically but all I heard about was the desire to get the casino going as if the town tells the tribe what to do. Since then the tribe collapsed.

Native American ones tend to fight unionization. Private tends to work better with them. Also this casino has shops facing the outside not inside. They also cut down the amount of slots (where the profit margin is higher) for more table games. If this was a native American casino I'd be firmly against it. MGM has worked with Massachusetts and Springfield along with surrounding communities. I'd advise reading some of the mass gaming commission regulations. The reason why this is taking so long is because it is not a free for all.

[CaseyLF]

What other areas should one consider in the Springfield metro?

[mdovell]

I think it kind of depends in terms of what you want. If you want Highway access you're going to have to live by 91. If you want to generalize and say all of Western Mass including the brick shoes that actually takes less time for example to go from Springfield to Greenfield than it does from North Adams the Greenfield even though it is a longer distance.

Amherst continues to have a spillover. If you haven't heard many of the students that graduated in the college area of Northampton and Amherst have found jobs virtually which means that they didn't really have to leave where they live. As new students came on it's now much harder to find housing.

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...ld_MA/overview

In about 3 years housing has gone up by about 53%. Rents have also increased significantly. Good luck finding an apartment for one bedroom under $1,200.

Holyoke is come along way largely thanks to Gateway city arts and much of the marijuana industry. East Hampton still has developed pretty well I really like the Eastworks building I've never seen an experience like that in my life. They literally put a park on the inside. West Springfield keeps getting more diverse as there's more of an immigrant population. I think Hadley in South Hadley can be an interesting mix because you do have access to both larger stores and also farms.

I would argue that most of Western Massachusetts is consolidating to Hampshire and Hampden County. The virtues has been declining for quite some time and now we're seeing the same things with Franklin County. Maybe five or six years ago I had some faith in Greenfield developing but it did just isn't what it was. I think Chicopee is finally started to turn things around with some new leadership then they're going to make some big steps for economic development. It's really hard for them because of military base is practically 40% of the city but the Old Guard is no longer in place so to speak.

There are some people that get obsessed with new development and I can understand that but there's a huge amount of houses in the region where they have spent significant amounts of money overhauling with the inside looks like. I've seen places that literally look like pop tents from the outside but it's a palace on the inside.

[aboucher33]

Originally Posted by CaseyLF

What other areas should one consider in the Springfield metro?

I have lived in Westfield for a few years and have no problem with it. It's a blue collar city but everyone here has been respectable and nice. My wife and I are planning on moving to the South Hadley, Northampton, Belchertown area in the next year or so however. That area and the Longmeadows and Wilbraham are very nice.

[sombrueil]

I live on a small farm in a hill town 25 minutes out of Northampton. I go there to shop groceries as it has the best food co-op and one of the best bakeries (out of many artisan bakeries in the area). Otherwise it's way too urban for me. It has traffic jams, it can be hard to park, and there are people everywhere! Walking, bicycling, shopping at boutique-y little stores, marching in protest of something. Exhausting me just thinking about it. Excuse me, I have to go pet my horse and stare at the stars.

[Exploring8]

How are the schools in Northampton? New Orleanian here looking for a more outdoorsy city to move to. Uprooting two young sons (ages 9 and 5) and my cat lady wife.

[tovarisch]

Excellent schools, but not a big city vibe. My son went through the Northampton public schools and is now a junior at RPI. Many kids go on to prestigious colleges, if that's your thing.

[Saguarogirl507]

For me, the worst part of living here is that there are NO trains into Boston. You can get to NYC, Philly, Chicago, Washington DC etc.. But no way to get into town except the Peter Pan bus lines.....I cannot ride a bus.

I miss the T and commuter rail.

[tovarisch]

I hope the east-west train thing happens. As you may know, it's been discussed for years.