What can any of you tell me about Springfield, MA and the surrounding areas?
Edit: Okay, so maybe Springfield is not our best option. We're looking into the possibility of relocating to MA if J gets her national certification in teaching. We both agreed that we want to live someplace that will put us in a better position legally (hello, we could get married!) once we have a family. Of course we would also like to live in a more progressive, LGBT-friendly state without moving as far away as California.
We can't go anywhere until J gets her national certification. And even then we don't know if districts in MA would be hiring, so a relo probably won't happen for a while down the road. But it would be nice to know the communities that are compatible with the kind of neighborhood we would like to eventually move to. Since neither of us has ever been to MA, it would be great if we could get a feel for where we should start looking.
Here's our list of things we are looking for in a place to live:
-Affordable housing in the 'burbs or quiet outskirts of a city. We need a relatively large back yard b/c of our dogs and a quiet, kid-friendly neighborhood.
-LGBT-friendly, of course.
-Shorter commute (20 miles or less). We both currently spend up to 2 hours a day driving to and from work, which ends up being around $700 in gas a month - RIDICULOUS.
-Low crime rate (remind me to tell you about the gunshots that woke us up at 6:30 this morning!)
-Cultured, artistic, hippy, liberal goodness. We used to live just outside of Ann Arbor and loved the down-to-earth feel. We'd love to see more peace signs and rainbow flags in front yards.
I may have just described an environment that does not exist, but that's okay. We'll just look for something as close to this as possible. Things that we won't compromise on are quiet neighborhoods, low crime and a shorter commute. The rest of it we can live without as long as we're close enough to drive to places that fit the bill.
So, we'd appreciate a heads-up on places you think we should investigate. Thanks to CCB and TwoMoms for suggesting Northampton - it's definitely on the radar! :)
8 comments:
Northhampton is closeby. 15 mins or so? And is a two moms mecca of sorts. Wicked gay :) springfield isn't as nice from my little experience. Reminds me of a factory city like pittsburg. But I've never spent any kind of real time there. The surrounding areas are quiet, hippy, gay filled small towns and college towns. My wife is from around there. It has the most beautiful fall season you could ever imagine.
we used to live in northampton and then amherst - which are just north of springfield, but have a very different feel.
northampton and amherst are very queer friendly, lots of 'progressive' people, crunchy, farms, hills, beautiful.
springfield is kind of a run down city. we didn't spend too much time there, but they had the BEST Indian restaurant in the area. it's also the city where we still store our remaining vials of sperm...we moved 3 hours away, but have not looked into storage here yet, will wait till we start ttc#2.
why do you ask?
I third the NoHo vote. I went to grad school there and loved it. It can be pricey though.
You should also play on the website:
findyourspot dot com
I think it's fun to see what comes up as options.
We lived in northampton which I love, love, love, love. Amherst is also charming but has the university so there are more frat boys around. As others said, noho is full of the gays, however, Amherst has better schools (more progressive). The area is also a bit expensive. Housing is high especially in Northampton relative to other towns of that size.
The one thing that keeps me from running to Noho and settling down is the lack of racial diversity. There's some for sure, but there are ton of white people. And a lot of the diversity comes from the universities which aren't permanent populations.
Oh, Noho has fabulous restaurants - great Thai, Sushi, veggie stuff. It's a beautiful place.
being canadian, i would suggest the province of ONTARIO...but don't know if CANADA is an option for you!
Sounds just like where we live - except that we don't live in MA, so that would rule it out. Good luck in finding the right spot.
I can tell you that Winthrop is sort of lovely. It's very quiet, lots of houses with yards, and you can get into town fairly quickly if you want to. There's a bus that can take you to the train, so you don't need to drive. =D
And, of course, I should point out that my J has lived here a long time- she told me she'd be happy to talk to you guys about some of the areas around here and help you figure out which places are right.
Hooray for you two in MA!
MA has lots of great places. Northampton comes to mind first, but Easthampton would be great as well. If you're not set on living in a gay mecca, but just having reasonably open minded neighbors, most anywhere in MA should work for you. I live just outside Springfield and really like it.
Post a Comment