Reviews & Comments
Springfield, MA
New resident, and I love it -
3/14/2017This city has a bad rep that is unwarranted. I just bought a terrific little house in a quiet and friendly neighborhood. Everywhere I go in this town, people are friendlier than in the snotty Berkshires, where I lived for 25 years. It's also not the lily-white of that elitist enclave. I feel just as safe here as I did there. The city has a lot of pot holes, and it doesn't plow snow often, but I can live with those flaws. We also have one of the best hospitals in the state. My utilities are 25% of what they were in the Berkshires, so I don't know why the cost of living is so high. RE taxes are much lower. Car insurance is higher, but it is in any city.
Convenient to major airports, NYC, Boston, Northampton, shopping, restaurants, museums. Buy here now while it is still affordable.
Great Barrington CDP, MA
The Berkshires -
7/28/2015In the 25 years I've lived here, the area has been invaded by second homeowners. On the upside, the Berkshires now caters year-round to more sophisticated tastes--culture, food, etc., but with prices to match. On the downside, it's crowded, way overbuilt, and the RE prices are so inflated that it's increasingly impossible for the locals to buy, or even rent, a place to live. In other words, it's the second-home people's world now, and we live in it as mere service providers.
Summers are usually beautiful (this year summer has passed us by altogether), fall is lovely, winter is bitter cold and *endless,* and spring is short and muddy. However, the transplants leave us alone in spring (so it's not all bad news).
Major foodie (good) and woo-woo (oh, please) types here. Spotty cell signals, because the rich folk don't want their expensive views spoiled.
I'm selling and leaving, but it was nice while it lasted.