crystal.pina

This is where I live right now! I just moved here in June from Central MA
and so far I like it a lot. I am only about 20 min from Amherst!
And--housing is unbelievably cheap here compared to the rest of the state.
Crystal
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I lived in Boston as a child and teenager and years later went to college in
Western Mass. in "the happy valley" as it is sometimes called. Western
Mass. was a great place to live. My stepfather is living there now and
moved there from Cambridge to get away from the things you seem to want to
leave. There are a lot of small and larger, village-y like towns and five
major colleges (Amherst, Smith, Hampshire, UMass and My. Holyoke). I lived
in both Northampton and in Amherst and there is a large college pop. but the
locals have a firm standing. Unless it's changed a lot, you don't feel
overrun by the college pop. I gave my step-father a book named _Home
Town_ by Tracy Kidder, that is about Northampton. Reading it convinced my
step-father's wife (my mother is no longer alive) to check out the area. I
have read it and don't know exactly what did this, but it is a good book.
There are a lot of possibilities in that area and it is beautiful;
mountains, valleys, great swimming watering holes in hidden bits of the
forests, a huge variety of culture and of people... I would love to move
back there. I don't know about the local hschooling laws there though.

Madeline