Moving to the Pioneer Valley?

[69MG]

Nope, never knew there was a Florida, Ma

It's up near North Adams, in the middle of nowhere.

[LS71]

Nope, never knew there was a Florida, Ma

How about Peru?

It's closer to Amherst than Florida, between Hinsdale and West Worthington.

[Quann]

It’s the Wild West out there in the berkshires. Florida is pretty, a lot of great hiking around there.

[Floyd]

Nope, never knew there was a Florida, Ma

How about Peru?

It's closer to Amherst than Florida, between Hinsdale and West Worthington.

Nope, never heard of any of them. Never been out in that area of Mass. Time to look at a map

[TheInsider]

Amherst - 27 square miles surrounded by reality (except for Hamp). So I guess it depends if you want to live with other people living in reality or not .

[Juice Stand]

Westfield is actually a sneaky good spot. There's a MassPike exit there, and you're close to Springfield and I-91 as well. It's a huge town land-wise, so there's room to spread out, and as soon as you head just west of Westfield (Granville, Blandford, Huntington), you're out in the woods and the hills. Routes 20 and 57 are great open-road driving out to the Berkshires. They also have a town-owned utility company, so in terms of cost of living, your electricity and natural gas prices are lower than with the bigger utility companies.

[LS71]

^100%!

Don’t forget Whip City Fiber-also town owned internet provider. High speed fiber optic network.

There even a Hangar here!

[Juice Stand]

I didn't know about that, double bonus!

[InnervisionsUMASS]

I didn't know about that, double bonus!

The utilities part of it is good, no doubt (Lappas!)... the cable/internet usually isn't. You'll save a few bucks, sure, but the service is generally atrocious in these situations. Shrewsbury has a town owned utility/telecom (SELCO) and the telecom part is awful.

[Juice Stand]

^ That's probably town-specific. I live in a town with their own fiber network and it's fantastic. Internet is much cheaper and faster than Comcast, but Comcast is still there for people that decide not to opt in to the town network.

I don't get the Lappas reference. Did he have some connection with a utility company?

[LS71]

^ ^^ Sorry to hear about Shrewsbury but I can tell you Westfield's is excellent. Firer optic network, up to 1000 MBPS/1 Gig up load and download and free Wifi.

We stream multiple TVs and use phones and laptops simultaneously with no buffering or hiccups of any kind only $69.95/month and no contract. Our experience has been great. Comcast is available here too if people want a alternative.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

^ That's probably town-specific. I live in a town with their own fiber network and it's fantastic. Internet is much cheaper and faster than Comcast, but Comcast is still there for people that decide not to opt in to the town network.

I don't get the Lappas reference. Did he have some connection with a utility company?

LOL - Lappas was famous for saying "no doubt"



Good to know Westfield's telecom situation is actually good. I'm so scarred by how terrible Shrewsbury's is

[McKinney]

Westfield is cute town. Definitely underrated.

Plus Southwick is right there. So if those people are more "grounded in your reality".... Personally, you couldn't pay me to live there again and I've lived in rural Alabama.

https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/04/13/ce ... -southwick

[LS71]

^ I like Westfield because it's a quiet town. My daughter teaches and lives here so I'm close to my grandchildren and am able to be actively involved in there lives.

I don't really know much about the city's politics.

The commitment to youth sports is impressive. Amelia Park is a nice hockey facility for a city this size. They have a strong youth hockey organization and won the WMass hockey tournament. I think they were state semifinalists.

They're building a strong football program as well. Seems like they're aiming to be a D3 Central. Great continuity from youth sports to high school.

They have a strong Little League baseball organization too.

They also have the Starfires a wood bat summer baseball team.

Southwick definitely has issues to address.

https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/sou ... legations/

[SignMan]

How about Peru MA?
Pop under 1000
No limit on the # of lima beans you're allowed to eat there.