Living in Western Massachusetts | Pros and Cons

Western Mass! In today's video, Matt goes over all the pros and cons of moving, living and renting in Western Massachusetts! Want to move to Massachusetts? Living in Massachusetts has all sorts of advantages; the coast, city life of living in Boston. But theres a lot more to Living in Massachusetts that just metro-Boston and the shores. Western Massachusetts is a fantastic area to think about when considering a move or relocation to Massachusetts. From the scenic hills, to lush foliage and winding rivers, theres a lot in store when it comes to Western Mass. Many people consider Western Mass one of the best places to live when it comes to Massachusetts. Matt goes into all the nitty gritty of moving to Western Mass.

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[sgil]

I live in NYC and and recently semi-retired. Loved vising the Berkshires over the years and decided to buy a second home to live part-time in retirement there. Absolutely love it all year round!

[ujtb]

Seriously though western MA is really nice.

[jentoll]

About to make the move to Western Mass from NorCal! Fell in love with the area on a road trip but are undecided as of yet on exactly where. We plan to bounce around some short term rentals for a few months to check out the different towns and villages.

[elevatorproductionsbymaxpassa]

Northampton, Easthampton, & Greenfield are very nice cities in Western Massachusetts. The Hampshire/Franklin District!!!

[MassMexi]

I just stumbled on your videos. Very interesting and thank you. My spouse and I just sold our South Florida home to relocate to Northampton. We are originally from DC but spent 12 years in Fort Lauderdale. We are ready to leave full-time Florida living and the insane insurance costs, traffic and crime.

[saxahainerz]

We moved out of Mass to SC because of the cost and cold, but it's really not worth it. We are looking to move back so hopefully Western Mass would be more affordable for us.

[shaun]

A quick comment about western Mass winter weather. The higher elevations can get "hammered", as you say, but the CT river valley allows warm air to flow in from the south so that zone often get less snow than Boston and much less than Worcester. Plus some of those coastal storms don't reach this far inland. I live in the Northampton area. Thanks for this video

[pippa]

Lived there 6 years from NYC. Hated the winters. People not particularly interested in deep friendships if you’re an outsider. But summer and fall are pretty

[SnowPrincessSally]

One of the biggest cons, maybe also a pro depending on your perspective, is after moving to Pennsylvania when I tell people I'm from Massachusetts they think I mean Boston, then I clarify "western Massachusetts", they get confused and disappointed. I've also heard "but you don't have the accent" a few times as well. The irony is, I now live in a part of Pennsylvania that I never thought much about. To me, Pennsylvania was Pittsburgh, Philly, State College/Penn State, some rust belt towns, and a bunch of Amish farmland.

[crowelladeVil]

It's really good to see that Tom Arnold is doing well.

[Hillsidelanscapemanagement]

Your view of western Massachusetts around the one minute mark was hilariously accurate. It makes me think of the old poster, a Bostonian's view of America

[mimichapman]

I live in Franklin County and wouldn't live any where else than Western Mass. The prices have gotten pretty crazy and it is tricky finding work. If you are handy with carpentry and can build to code there seems to be endless work because the housing stock is old and hasn't been kept up due to the many recessions that have impacted the area. On the other hand almost every one has some college and the natural beauty and arts scenes are great.

[irmatavares]

I love this video I’m in Florida now but I want to live in the Berkshires it’s sooo beautiful there I lived there fir 6 months with my daughter I would have never left ! But she moved I had to relocate but my dream is too but a house in the countryside 🙌 great video

[jodyberube]

Im from Springfield, and ill tell you 1st hand, if you aren't from Mass, the people are NOT overtly friendly!! BUT, the saying goes "if you make a friend in Mass you'll have a friend for life." Another "con" of Western Mass is the opoid crisis, not to mention the gang and homeless problems it has.

[blackice]

Pittsfield, where I live in the Berkshires would be a nice place to have a vacation home, or maybe retire. In fact there are a lot of “snow birds” around here. People who have 2nd homes they live in for the summer months, then fly back down south to Florida or similar for the winter.

For younger college graduates like myself however, its terrible. As you alluded to, the job market is horrible. Most people I know out here work retail, in hospitality or tourism jobs. Cost of living is among the lowest you will find in the state out here, but you get what you pay for as they say.

[MattRawrXd]

Winters aren't necessarily terrible. I'm located very close to I-90 in the western part of the state and the past several winters have been more cold than snowy. Most of our snow falls between January and March, and 9 times out of 10, it melts before the next snowfall

[danhoyland]

I can tell you one big con. Terrible area for work even with a degee. It’s the first area to crash and last to recover. Took me 7 years out of school to find a career. All my friends back home near Boston already moved up the latter and were making six figures, invested heavily, had fun traveling living care free and most importantly had impressive resumes and many opportunities to grow their wealth. Out here you have to claw and climb your way to a level were you can live like that but once you do the low cost of living makes life extremely stress free.

[RosyAnaelle]

I am gonna have to contact you because my husband and I are planning to purchase a home in 2023 and we are interesting in western part of MA.

[davidgould]

You left out the Bridge of Flowers .The only Trolley car bridge in the world that is a flower garden

[snowstormonsat]

I live in the quaint town of Westhampton MA, just west of Northampton and yes there are pros and cons. I feel fortunate to live in my town, it's one of the nicest but forget about moving to this town, nothing for sale. Property values skyrocketed like mad this past year. My town has excellent award winning school, farms and forests, but 10 min to nearest town for gas, grocery shopping, pharmacy, etc. Half hour drive to major shopping areas like Costco, Khols, Marshalls, Home Depot. LOTS of old folks out here (and they drive SLOW), not many young families can afford to buy. We have wildlife here, lots of forests and hills. Called hilltowns. 1.5 hr drive to hammonassett beach in CT, 1 hr drive to Butternut ski in Great Barington, 2+ hr drive to ski VT and 2 hr drive to Boston. People somewhat friendly here but closed off, busy and it's very hard to make friends. The major negative here is lack of work. You had better be a college professor, Dr or nurse, cause that's about it for jobs. Everyone VERY educated, myself included and even with my masters in education I couldn't find a teaching job. Way way too competitive. Lots of dumpy towns/cities out here like springfield, holyoke and pittsfield. Not pretty or nice there. Ghetto and high crime/drug. Berkshires are nicest of all but owned as second homes by elderly rich New Yorkers. Those homes go for millions. Very rural and scenic out there, has Tanglewood, skiiing, B&Bs, hiking, and Jacobs Pillow Dance summer festival. Northampton, more centrally located is a gay town and has lots of shops but many restaurants closed during covid. The town is going downhill due to homeless/drug population. Home to ivy league Smith college which makes it a very expensive town to live in even though it's becoming dumpy. Wish they would clean up the drug/homeless scene. Another big neg is it can get BORING out here. The loss of restaurants was harsh, that's all we really had for going out. Now we have to travel. The most up and coming town is Easthampton. Use to be blue collar town but boy are they fixing it nice. Brand new school, new parks, some new good restaurants (where we go now to eat out now), bars, cafes, and currently redoing the roads (so traffic bad right now). Taxes went way up in the town to pay for all these changes and some angry about it. Property taxes high in western MA but CT is double what we pay. Don't ever move to CT, taxes are worst in the country.