Western Massachusetts

never made it to that 8 am calculus class because it was always TOO DAMN SNOWY OUTSIDE.

Yep, my once in a lifetime grade F - earned in WESTERN MASS. hoo-rah!

lots of trees there

my sister and her husband moved to bennington last fall, they live next to the war monument so pop in and see them the next time you're in the neighborhood.

and yes, kate, bennington is beautiful ... they have this memorial there for the Green Mountain Boys, it's this 300-ft. white spike (like the Washington Memorial) on top of a hill with a knock-out view of the surroundings. and lest we forget, mr. american psycho went to Bennington College (i.e., trustafarian-central)!

my sister lives next door to it. the best part is the kleig lights that they have started to illuminate it at night. they didn't use them last year when she bought the place but now the second floor of her house is in permanent daylight.

I'm wondering where that record store is that hstencil loves

me too?

Or it could be some place else, but that place is worth a visit!

so i'm gonna be moving up there in about a month, probably to the northampton/five colleges area. my girlfriend is continuing at smith college's social work grad program and we'll be leaving dc after 6 years of being here (8 for her).

so as i'm looking for jobs (mainly library jobs at the colleges up there), i'm trying to get a sense of the geography. anyone have any experience living up there? would it be outrageous to try to work in williamstown/north adams but live in northampton? is that a ridiculous commute? it's only about 45 miles but the google says it takes about 80 minutes.

any other western mass living experiences to be shared? i'd like to hear em.

that would be a shotgun to the mouth inducing commute from halloween until spring training.

That's a very long commute for most of the year -- 80 minutes sounds about right -- and I can't imagine it being anything but excruciating once the roads get slippery. If you can't find library work around Northampton -- and with so many librarians being minted I hear its hard -- is splitting time with an apartment where you're working.

it's that bad, huh? i wasn't sure. 45 miles doesn't seem bad, and hell, my commute in dc is only 4 miles but it takes literally an hour (though i'm not driving - it's a walk + bus). but what seems to be 45 non-freeway miles (hence the 80 minutes) is pretty brutal, i guess. day-in day-out that would surely grind.

i wish i lived in northhampton. i love northhampton. i love western mass. whenever we go crazy on this island we think about moving there. maria's sister lives in northhampton. and her dad has a new age retreat there on top of a mountain:

http://www.ninemtn.com/quintile/img/9mtn.jpg

and my best friend maggie just opened a new restaurant in greenfield:

http://www.hopeandolive.com/images/home_bubble1.jpg

awesome! yea i'm pretty excited about it. northampton's awesome. all the apartments we're looking at (we're heading up there this weekend to hopefully find one) are the top floors of huge, old victorian mansions.

good record stores, too, good restaurants. lots of culture w/ all the colleges/universities. i'm really looking forward to small city/town life. the pace there seems a lot slower, surely moreso than dc which i'm kind of burned out on.

the new age retreat looks awesome!

all the apartments we're looking at (we're heading up there this weekend to hopefully find one) are the top floors of huge, old victorian mansions.

my sister lived in one of these and i would have been jealous if the pioneer valley wasn't a short drive from the middle of nowhere.

I have friends in Williamstown, they say everything closes at 5 and the only restaurant is crappy Thai. I'll tell them about the record store, though.

I can probably speak to you about this with some certainty since I live here. In the 'hamps.
You are going to love the Happy Valley. Librarian jobs don't seem too hard to come by - at least two are advertised every week in the Gazette. I mean, there are a gazillion libraries here!

(The UMASS library is open 24 hours, for instance of librarians being needed.)

My s.o. drives to W. Hartford, CT. to work - much easier than going West from this area. Unless you decide to live in Greenfield, which is what a lot of cool people are doing because homes (to buy) are affordable.
Is your g.f. doing a lot of academics at Smith? I know the social work grad program is based on a lot of externship type learning.
If you're already looking at apartments in Noho and liking what you see, go for it. There are less expensive places/towns to live in, but that probably sounds ridiculous if you're coming from D.C. (many people here still cringe at the thought of paying over $800.00/month for a one bedroom.)

You can email me through the ilx mail thing - I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. And we might even have a mini-fap when you get here, if you're so inclined!

thanks a lot! a mini-fap sounds great, btw.

yea, the social work program is largely based on internships (classes during the summers, internships rest of the year), and we'll find out next week where her placement will be. smith is pretty good about giving first choices for locations, so most likely she'll be placed in noho. there's a slight possibility she'd be placed in north adams/williamstown, and if that's the case and there's a job there for me, i imagine we'll both move there after her summer sessions at smith are done.

there certainly has been a lot of library jobs posted so far, though most of them actual librarian positions requiring an MLS, which i do not yet have. i wouldn't be able to start a position until june anyways, so i'm optimistic that i'll find something closer to noho in the next couple of months.

my dad lives in gloucester. visited him there last week, which was my first time in states.

About two years ago someone stole my purse, digital camera and shoes from a rough bar in Gloucester.

.......shoes?

gloucester has had a wildly out of proportion heroin/morphine addiciton rate for over 150 years.

Yeah, shoes. We'd been drinking all day and I was completely blasted - not one of my finer moments. I was wearing flats and had kicked them off at some point. They were next to my purse which was (stupidly) on the floor and someone stole both. My own fault really but I'll never understand why they took the flats. They weren't anything special. Someone we were with ended up passing out on rock in the middle of a park and it took us hours to find her. It was a bad night.

I know it's not W Mass and now I've ruined the thread but Glouster made me think of Essex which made me think of Woodmans. I can't wait.

my favorite spot in cape ann, plum island:

http://www.channeledgecharters.com/newsite/pics/image020.jpg

dang, homesick!

it's educational

Fortunately, M.Clemente, you and your g.f. can go to Gloucester and engage in hijinks...and then return to the peaceful environs of W.Mass.

it is kind of the liberal hand-wringing capitol of the world, so you sometimes need to bust out and cause trouble.

haha

re: cost of living -- you're right, anything cheaper than dc sounds pretty great to me. most of the places we're looking at are $800 for a one-bedroom or $1000 for a 2 bedroom. right now that sounds amazing!! esp. compared to what i'm paying in dc, basically $1600 for a tiny one-bedroom.

that's still more expensive than chicago, lolz.

what, dc or northampton?

I spent my whole life on the west coast up til I was 27 or so and the first time I drove through western mass that shit freaked me right out. something about the physical lay of the land seriously put the fear on me, super-claustrophobic feel.

I can dig it now though.

what, dc or northampton?

-- Mark Clemente, Wednesday, April 9, 2008 1:50 PM (Wednesday, April 9, 2008 1:50 PM) Bookmark Link

both.

No wonder Oprah's so god damn rich!

I spent my whole life on the west coast up til I was 27 or so and the first time I drove through western mass that shit freaked me right out. something about the physical lay of the land seriously put the fear on me, super-claustrophobic feel.

haha what are you talking about?

i think the other reason i liked the idea of moving to greenfield or somewhere like that was that it puts us really close to every member of our east coast family. like i said, maria's sister and father live there, my parents aren't far away in new york state (outside saratoga), my brother is close (hudson new york), maria's OTHER sister and husband have a house in woodstock new york which is also pretty close, and her step-mother lives in newton, mass. just a hop and a skip to any one of them. having said that, we probably aren't going anywhere. but you never know. we have talked about renting our house out here and going somewhere else.

scott what island are you on? what brought you to the island?

Aww, Cape Ann talk makes me excited for some decent fucking weather to show up here. My idiosyncratic childhood family trips always involved Rockport or the Berksheres or going to York, Maine in February.

xposts etc.

It sounds like you are looking at places in or near downtown Noho, which is really ideal if you've never lived here before. It's a beautiful, walkable, small city/town, and everyone strolls around, especially in good weather.

I forget how great it is until someone comes to visit - I sort of take it for granted. Anyway, you and/or your g.f. may have plenty of info about the area, and also - the great thing is it's hard to go astray from good, independent bookstores/coffee shops/record stores/movie theatres.
Plus, the farmer's market is starting up again this weekend, I think.

It's AMAZING in the summer! You are going to be very happy. I can tell you where to go swimming - which will probably be vital information by the middle of July.

scott what island are you on? what brought you to the island?

-- Mark Clemente, Wednesday, April 9, 2008 2:48 PM (Wednesday, April 9, 2008 2:48 PM) Bookmark Link

oceanic flight 815.

xpost - yea i'm really excited for all the reasons you just mentioned. my gf lived there last summer (for her first summer session @ smith) and i visited several times. i really loved it. btw, you're right, we are looking primarily in downtown noho, we'd like to be in walking distance from all the activity there.

I love it there. I guess I may never go back now :(

I can't stop cracking up at the L O S T reference.

We'd been drinking all day and I was completely blasted - not one of my finer moments. I was wearing flats and had kicked them off at some point. They were next to my purse which was (stupidly) on the floor and someone stole both. My own fault really but I'll never understand why they took the flats. They weren't anything special. Someone we were with ended up passing out on rock in the middle of a park and it took us hours to find her. It was a bad night.

I was with you until the last sentence.

Still looking forward to a mini-FAP whenever you get here and feel settled.
good luck with the move!

thanks! oh i'll be sure to revive this thread so we can figure out a FAP once i'm settled.

I live in Northampton, on the other side of the block from downtown. I've lived in W Mass about 2 years now. It's alright, depending on what you're looking for. As far as small town atmospheres go, it's probably one of the better ones, I'm just getting a little tired of always having to drive to Providence or Boston for good shows. I'm actually moving away at the end of the summer, but I'm working at part-timer at the Salvation Army on Rt 9 in Hadley until I leave. We usually have plenty of furniture if you're looking for stuff for your new apt!

Also, on Thursday I walked by Thurston Moore just down the street from my house.

My wife went to Smith. She loved it. I've only visited Western Mass once, and I was really, really beautiful.

OK al.b - I go to that Salvation Army every Wed. for "family day" (1/2 price day). I scored an amazing leather coat for a mere $10.00 just last Wed.!
Should I say hi to you or something? I don't think I can shop in the same way, knowing there's another ilxor in the building. But..it's not really a FAP type place. FAB - Fancy A Bargain?

Also - I know someone looking for a place in Noho at the end of the summer.
You can email me through ilx name. or I'll just walk around the S.A. muttering "hen fap" to every employee until you reveal yourself.

ok guys - Young @ Heart at the Academy of Music - homecoming from their world tour - Tues 6/24. be there or be really sad you didn't go.

They're also singing at the opening of Sat.'s Red Sox game!

I might go. I'm shocked tickets are available.

Erm

To Purchase Tickets: SOLD OUT

I see a lot of people hankering after Northampton digs on this board, and if it's too expensive, consider Easthampton, just a few miles to the south. Nice atmosphere, with some of Noho's downtown walkability. Just another ex-factory-town made good, but a LOT CHEAPER than Noho. Just a tip from a part-time local.

My uncle is selling a townhouse there for all you would-be transplants.

One of my friends from college has settled on a pretty wonderful life in Greenfield. She works part-time in food service, sells art and jewelry, contradances every weekend, plays in a band, and generally hangs out with a lot of hippie artist musician types. She says she feels more alive than she has in years. It sounds so idyllic.

we're seriously going to move to Greenfield in a few months, after the school year is finished. Looked at a condo last weekend. It's funny to see scott mentioning wanting to do that nearly a year ago.

Alright so where is good to live, where is NOT good to live. I've been warned against Pittsfield and hear conflicting opinions on Holyoke and Easthampton. But I'm hoping to find a house rather than an apartment and don't mind being say 30 mins from Northampton. How is Belchertown?

Ok so now I hear Holyoke and Easthampton are fine but Belchertown is maybe kinda suburban? Where can I run into J Mascis?

easthampton is cool. my pal bob lives there. but he was in sebadoh not dinosaur. i've only seen j once since i moved here. but i see his brother mike every so often. he's nice. in a cool garage rock band.

i wouldn't want to live in pittsfield or holyoke. belchertown is huge. the biggest town in mass! i never go there though.

you should move to hadley. or south hadley. or south deerfield. lots of cool spots near northampton. hatfield is nice.

conway is cool if you like trees.

What's bad about pittsfield or holyoke, scott? These places are still pretty abstract to me.

I love trees

Also I want a house and Northampton doesn't seem to have houses for rent, at least none I can afford

It's sad because there used to be tons of cheapish rentals in Northampton. Granted, this was like 1998-2004 or so, but everything soon got bought up and/or condofied.

Holyoke has some similarities visually with Manchester or certain parts of east Lancashire. It's pretty tired looking and is 'probably' to be avoided

Pittsfield is different, as far as I am aware it's decline is more recent(comparatively), starting with GE's departure in the...late 60s? - there are still nice houses around as far as I can see, possibly an ageing population - hasn't really seemed all that sketchy to me, and the downtown still has 'stuff'

Neither of these places are going to be like Northampton or Amherst but the budget will reflect that. Northampton might remind you a bit of Berkeley .

Any other possibilities on your list?

Great Barrington?

i guess it depends on what you need or what you want. i mean i live 25 minutes from northampton and there are houses for rent here (like this one: http://westernmass.craigslist.org/apa/3875974344.html) but people require different things.

i don't know about rents in easthampton. i like easthampton though.

i don't care about j mascis though. i kinda keep hoping that keith richards comes in my store. keith's guitar guy pierre has a studio right down the street.

northampton proper you pay like 1000 to 2000 for a rental. i think it would be fun to live right in the middle of town there. if i were younger. and didn't have kids. maybe i'll retire there.

northampton proper you pay like 1000 to 2000 for a rental. i think it would be fun to live right in the middle of town there. if i were younger. and didn't have kids. maybe i'll retire there.

Last weekend, I toured an amazing two-bedroom sublet on Elm and Henshaw. They were asking $1,100!

I’m in Amherst—Main and N. Whitney. It’s quiet and pretty (and I’m neighbors with Emily Dickinson), but I might move to Northampton soon (I’m single and childless).

Ok so now I hear Holyoke and Easthampton are fine but Belchertown is maybe kinda suburban?

I agree with Scott. You should look into Hadley or South Hadley. They’re pretty, between Amherst and Northampton, and nice rentals are common.

Where can I run into J Mascis?

Amherst and Northampton

P.S. We should schedule a FAP.

Yes, I'd be happy to meet up after I settle in!

Thanks Western Mass thread. As for possibilities-I need to be in or close to Amherst or Northampton (within 20-30 minutes), so anywhere too far out from those I probably won't be looking at. We're subletting in Northampton for July while we look for a place but we've been looking on Craigslist, etc. for a while now. Looks like Amherst/Northampton proper, rents get close to where I am right now (Northeast Los Angeles) which is surprising, or maybe not?

We don't have kids but my wife works from home so we are looking for 2 or 3 bedrooms, and it would be great to be on or close to a bus route if possible. I'm kind of a typical Gemini in that I like to be close to places to eat or drink but also have periods where I enjoy holing up at home working on projects and reading, etc. I've really only lived in big cities so this will be a somewhat unfamiliar experience to me, but it seems like if there is the possibility of getting a "house in the woods", I'd be tempted to do it as I've never been in a position to have such a living situation. Also having a little outdoor space or proximity to woods/hikes/biking would be nice, so long as we don't feel totally isolated.I'm probably just getting old. It looks like my job will be contributing towards rent so I can anticipate spending more than I might otherwise be able to.

I'm actually really tempted by the house Scott posted but it might be a wee bit too far? I heard Turner's Falls was nice.

"it’s quiet and pretty (and I’m neighbors with Emily Dickinson)"

Last fall we tried to get a table at a restaurant that was right by there but it was a Saturday and totally booked and ended up having to go elsewhere. I can't remember what it was called but it was pretty cute.

Also check the listings on http://www.gazettenet.com; some listings there aren't duplicated on CL.

Thanks!

Just so you guys know, I will be bugging all of you on this thread from here on out with my ridiculous questions.

there are woods kinda everywhere around here, so shouldn't be hard to find a woody spot. even in northampton.

i love turners falls. and montague is cool too. hadley really is best of both worlds. close to both big towns. easy to get to hamp from hadley. buses and all that.

for the price of 4 or 5 year's rent in northampton you could just buy a house in turners falls. that's how much of a difference northampton (and amherst) is to everything else around here.

Good to know! I had never been to Massachusetts until this spring, and even then I have only spent 48 hours there, mostly indoors, hence my extremely limited understanding of the lay of the land. My wife has never been - it's sort of crazy that we are moving like this, but exciting.

its the best place i've ever lived. i'm here for good. i can't really think of too many downsides to living here. smart people, lots of creative people and cool things going on. its beautiful. not that far from boston or new york. eventually greenfield - where i am - is gonna have a direct train to NYC which i'm excited about. its not too expensive. great food. great local farms for farm freshness. nice easy drive to vermont and new hampshire.

goddammit scott, stop torturing me

there is a northampton ilxor. collardio. maybe he'll show up with some helpful hints.

its the best place i've ever lived.

Ditto. Glad it's at least still a short drive away.

that's great! I have quite a few friends in Los Angeles who lived around there and they all miss it. A good sign!

they all tell me to go to this one pizza place, i'm sure you know it

Hey guys

I've been in Hatfield for a few years now, after having lived in Northampton (Florence) before that, and it's really pretty cool. Unlike a lot of the valley towns when 91 came through it had the effect of sort of sealing the place off between the highway and the river, w/o much commercial effect. Hatfield-proper is pretty much the post office, library, and town hall, plus a convenience store and a substandard seafood restaurant. The barbershop is in some old guy's house on Main Street. His name is Desmond.

I go into Northampton almost every day either to shuttle my kids to school or to run errands/shop, and it's a breeze.

Anyway I endorse a Valley FAP, maybe as a Greenfielder Scott's presence will justify a trip to People's Pint? (They discourage out-of-towners arriving by car...)

xpost Pizza is rough. We had Luna Pizza on Pleasant St. in Northampton until a few years ago, now the only place I look forward to is Bread Euphoria in Williamsburg.

There's one pizza place in Northampton that people have been raving to me about for years. You can get all sorts of funky pizzas there but I can't remember the name. Dammit.

Antonito's? Antonio's?

Andronico's?

I spoke to my friend Amy and she said a lot of things to me. Here are the notes from my phone, I have no recollection of what any of these places are!: Luna/Suzanne & Co/Haymarket

I think it was called Antonio's, yes!

That sounds familiar to me.

antonio's is in easthampton and amherst. not great pizza if you live in nyc but for around here way better than most.

there are good bakery-type pizza places. hungry ghost in northampton is good. my friend maggie opened a brick oven pizza place here in greenfield called magpie that is good.

wait, maybe i did mean hadrian and not collardio.

i get names confused...

the person you told me about who was a handsome spy? I think you said that was CG.

Wait - he might not have been a spy. Something like that though.

shhhh, don't blow his cover.

Hmm maybe you have buy more than 25 records for Scott to remember your name?

To be fair it's been a while. Also Handsome Spy is nothing to sneeze at....

Better than Balding Snoop

nah, i know who you are now, i just remember meeting collardio at the store too and both of you don't post much here. so i got cofused. and i knew that description would get enbb's interest when i told her about the local ilxor i had met :)

It's ok!

I keep meaning to get shoot up there but then I get...tired? I'm in nyc until mid-July but after that WATCH OUT

get

now i'm trying to remember collardio's story...might drive me insane. i know he came to the store, but i don't remember where from...

oh and longtime poster brg30, he lives in northampton too. he was mostly on the noize board back in the day.

and my pal herb albert, he lives here in greenfield. he doesn't post so much on ilx these days though.

Antonito's? Antonio's?

Antonio’s is an Amherst staple. It’s the odd location where UMass, Amherst, and Hampshire students mingle.

http://media.masslive.com/breakingnews/photo/9069881-large.jpg

They were also stiffed $3,900 by someone who claimed to be Bob Dylan’s manager:

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/3900_pizza_order_prank_bob_dylan.html

community pizza oven in morth adams. BEAT THAT BROOKLYN!

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/999325_10200341907807384_843445859_n.jpg

Is that outside MassMoCa? I feel like I stayed in one of those row-houses on the right...

Ordinarily I avoid toppings on pizza — too often all the moisture cooks off into the cheese and crust — but Antonio's does it right. I'm a sucker for the tortellini slice, and also the quesadilla, which is sliced avocado, queso fresco, tortilla chips, cheddar (weird but works!) and sometimes black beans. But I shld confess that I was weaned on Antonio's in my hungover youth.

oops i meant north adams not morph adams. i don't know where exactly it is. someone posted that on the facebook.

also really pays to have them actually make you a pizza at antonios as opposed to choosing a slice from one of the 40 pizzas they have out. you might choose the loser of the day that nobody has wanted and it might have been there for a while. fresh is best.

^ this. I once (once) got a slice from Hot Harry's (now the Toasted Owl), and they put cold pepperoni on heatlamped cheese slices. Not cool.

I will be a Masshole in just under two weeks now! What's the weather like - super humid??

Also what sports teams can I follow? Boston teams seem sort of disgusting to me...

Alright so I been here four days though it feels like a lot longer. I can put places to names now. I like it here so far! OK so the weather and sweatiness is gross but I like the rain. I am in Northampton for a bit now but hopefully moving soon. Trying to decide between a place in Greenfield and a place in Hadley.

I liked Greenfield a lot. I went to People's Pint and Brass Buckle. I like that it appears to be an...interesting mix of people. The bar round the corner from Brass Buckle was open at like, 9am! What's with that? The drive up from Northampton was nice (through Sunderland/Hatfield, I think). I like that Greenfield is kind of its own thing. A community. Northampton feels like there is more going on but actually I've liked the food better elsewhere. India House was not good. But I liked the sandwiches and coffee at the Roost. The houses are nice but it's weird how it is like a fake small city, or like a district in a bigger city. I went to River Valley Co-op and ate some good food, saw a lot of people with concerned expressions in their faces looking at produce. That place reminded me of the Berkeley Bowl.

Hadley is nice too but obviously not as walkable. I had great maple soft serve from the Sugar Shack. We have the chance of living off in the woods a bit with a view of the mountains. But it's maybe a bit isolated? Less community? My commute would be about 25 minutes shorter than Greenfield.

Tough choices!

Also I went to Mystery Train in Amherst today and that was a good store. I went and looked at Feeding Tube but it was closed. I haven't been to Scott's store yet! Anyway, the record stores seemed good. Better prices than in LA.

The bar round the corner from Brass Buckle was open at like, 9am! What's with that?

Probably somewhere nearby with a night shift? Or a community of retired alcoholics with nothing better to do.

Also I have seen a few chipmunks and a beaver!

xp hi ian!

hi adam!
if helen & i ever leave the city, western mass is high on our list of places to live.

I almost was coming down to your city this weekend, but I have to stay put. I will make it soon though - haven't been in 13 years.

You should move here, that would be great. I could stick around. I don't know if I will, but I could.

Or a community of retired alcoholics with nothing better to do.

this would be my guess for sure. Greenfield definitely seemed to have a lot of old people. but I like old people.

All my stuff is in storage in Boston (?) somewhere (?) and I have a couple of bags of records I have bought on my road trip that I can't play. At least I have good stuff to listen to if/when I finally find a place to move into and unpack.

I need to make it out to Providence too. My friend Mike used to live there and loved it.

yeah, the vic is for hardcore drinkers. the "interesting" people in greenfield are key because they keep the NPR crowd from getting too big for their britches like in amherst and northampton.

and you have to eat at hope & olive in greenfield! the best in town. but i'm glad you liked the buckle and the pint. good people.

also, you will always get ilxor discount at my store. just so you know.

oh, also, since you are in northampton, my next door neighbor, gina, has a cool art installation opening this friday night at A.P.E. Gallery. you should check it out if you have a chance. or just walk by the window. looks cool from the street.

http://www.apearts.org/

i love western mass. i lived in northampton for a year or so and i still visit often, several times a year. we lived above ye olde watering hole on pleasant st.

i never spent as much time in greenfield as i wanted, it always seemed to have a cool vibe and was a little more low-key than amherst/noho. we go up to VT all the time so we tended to just pass by greenfield en route. i would have liked to explore it a bit more.

i'd move back there in a second. since i already had the living-in-downtown-noho experience, i'd love to settle in one of the other towns. sunderland, montague, etc. my wife rented a room in a house in hatfield. id' love to have a nice country home with a big yard. some woods. it really is a paradise, one of my favorite areas in the country. i love the humid summers. everything smells green and lush.

food is really good there. i love india house, sorry it wasn't up to par admrl. in noho i think the green bean is awesome. so many good breakfast places. the lone wolf in amherst. cafe evolution brunch in florence.

adamrl, providence would love to have you!

I went to River Valley Co-op and ate some good food, saw a lot of people with concerned expressions in their faces looking at produce. That place reminded me of the Berkeley Bowl.

lol, i know the berkeley bowl too. i don't remember the produce at berkeley bowl but the river valley market has some sad-looking produce iirc. i didn't explore all the farmers markets when i lived in western MA but i know there are so many. in a pinch whole foods has good produce.

also the brattleboro co-op was remodeled. it's a little more slick. i kind of liked it better before but i'm really happy that they had the money to remodel. good for them. we shop there often when we go up to VT.

I was wondering about the Brattleboro Co-op; I'd heard they got hit hard by Irene. Good to hear they're back.

i love india house

YES. LOVE India House. The cilantro-glazed chili chicken rules. As does Flying Horse beer, served in a crazy metal dealie.

Well it looks like we are moving to Greenfield. I'm excited about it! I want to eat the sandwich I had at the Brass Buckle again, I've been thinking about it these past few days.

And I am getting more into the humidity. I like the sound of the cicadas too, that's something I haven't really heard in many of the other places I've lived. I'm also getting more used to the way (I think) many older New England buildings smell. It's something I've noticed in a few places, a mildewy smell but somehow not unpleasant at all. Probably the time of year too?

And Marcos, maybe I just had a bad experience at India House. I feel like the worst kind of Yelper saying this, but I'm from London and used to Indian food being cheaper and less bland than what I had the other night. But everyone seems to like it, so...

Last night we tried Bub's BBQ in Sunderland which was pretty decent. I'm glad there's a place like that around. One of the great things about moving somewhere new is getting to eat at a lot of places, though my wallet probably needs a rest right now. I guess at some point I will try to find Mexican food.

Oh oh one great thing I tried was Maple soft serve from the Hadley Sugar Shack. Crazy good.

Bueno y Sano is great for Mexican food (Northampton and Amherst and possibly somewhere else, but I forget).

Thanks! This thread is really useful.

mmmmm. I remember Bueno y Sano very well from my visits to Hampshire.

xp there's a mexican place in easthampton, la casita azteca, that was highly recommended to me from someone who's traveled extensively in mexico. i went a couple of times but tbh i have no recollection of how good it was.

i actually think la vera cruzana is outstanding. there's one in amherst and noho.

"a mildewy smell but somehow not unpleasant at all."

wet basements. lots of wet basements. it rained so much the last month. not as much as in vermont or new york state, but a lot.

Yeah that's the smell, I guess. It's cool though, it smells "real", like you can smell the roots of everything. Maybe it is the smell of history.

I just want to rep the crullers at Henion bakery in Amherst. It's been about a dozen years since I was there, but I still think of them often. I'd never previously understood the cruller - I thought they were just a twisty donut, not a light eggy custard you can eat like a donut - but since eating them at Henion, I've been a devotee, although they are exceptionally hard to find here in LA.

Okay, adding crullers and mexican places to my list.

Uhhh, anyone know a good reliable car mechanic?

Outlook Farms in Westhampton has seriously good doughnuts, if it hasn't been mentioned yet

greenfield is one of those places that western mass people from other towns like to feel superior too. people who aren't from here - like me - like it a bunch. but it has a rep as being, i dunno, grittier? not springfield or holyoke gritty, but there is an influx of people from athol/orange/hill towns who come for the social services and/or drugs and they are often not in the best shape. it is a bit of a social sevices hub. county courthouse, hospital, non-profit places like Servicenet, recovery/addiction help, big jail, etc. and i have talked to otherwise smart people who have stereotypes in their head of the town. or who are down on it even though they never come here. and i can get defensive. nothing gets me hotter under the collar than anti-poor people talk coming from smug and happy leftists. apparently. i lived in the city of philadelphia for over a decade, so nothing here makes me blink. do the roughneck drug people and members of juggalo nation sometimes piss me off? yeah, sure, i'm on main street here 6 days a week. and they have daily meetings in the park next to my store and now that the lotto/bong/convenience store has opened up next door to the park there is a constant flow of ersatz new england thug life. they leave me alone though. and i do likewise. and, like i said, they keep the hippies honest. and i've never been happier to live anywhere, so, its no big deal. i think people actually have an aesthetic aversion to the people who walk main street. they just don't want to look at them.

you know what's really cool? adam will be living mere steps from:

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/p480x480/480916_10151518700914713_1700107245_n.jpg

made fresh daily. had some this morning. mmmmm....

you get to go back in time anytime you want if you live in greenfield. just by walking into wilson's department store.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L0LOSAelPRA/TzEeW2JoNFI/AAAAAAAAFdc/qVMiRbA0vJ8/s1600/Wilsons+JTLynch+photo.JPG

^ I love that about Greenfield (in addition to everything you mentioned in your otm post). I usually didn't go there unless I had a gig, or to go to the arcade, which I've learned has since closed :(

By which I meant, I should've gone there more, because every time I did was fun.

they sell drums at the arcade now though. and guitars. and amps.

think this has your name on it, tarfumes.

http://www.replaymusicgear.com/#!product/prd1/893364134/crescentaphone

Whoa. That's beautiful.

A lot of people really seem to like The Cramps here.

Why is that?

I actually like them quite a bit too, so maybe I'm in the right place.

one of those days where i thank the gods i moved to this spot. so nice.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/557913_10152421990447137_713116212_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/554027_10152421989982137_884559122_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/524369_10152421989307137_656708509_n.jpg

Canalside bike ride was great. Turner's Falls is great - such a weird little town.

hey! i'm staying in hadley tomorrow nite through monday. hooray! any stuff happening this weekend that i should check out?

I'm going to be with family in Great Barrington this weekend as well. Do you like classical music or dance at all? Cuz there's Tanglewood and Jacob's Pillow obviously.

JACOB'S PILLOW ELMO. GO THERE.

Hadley! I heard a funny joke about Hadley the other day, something about mail delivery being seen as unwarranted government intrusion? I'd be down and around there but I got a buttload of work to do before next week. You should go get maple iced cream at the Sugar Shack.

jacob's pillow seems pretty rad but we'll be travelling with the dog so i don't know if all day festivals would be so great, plus it might interfere with all the record & book browsing we have planned

what sort of museums you got out there? massmoca is pretty close right?

I haven't been to any of them yet!

MassMoca isn't too far. I heard the Smith art museum is good. Honestly, I am not the person to be telling you this. I can tell you that the book and record stores are great.

I accidentally found myself at Emily Dickinson's grave yesterday at lunch. Truly a Pioneer Valley moment (like I know what one is). There was a shirtless guy doing "yoga" there

Mass MoCA is over an hour away from Hadley according to Google Maps, so factor that into yr plans; there's also a pretty cool Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge an hour away

Everything I know in the Berkshires is around Lenox/Lee/Stockbridge/Great Barrington/Pittsfield; not really qualified to talk much about the Northampton area

i want to get to skots store again and maybe this time i'll even introduce myself instead of being a weirdo???

Oh well if you're going to go there then I can just walk down.

I think it's...maybe okay to be a weirdo in skots store? I've been going in there with my farmer's market produce. It's sort of like the unofficial town hall.

Also he recommended we go to Fosters' market, which is great

Okay well if you go to MassMoca in North Adams, you MUST go to the Natural Bridge State Park and walk all over the meandery viewing platforms from which to see the million parts of this series of waterfalls and carved gorges. It's super-trippy and you can go all over the place on vertiginous platforms and walkways. There are lots of rocks to climb and a nearby sound installation in a field with a natural rock wall.

http://img.geocaching.com/cache/large/aa755a53-f3f6-47c9-bb79-707799c66cce.jpg

http://www.city-data.com/forum/members/ladeebug59-379672-albums-love-makes-world-go-round-pic33475-natural-bridge-state-park-north-adams.jpg

http://havebaggagewilltravel.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/naturalbridgestatepark.jpg

Here I am on a big rock! You too can have this much fun.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/267298_10150418564049498_1242249_n.jpg

that looks amazing!

elmo, yes, mass moca is a solid 80 minutes or so from Hadley/Noho area. It's mostly curvy country roads too so it's pretty hard to make it a faster drive. getting to great barrington/stockbridge is a little easier since a lot of that drive is on I-90.

smith art museum is really really solid. surprisingly so for a small college art museum.

there's tons of stuff to do in the hadley-noho-amherst-greenfield area for a weekend that i'd probably stick around there rather than head out to berkshires or north adams-williamstown

Also somewhere in between NYC and North Adams there's a man who lives on a hill with a giant private sculpture park where he puts his wackadoodle creations. This one overlooks a highway like a creepy divinity. If you find your way off the highway and onto his unpaved mountain road, you can park at his house and walk up to all of these pieces of art. Some of them you can even GO INSIDE OF.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/283171_10150419377474498_998839_n.jpg

Now you're talking. I'd like to see that.

I'd also like to visit a swimming hole before winter's icy grip tightens around our collective throat.

Also I'd like to ride one of the big colorful paddle canoe things that people have on their cars.

oh my lord

is natural bridge park accessible with small toddler? Are there any short, easy trails that have nice views?

You don't have to hike at all! The thing is only like a few hundred feet from the parking lot, and there are lots of fences and railings but tb brutally honest I can't remember if they're all filled in at toddler height.

All right, the goddess head is actually technically in Upstate NY: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/6455

yeah i don't imagine i'll be able to get to mass moca this trip but i will get there some day

one thing i like about northampton is that place where you can rent a hot tub

"I'd also like to visit a swimming hole before winter's icy grip tightens around our collective throat."

pumping station in greenfield is nice. lots of people go there. there is a really nice one in montague too. i like to go past the actual greenfield "pool" (where there is a park/swimming/bbq/playground) on leyden road and behind the ball fields and down the hill to the water. its nice down there and usually there are hardly any people. can show you sometime.

Pro tip: That giant head is hollow and has two ladders and a platform and a hole in the top, so you can stick yourself out of this hole and look out over the Taconic State Parkway and across miles and miles of rolling hills and forest. You may also wave at the cars to freak ppl out if you so desire (and you do).

the one behind the ball fields is cool just cuz you have to know there is a trail there. feels secret. and its pretty. i guess its not really a swimming hole. you are just going down to the river. but its a nice spot. and there is a little beach.

Yeah that sounds great. I want to do more biking too. What do people do for fun in winter?

And also Fosters was really good and cheap!

yeah, i love fosters. in the winter people ski. and skate. and sled. and snowshoe. and drink.

i just do the same stuff all year long. so, seasons aren't that big a deal. i don't like shoveling snow, but between us and the neighbors its not a big deal.

Woah Laurel do you know more about those sculptures and where that is exactly? I'd love to go.

Actually, I really want to go back to N. Adams and MassMoca. I went over the winter and it was so awesome. Would totally stop there on the way. Also, those waterfalls!!! Woah.

I put a link up above, it's to Roadside America! Totally worth it.

Thanks!

we're here! gonna knock around for a while and hopefully make it into greenfield later this afternoon

FYI: the ILX commune is still for sale:

http://www.trulia.com/property/1068735105-172-Highland-Ave-Greenfield-MA-01301

cute bargain on hope street. hope street is bargain central:

http://www.trulia.com/property/1044170692-145-Hope-St-Greenfield-MA-01301#photo-12

Jeez house prices around here

it makes you think, doesn't it?

i am such a shameless shill for this place. i can't help it. but its kind of the perfect place to hide out when the future warming wars come. plenty of food and water. its pretty. lots of smart people. but smart people who are quiet about it. no big deal.

perfect example of what i mean: this morning there was a bat in the store. pretty big bat. they freak me out. there was ONE guy looking at records in the store. i said to him, are you good with bats? and he says: "Well, I am a zoologist..." he walked over and he took a picture of the bat, studied it briefly, and then took it out of the store! and then he bought cool records.

Let's put it this way-Greenfield is one of the few places I could actually afford a house. But I still can't afford it!

so awesome meeting u scott! i'll try to give you a heads up if we're back up there before we leave monday.

we went down & checked out a swimming hole on your & maria's recommendation. didn't go swimming, but laid out a blanket under the pines and had a picnic of stuff we bought at fosters. munched & took photos & walked the dog around & watched a bunch of teens cannonball into the water.

pretty amazing afternoon.

If you are near great barrington there is a butcher shop called Meat Market that does an all outdoor grill dinner that is pretty amazing and not that expensive

the maple cone at the sugar shack in hadley is no joke, damn

bat guy story is dope, scott. i wanna be a cool western mass smart guy.

love you greenfield...

3:33 p.m. — Control got a report from Prospect Street of a possible domestic disturbance; officers learned the noise that was heard was a woman stabbing cardboard boxes with her swords; she stated she practices with swords.

5:26 p.m. — Control got a call from a person who stated that her son called her and said he was on Wheeler Avenue, and there were three, 100-pound pigs in the road; officer checked the area, and had no contact with any people, or pigs.

7:38 a.m. — Caller from East Chestnut Hill Road calling to request contact with the owner of several loose goats that are in her yard eating her bushes; she said she would contact him herself, but he doesn’t have a phone; officer spoke to the owner of the goats who will see what he can do and speak to the reporting person about possible damages.

Home turf

Penn Jillette makes stop in Greenfield and is glad he did

By DAVID RAINVILLE Recorder Staff

GREENFIELD — “When I came back to town, I didn’t realize Greenfield had turned into Brooklyn.”

Penn Jillette, internationally known comedian, author and illusionist, returned to his hometown of Greenfield Thursday night, and spent Friday walking around town before speaking at Greenfield Community College.

“When I last left Greenfield, it was a depressing, dead factory town,” he admitted.

He was impressed by all the changes that happened while he was away.

“Now, the old Clark’s Sport Shop has turned into a great performance place; it’s a club I’d love to play,” said Jillette. He was referring to the Arts Block, at Main Street and Court Square. If he had more time in town, he said, he’d try to take in a show.

In 2007, Jillette went on national television, saying that a Walmart was just the thing Greenfield needed. The town was featured on former Showtime series, “Penn & Teller: Bulls**t!” in an episode that focused on small towns’ resistance to the retail giant. On the show, Jillette lampooned Al Norman, nicknamed the “sprawlbuster” for his anti-Walmart agenda.

Jillette has since changed his mind.

“The way Greenfield looks now, I think we might have been on the wrong side of that one,” he admitted.

He couldn’t believe that the sleepy town he’d left now sports two Thai restaurants, a revamped Bank Row block and a used record store.

Jillette said he spent $200 at John Doe Jr. Used Records, buying new copies of old favorites, from stand-up comedy albums to old “dirty party records” from the 1960s.

His appearance at GCC was one of a handful of speaking engagements to promote his 2012 book, “Every Day is an Atheist Holiday,” which was recently released in paperback.

Jillette was also taken aback with the venue. Since he’d last seen the community college, it’s undergone major renovations.

“It used to be a depressing idea of a community college, a place I wouldn’t go. Now, I’m sitting here and enjoying it.”

Jillette sat in a cushy chair in front of the southern-facing, allglass wall of the upstairs library, watching the sun go down on what he said must have been “the most beautiful day of 2013.”

“Sitting here, I can’t imaging why I ever wanted to leave Greenfield.”

It was a matter of opportunity, or lack thereof, that made Jillette strap a few belongings to his back and set out on the open road, to make a go of show business. He said he knew he wasn’t going to get his big break in Franklin County.

Nice haul, Scott!

http://www.newenglandmoves.com/property/details/682371/MLS-71536350/7-Church-St-Montague-Turners-Falls-MA-01349.aspx?

kinda miss it out there

That church would make an awesome screening space...

WANT

Many a x-post....

now i'm trying to remember collardio's story...might drive me insane. i know he came to the store, but i don't remember where from...

― scott seward, Wednesday, June 19, 2013 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

From Boston! That's where from. In August of last year I showed up at your store with my two kids and a friend who lives in Shutesbury, and picked up a few LPs. You were quite the gentleman.

BTW I was planning on swinging through again this Labor Day but I broke my leg in late August! I should be hale and whole next time I see you however.

7 years here and I think I'm finally going to buy a snow blower today.

hey, adam! no idea you were still on the board :)

it's raining now though!

hey, adam! no idea you were still on the board :)

I just dropped by to see what was happening on this thread.

it's raining now though!
Yeah, but I want to be ready next time...

bumping for roll call and local updates

Who else is around here now? Scott has been awol for some time now, Tarfumes too (?)

Feeling grateful for woods and rivers and etc. this week

I'm going to be spending a week in September a little east of Great Barrington. It's a bit of a haul to skot's store, but I would love to go. Any (other) recommendations for hikes, farms, food, activities in and around this area?

bump?

monument mountain is a good, pretty, 2-hour hike that offers a good view of the whole area. olivia's overlook is an easy nature walk that starts from another nice viewpoint.

tanglewood always has music going on, tickets might be a little expensive so close to the date, but you might be able to get on the lawn for a good price (need your own chairs/blankets).

for food, there are a lot of good options, but boema is a solid, upscale pizza place that opened recently in lenox.

I’m just outside of Great Barrington right now. It’s a nice town, I’ve been a bunch of times. For a hike we were just recommended Bash Bish Falls which we’ve never tried before. We ate good upscalish Mexican at Xicohtencatl. Tomorrow we are having our splurge meal at John Andrews Farmhouse which we’ve also never tried. There’s jazz on Thursday nights at The Mount (Edith Wharton’s home) - the sign on the road says “Free Jazz” which always amuses me. Food on average tends to be good - we’ve had a lot of good meals at a lot of different places, and you can easily find good coffee, craft beer etc. The local coffee roasters and breweries are solid (Berkshire and Great Barrington are the beer companies I remember, haven’t had any beer yet since I got here).

Great cheese store in GB called Rubiners. There’s a bar that has hippie jam band type stuff on the main st in downtown but I forget the name. I’ll try to remember more of the places we tried and liked.

The lake beaches are nice but unfortunately as we just learned they made them town residents only this year (at least Lee and Lenox did).

Rubiners has stuff you can't find elsewhere, but the main street of Great Barrington has become the kind of place I don't really like anymore

I've ended up shopping for food mostly at Guido's when I'm there, which is also expensive but not quite as expensive, and it is a full grocery store

Thanks for the recommendations.

Monument Mountain and Olivia's Overlook were on my radar, but we'll be sure to check them out. Our friends aren't up for big hikes so those look just right.

Boema looks right up our alley for lunch. Seems like they do outdoor dining.

Holy shit at Rubiners. This is exactly my kind of place. We will likely cook in each evening, so this is perfect.

Always interested in food spots even if we likely won't eat indoors yet.

The Southfield Store, just south of Great Barrington and equidistant from Sheffield and New Marlborough, has great sandwiches and is a good lunch place

Tons of places have patio dining - seems to be the norm.

Guido's is definitely where you shop when you want the good stuff. Big Y is also a solid grocery store. People have also said good things to me about Berkshire Food Coop.

Naji's = good lebanese. I really can't think of a bad meal I've had in the area tbh, it just seems like fresh ingredients are the norm everywhere.

I went to the Old Inn on the Green once in New Marlborough, it was very nice but expensive

Oh the Rubiners cafe is good too (Rubi’s). They have outdoor seating.

John Andrews was REALLY good. Definitely a bit of a "go with your parents" kind of vibe to it (which is funny that I still think of places that way although I'm almost 42), and we did in fact go with my inlaws. But the outdoor setting is bucolic, and the food is excellent. Had some incredible local steelhead trout over french lentils, one of the best fish dishes I've ever had. Desert was insanely good as well - we shared a few different things that included ginger ice cream and lemon panna cotta and an extremely bittersweet bittersweet chocolate cake and an almond cake and all were interesting and not in the realm of typical restaurant deserts.

That all sounds terrific. I looked at the menu when you recommended it and it looked very nice.

If you're around amherst go to Henion Bakery and get a cruller. It was a revelatory experience for me that I still think about after 20 years.