Northampton, MA, or...?

We have friends who moved to Northampton from a large East Coast city a couple of years back. They enjoy it, but find it starkly different from their former urban neighborhood and miss the walkability and amenities of city living. It's a tradeoff in that they could afford to buy a house, though. They like but don't love the schools, which apparently recently went through some cuts and restructuring, so definitely do some research there. It's far less diverse racially/ethnically than Berkeley. Many Boston/Cambridge/Somerville neighborhoods will feel more like Berkeley (assuming that's a plus), but when we looked at a move there recently, we found that the cost wasn't markedly less than the Bay Area, sadly. Good luck!

Hi!

I grew up in Northampton and lived in and around Boston for 10 years before we moved to Berkeley in 2010 when our kids were little. My parents are still in Northampton. I love Massachusetts and miss it. Though I don't miss winter at all. You don't say your reasons for moving, but here are my perceptions:

I can't really speak to what it's like to live in Boston right now and raise kids as I lived there 10 years ago. My understanding is that it's expensive, though not quite as much as the Bay Area. When I lived there I loved the northern suburbs along 128/route 2 of Arlington, Lexington, Winchester, Acton, Concord etc. Good schools, nice families etc.  I very much liked Cambridge too with it's academic vibe. It reminds me a lot of Berkeley but a bit more buttoned up. Brookline is great with good schools though it's expensive. The more affordable urban areas are JP, Roslindale, parts of Dorchester etc. They are all part of Boston Public Schools though and that can be a bit to negotiate. (I don't know how old your kids are.) There are some incredible private schools around Boston too if that's in your budget.

We still visit Northampton every summer and I love it. I'd move back there in a heartbeat if we could figure out careers. The economy there is very academic and really centered around the 5 colleges in the area. Most of my friends still there either work at one of the colleges or have moved back after figuring out a way to telecommute to jobs elsewhere. There are some ties to Boston or NY, though both commutes are long when raising kids. The word on the street is that Northampton is getting too expensive for middle class people who are moving to Easthampton, Greenfield, Holyoke or the "hill towns." It's unclear, when looking at that comment from the lens of the Bay Area if we'd feel the same way.

Friends of mine raising kids there love it. There seems to be a nice balance of work and family with lots of things for the kids to do. I think the schools are fine. None of my friends gush over them, but compared to public schools in the bay area they seem remarkable. Massachusetts as a state is very, very, dedicated to education and I think for the most part the public schools reflect that. There are also some excellent private schools in the area. 

There are good restaurants, great yoga, nice shops etc. There's a cute farmer's market in the summer and a great coop that sources local food. Whole Foods is close too. Historically there's been good arts scene in Northampton, but I think recently many artists are moving to the towns listed above. The entire area has a very bohemian vibe. 

Winter in Western Ma is no joke. I think that would be the biggest challenge compared to living in Berkeley. It's really hard to be outside on a regular basis from November to Mid April. There are hardy types who will run in 15 degrees, go snow shoeing in blizzards, etc, but for the most part, there are a lot of long winter days inside with kids in New England in winter. That can sound romantic from California, but February and March can be really really depressing and bleak. 

Overall there is a soul to Western Ma that is really special to me. It's still a place I love to goto and feel very very rooted too. When I get together with friends from the area who have moved away we all seem to keep it in our heart. 

Hope that helps!!

I'm a Bay Area native with east coast kids who just moved back to CA from Providence, Rhode Island. I would say Providence has all of your requirements except "great schools," though we were happy with ours. I also have friends who live in Brooklyn and have a vacation house in Northampton because they love the community there. The good news is that almost everywhere will have "middle class affordability" compared to the Bay Area! good luck.

I have this internal debate everyday :)

For context, my husband and I are both born and raised in MA, both came out here for grad school and never left. We are now raising a little one (7.5mo). Both of our families are back east and the pull to return is strong... but.. California is so wonderful in so many ways... I digress. Here are the main things I've considered:

Cost: In general terms I think you would save $ by heading east, however MA is expensive as well so the sum difference would not be huge. This is especially true if you want to be in one of the towns with the best schools Newton, Lexington, etc (I think Northhampton is also in this list but I am not as familiar). However, MA has many of the top schools in the country so even if you are not at the absolute best town in MA, I think you are still miles ahead of many districts here. So housing, slight savings maybe, and cost of living definite saving but potentially lower salaries as well.

Diversity: This one is a big sticking point for me. I love how diverse and accepting CA is. Growing up in MA my suburb of Boston town had essentially zero diversity. We had 3 students of color in a high school of 800+. I want my daughter to have more exposure to different cultures and ideas than I did growing up.

Weather: CA has made me a softie..  I fully accept this. You can't beat this weather. It's perfect.

Outdoors: If we won the lottery my husband and I would 100% become ski bums and live in Tahoe. East coast just can not compete with the mountains we have out here and I would miss them dearly. I grew up skiing in Vermont and when I took my first powder turns out west in a wide open bowl.... ahh bliss. 

Conformity: Not sure this is the right term, but I get a sense in MA that everyone sticks tightly to social norms, in CA I see a greater expression of individualism. 

Schools: As I said before, MA wins on schools.

Family: MA for the win on this one. It would be so wonderful to be closer to family so that my LO could have a closer relationship with them. Friends are the family you choose and we have an awesome tribe here in CA...but those family back east are only able to visit a few times a year and that will never be the same as living close by. We have already encountered the issue of LO being kicked out of daycare for a fever and one of us needing to stay home from work. I can see how if that were to happen frequently it could have a negative impact on one or both of our careers. Thinking long term, my husband and I are both oldest children and will likely need to take a big role in caring for aging parents (they are all in great health currently). Caregiver role would be super difficult 3k miles away.

Friends: Very few of our friends are fully committed to the area and it seems everyone is a bit of a "flight risk". It's tough to afford a house here and most of our friend group is transplanted from other states so they have similar pulls back towards family. It would be hard to envision staying if many of our close friends left.

Art Scene: Can't say much here as I have an engineer's brain :) I will say my much more artistic sister has thrived in MA and now NYC. So there is that. 

So what to do? That is the question I spin and spin and spin on. I hope my pro/con list at least helped you consider some of the issues. I wish I had a better answer for you (and for us). 

-Katie

Northampton is quaint and beautiful, best known as the seat of Smith College. But---it is 200 miles from Boston. So, while there are lots of places to live outside Boston with good schools--Brookline, Weston, Cambridge etc. you might want to decide on how close or far from Boston you want to be first.

Hi, my brother lives in North Hampton (3 boys: 6, 4, 1 1/2) and loves it!  He is a stay at home dad and his wife is a nurse practicioner and they are able to support themselves there.  Housing is obviously mush cheaper than the Bay Area... you can probably look online; I think they bought their 3 bed room for around $300-400K 8 years or so ago.  North Hampton is a great community (liberal, artsy, etc...), with tons of free community events for kids.  The YMCA has free day care, etc...  if you have specific questions, feel free to email me at andrealodi [at] me.com, and I will see if I can get my brother to respond.  Hope that helps!

Loved reading this post and responses, especially the parent moving to the East Bay from Providence. We are getting ready to move to Providence in the next few weeks (seriously, in the dead of winter, insane!) but just love the area, have family within a 1-2 hour drive, and spent time there before for grad school. Our children are no doubt 100% California as well (they complain when it is 55 but then again so do I). We are building in a travel budget for the months of February/March when as someone else said it is pretty bleak. There is a wonderful community, gorgeous homes, public schools vary greatly but we found an independent school that we love, something we could never swing if we were to stay here. Summer and fall cannot be beat and it is close to Boston (I used to commute there from Providence via the commuter rail or Amtrak) . Check it out!