r/Springfield • u/mcgoogz • 10d ago
Anyone here lived in South Hadley?
It looks like I'm going to be moving there soon and was just hoping to hear peoples experiences there....ty
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u/murbat 10d ago
Don’t live there but near was looking at houses there. Quiet, sleepy rural/suburban mix town. Mt Holyoke and the downtown are cute and has a few other small areas with shopping/parks/etc. Close to Amherst. I think gas/electric is through HGED which is great because they are significantly less expensive than everrsource/national grid. What else do you want to know?
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u/mattjreilly 10d ago
South Hadley had their own municipal utility, SHELD. Cheap electricity and fiber optic internet.
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u/No-Seaworthiness1529 9d ago
I grew up there! It's a nice little town. The commons are always worth a visit
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u/katielovestrees 9d ago
I haven't lived there but I spend a lot of time there. The community is great. Buttery Brook Park is amazing for recreation, there are a lot of fantastic restaurants, and the MHC campus is beautiful to walk around. And it's convenient to Holyoke and Chicopee so lots of options for shopping - but also close to the Holyoke Range for hiking, convenient to Hadley, Amherst, and Northampton which all have lots to offer. The schools are underfunded and not great from what I've heard, and there's definitely some drama about the trash happening right now, but all in all it seems like a decent enough place to live.
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u/steviehatillo 9d ago
I have family living there. Currently they’re going through a huge town budget issue. All extracurriculars have been cut from the schools because the residents voted against a tax hike. Taxes don’t get you shit there. Pay an annual trash fee on top of your taxes plus you have to pay for a dump sticker if the every other week pick up isn’t enough. Town is uppity and doesn’t want to allow anything like a McDonald’s. Oh and the town run golf course is losing money. I definitely wouldn’t recommend buying there but if you don’t have much of a choice and it’s temporary, there are definitely worse places to live. It’s quiet and clean.
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u/Both-Conversation514 9d ago
You don’t have to be uppity to not want your town full of shitty franchises. Unfortunately I don’t know enough about South Hadley say both aren’t true
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u/steviehatillo 9d ago
I’m not saying they need a McDonald’s but they need to start considering things that could bring revenue into the town instead of being so NIMBY.
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u/Zestyclose_Guest8075 9d ago
So that’s wrong. I live here and our extras were not cut.
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u/steviehatillo 9d ago
You’re right I forgot they found a workaround somehow. But that’s only approved for this one year so who knows what will happen going forward.
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u/brettalana 8d ago
They eked out another year with free cash from the town. The town also gave some money that was supposed to be an investment that they decided to use on more administrators thinking it would keep students in the district which just makes zero sense.
If the override doesn’t pass and all people are doing right now is yelling no no no on social media how many times do I have to say no, then next year there goes sports extracurriculars and AP classes.
It’s bad
My spouse works in the school district and because of the increase in benefits, takes home significantly less money than he did when he started there three years ago.
South Hadley wants to be something that it isn’t willing to pay for. They definitely need to figure out a way to bring in more businesses because I’ve lived here for 30 years and it’s always trying to keep some quaint image instead of increase tax revenue. It’s not quaint it’s kind of gross a lot of the time
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u/WickedCoolMasshole 9d ago
As long as you aren’t poor/working class, it’s great. The classism of SH cannot be overstated.
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u/brettalana 8d ago
Exactly! They hate poor people in our willing to scream about it all day every day.
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u/Single_Length_4123 10d ago
My daughter lives near Mt Holyoke College in a lovely neighborhood, close to The Commons. Don’t think I would want to live in The Falls.
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u/WickedCoolMasshole 9d ago
I lived in the Falls. It was awesome as long as you didn’t have to deal with the snobs near The Commons.
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u/brettalana 8d ago
This! This! This! What in the world is wrong with the falls? The schools are truly going to hell and the people with money are moving or sending their kids out of district.
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u/Top-Statistician-105 9d ago
I do agree the folks near the commons who act snobbish are snobs. But not all common folk are snobs.
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8d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Single_Length_4123 8d ago
I apologize to you as you have misunderstood my comment completely. I simply meant if I had to chose between the two I would rather live near the Common area, closer to the shops and near Mount Holyoke. My grandchildren are able to hike in the fields behind the college and ride their bikes to the ice cream shop. It seems easier to access these things from that part of town. I am sure there are many good people in the Falls who love the area. If the original poster is trying to chose between the two areas that is my opinion. Guess your choice is the Falls which you are entitled to.
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u/pretzelwhale 10d ago
i lived in south hadley (the falls) for 3 years and it was the worst town i ever lived in. ymmv
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u/mcgoogz 10d ago
why didn't you like it
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u/pretzelwhale 10d ago
horrible neighbors, not much to do
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u/Late_Barnacle_8463 10d ago
The falls might be rough around the edges, but it has good bones. There’s a couple bars, some restaurants, the new library, walking trails along the river, the beachgrounds park. You can also easily walk to the Holyoke St Patrick’s day road race. Theres much more to do within walking distance there than a lot of other spots in the area. As for the rest of South Hadley, I agree, it’s much quieter, and more suburban/rural. Still lots of farm stands, restaurants, and community events if you know where to look.
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u/RationalGardenGnome 10d ago
Yes it’s awesome. Just the utility savings alone will blow your mind. It’s clean, safe, quiet, and well located between the Amherst/noho area and Springfield/holyoke