“Best” area to live between Amherst and Framingham

Submitted by emanemonemily t3_yui3n5 in massachusetts

My partner is starting school at Amherst in the Spring and we are looking to relocate somewhere between there and Framingham.

I’m a flight attendant and will only need to get to Logan once or twice a week, so it makes sense to live closer to campus. But where? Both of us are from Florida and know very little about Massachusetts outside of Boston.

We are not big into the night life but love low key coffee houses and wine bars. Extremely loyal to Trader Joe’s- thankfully there is one in Amherst, Worcester, and Framingham. Only one car for the two of us. Love to walk so would like a nice walkable town/neighborhood.

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_iw9h6o1 wrote

I’m going to be blunt.

Forget the coffee house and wine bar.

Your jobs are 2 hours apart without traffic. That means, if you live in the middle, your daily commutes will probably be about 3 hours round trip, each of you, if you are lucky. You will not be happy. Neither will he. If you live close to Amherst, you will not survive your commute. It could be 5 hours round trip or more.

My advice? One of you needs to work or school remotely - or he needs to go to a school near Boston.

Or just see each other on weekends.

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NativeMasshole t1_iw9hzi8 wrote

I'd say stick with western Mass and get a job out of Bradley. Screw driving to Boston even twice a week. That's hell even in the normal commuter areas, nevermind from somewhere that's going to be daily drivable from Amherst. Plenty of wine bars and coffee shops in Pioneer Valley.

Edit: Also, OP, upgrade from Trader Joe and shop at Atkins instead.

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batrathat t1_iw9o3at wrote

Yeah Boston and Amherst are different ends of the state, and both can be difficult to drive in to, especially in Winter. A snowy day on the pike? That could be 3-4 hours--no joke. On a good day that's 2 hours one way. You may want to find a different job. I just can't see any commute working out for that, especially with one car. Perhaps you could couch surf in Boston the night before a shift? I just don't know.

*Edit to add that living in Framingham would be an *awful* commute to Amherst. I commuted to and from Framingham from Worcester for work and school and that was about a third of the distance and it royally sucked in Winter and Rush Hour. That would be a nightmare to Amherst.

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11BMasshole t1_iw9g2ew wrote

If you only need to be at Logan twice a week I’d live in Amherst.

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lilbitspecial t1_iw9fv4p wrote

Sturbridge. Its right at the intersection of I-84 and I-90 (Mass Pike).

About an hour to logan (outside of rush hour) and an hour to Amherst.

Getting to Amherst is a pain as its not highway most of the way

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ohenryiii t1_iwa6ub5 wrote

Charlton / Sturbridge still close to things. Brookfields are nice and close to Route 9. The pike will be your best friend until the summers and then it’s traffic heading west always !

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Kearfyob t1_iwcf3w3 wrote

Yes, Sturbridge, a little bit of everything, decent restaurants, coffee shops, hiking, lakes and rivers....and the highways are right there as mentioned.

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goPACK17 t1_iw9hcdi wrote

Worcester is a very cool city if you can find something in downtown, very walkable and has a commuter rail that can get you right into south station, and from there you're a short silver line ride away to Logan.

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JaKr8 t1_iwbk168 wrote

You'd be better off being based out of Bradley vs Logab if you can.

Amherst itself pretty much checks all the boxes for things you like.

If your significant other is at Amherst college one car is probably fine, they will be very busy doing school work for the next 4 years. And it's a very walkable area with decent public transportation to shopping if needed.

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Banea-Vaedr t1_iw9grlv wrote

Worcester metro. Rte 9 goes both ways, right to UMass Amherst and into Boston

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navyblue4222 t1_iwaw7s9 wrote

Worcester or Springfield would probably be your best bet, but that’s going to be hell regardless.

There are some public transit options for you to get into Boston. Once a day Amtrak from Springfield, multiple times a day commuter rail from Worcester.

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asoneth t1_iwbsgmu wrote

My partner and I had a long-distance relationship for a couple years where we lived five hours apart and saw each other every weekend. Eventually I got a job slightly closer that involved them driving an hour each way and me taking transit an hour and a half each way.

True, we could have dinner together on weeknights, but overall we had less quality time together because we were spending so much time in transit that we spent the weekends catching up from everything we put off during the week.

Some folks I worked with had a pied-à-terre. They drove 3-5 hours into the city on Monday morning, stayed in a ~200sqft studio for three nights, drove home on Thursday afternoon, and worked from home on Friday. If you rent it out to tourists over the weekend it's not quite as expensive as it sounds and I was considering doing that so that we could move near my partner's office.

Thankfully, saner heads prevailed and we just got jobs closer together.

Whatever you decide, good luck!

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czndra67 t1_iwcsjjx wrote

We live 5 minutes off of the Pike in Auburn. To get to logan, we take the Pike to Framingham and park at the slogan Express, which is also 5 minutes off if the Pike. it's 40 minutes. Then less than an hour to Logan, and you'll get dropped off at your terminal.

So look at the towns along the pike, and see if your schedule will work around rush hours.

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Traditional-Oven4092 t1_iwd442l wrote

I’d suggest belchertown, ware, Chicopee, south Hadley. Those towns would be 1.5 hour drive for you to Logan and about 20-40 minutes for your partner to Amherst. The mass pike to Boston is congested every morning by 6, and in the afternoons after work.

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Statest16 t1_iwar9z4 wrote

Sturbridge,Southbridge Charlton,Warren or Plamer make good halfway's between Amherst and Framingham

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EtonRd t1_iwcwdbg wrote

I’m not sure exactly why you are mentioning Framingham when you work out of Boston? Is the idea that it’s possible your partner could commute from Framingham to Amherst because that’s not realistic. At all.

You mentioned that you will only have one car. How will that work? On the days that you need to go to Logan, is the idea that you would take the car and your partner would stay at home? And they would not need to get to school on that day? I’m going to assume that’s the case.

My recommendation is that you look for somewhere close to the pike in western mass. If you’re close to the pike, that gives you the best shot at getting into Logan. Ludlow would be about 30 minutes to Amherst and 90+ minutes to Boston depending on time of day. Add up to an hour if you are going at rush hour.

Ludlow has no wine bars and nothing whatsoever is hip about it. But it is convenient for your purposes. Palmer is another option. Keep in mind for your purposes of getting into Boston you want to be as close to the mass pike as you can be.

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magnumkitty1790 t1_iwa2jpm wrote

Grafton or Shrewsbury would be an hour either way for both of you! Also, you could take the train into Boston from Grafton. There is a Trader Joe’s in Shrewsbury.

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