Western Mass but not Springfield, which is a dead, crime ridden city now. Try the suburbs of Springfield or go a bit northward to places like Easthampton. Western Mass cities like Northampton used to be cheap but NYers moved in and took over so Northampton is more expensive than it used to be. It's still nowhere as expensive as the Boston area though. The Northampton area is artsy and very cultured with great colleges but not a lot of jobs unless you are a college professor or you work in a service type job.

Maybe you could live somewhere around Northampton and commute to a job in the Springfield area, but definitely stay away from Springfield as a place to live. I don't know why some posters are recommended Springfield but it's probably because they have never been there, have never seen it. They probably wouldn't recommend their "prize" city of Lawrence to you!

Where I live there are more bears now than there were back when the early settlers lived here. (source: CT DEEP). Their numbers are rapidly increasing every year due to free food and locals who think they are "cute" and instead of scaring them away, they leave food out or just let them feel safe waking into their garage or around their yard. This is a well established suburban family neighborhood. There are also a lot of seniors who live here. Things have changed and the state needs to let people hunt bears. I don't like killing animals but in the past they would have starved and died anyway. People here don't feel safe letting their kids play outside and seniors can't even go for a walk anymore.

Already mentioned above. THE best.

This place has amazing food. It used to be by the river in Unionville/Farmington but a few years ago they moved to a better location. The chef is outstanding.

I think a few people here already solved the mystery. The person is using green wood, says he had somebody drop some branches and logs in the yard recently and that's what he's using. The chimney was inspected last year but never used so it sounds like the issue is unseasoned wood. Got to wait a year to use it.