Is Amherst/Northampton, MA a good place to live?

I may be going to grad school at U-Mass-Amherst, and am wondering about the quality of life. I love the outdoors/hiking/snowshoeing/biking and a great cultural life (arts, events, dining, coffee shops, comfy non-dive bars). Do U-Mass students ever adapt to the (blech) huge concrete towers on campus? Are there also many young professionals in the area? Easy to meet people?

I went to UMass-Amherst for undergrad. Considering it’s a college town and there are so many students there, in both Amherst and Northampton, there’s plenty of cultural stuff to do there. There’s a lot of hiking and outdoor stuff to do. (I live in Boston now and still go out to that area to go snowshoeing or hiking). There’s skiing within an hours drive as well, and a great bike trail between Amherst and Northampton built on an old railroad bed.

Boston’s only 2 hours away by car and there are buses that go as well. So it’s also easy to get into Boston which has of course lots of big city stuff to offer.

It’s too bad about the concrete towers on campus because otherwise it’s a gorgeous area.

Overall I think the Amherst/Northampton area is excellent – certainly an excellent place to go to school. I’m not sure I could live there forever but I’m glad I can still go visit for a weekend.

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