Ha, ha, cw...how are you? Seriously though, anyone enjoy Old Sturbridge Village like I do? Not so far away from Wusstah.

Awesome and Springfield should never be in the same sentence! I figured that the entire post is some code....maybe a clandestine message is hidden in one of those paragraphs. I can see it now..."meet me at the hip-hop club between the two LGBT bars at 16:38"
Gotta love this forum!

Hi Bill, I'm well and enjoying our summer weather--nice change. I do like OSV a lot. I was there for a conference a few years ago and skipped most of the talks because lambs were being born and you were able to see them taking their first tentative steps. It was amazing--better than any lectures that I missed. Hope both of you are well.

Yellowbyrd--I like your theory of it being a code. Pretty clever--better than the classified ads!

Ozarkbill, my point in saying "or even Springfield IL" in this context is that Springfield MA isn't to my way of thinking even the best "Springfield" city option to visit in the US. The one in Illinois to my mind has much more to offer a sightseer than the Massachusetts one.

Hope this clarifies.

wow, I was born in Springfield Ma., haven't been back since 1967, but maybe I should return ;-)!

Well, from what I hear gay friends, Springfield is now more or less where the South End in Boston was in the early 1980's. There is lots of terrific housing available for a relative song, the public spaces have possibilities, and the crime is certainly no worse than in the South End at that time. If you know Boston, you know prices in the South End today.

Within an hour of Springfield, you can enjoy the Berkshires and their scenery and cultural life, Amherst and Northampton ditto, and Hartford and Worcester, both of which have outstanding museums and active music scenes. If you don't want to restore a Victorian, Longmeadow is a pleasant upscale suburb to Springfield, and Bradley International airport is nearby. Skiiing is not far away in Vermont and NH.

Of course there are all those inconvenient brown people who don't speak English, but they were in the South End as well before they got gentrified away.

I have no idea whether the poster is genuine or not, but there is nothing you can say about Springfield that you could not have said about Notting Hill in London in the eighties or the Nineteenth arrondisement in Paris in the nineties.

Ackislander, I agree with what you said but the OP made it sound like its a must-see vacation destination which it definitely isn't. Other areas around would be - the Berkshires, Amherst

I agree that places change but at least Notting Hill and the 19th arrondisement were/are better located than Springfield, MA.

Yeah, bachslunch, I realized you weren't being mean about the Springfield, IL, where I went to high school! Interestingly, in Springfield, MO, where we lived till last year a radio announcer took a trip to visit all the Springfields in the U. S.

Ozarksbill: What did he report about Springfield, Massachusetts?

Actually he mostly just talked about his journey rather than about the Springfields. Another time he challenged himself to visit all 48 contiguous states in a week (or so I remember) which was quite a challenge. Then as an older guy he joined the National Guard and went overseas.

I was sorry to hear of the devastation and deaths caused by the tornado that made its way to the center of Springfield yesterday. Very weird weather indeed and a first for Springfield.

Its bad. As I said, I live 20 minutes southeast of Springfield in CT and it was a bad night as you could hear the storm going just north of us.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.s...h_pioneer.html

I feel really bad for the people in this area. But there have been some uplifting stories about people going out of their way and helping each other.

Very Weird. Very.

When I saw this thread I assumed it was about yesterday's tornado so was very surprised to see it was all (except the last two replies) before that. I am, like several of the above posters, someone who moved to the Pioneer Valley by choice many years ago - after growing up in the NYC area and briefly sampling Colorado and New Hampshire. It was a conscious decision to move here and raise our family, and we considered many other parts of the country. No one place is perfect and I've been mostly very happy with my decision to live here. We live north of Northampton.

But Springfield? Really? You gotta be kidding. It's someplace to go if you need to buy something you can't get in Northampton or Amherst and you don't have time to go to NY or Boston. You drive past it (on I-91) not TO it. The Pioneer Valley has lots to offer and I can see why someone might make it a destination (and even at that I think it's a better place to LIVE than to VISIT) - but Springfield is a boring small city - not a bad place, but why someone would make it a destination is way beyond me. And why someone would register with Fodor's only to post this one thread (and a few reviews, all of the Springfield area)? I just don't get it. And to the OP - if you bothered to register and post this, why not come back and defend your position. Unless you are a troll - but I can't figure out why someone would bother to do that either.

Too bad about the tornado though.

isabel, out of curiosity, what town do you live in? I went UMass so I know the area quite well...

This reply comes fairly later than everything before, so sorry for my tardiness...
I liked the article, written by a travel enthousiast or the chamber of commerce really didn't matter.
My family and I visit Springfield once or twice every year for the last 4 years, always during 3 day weekend road trips from Montreal. Our main draw is Six Flags New England. More often than not, it is our only stop as we proceed to visit Boston or Newport RI on the next day.
We have seen a few of the sites such as the Quadrangle which was very nice although small. We usually stay at a cheaper hotel, a Red Roof either in West Springfield or Agawam. We enjoy the shopping (not that it's very different) and some of the restaurants - On the Border and Acapulco's Family Restaurant (almost a draw itself).
We'll have to visit Forest Park next time - but we'll skip the Basketball hall of fame (simply not fans).

I worked in Springfield for ten years, stopped ten years ago and rarely go back.
Now the Pioneer Vally North of Springfield is very interesting.

To call Springfield artsy is absurd.

I went to college 4 years in Springfield. Perhaps things have changed (dramatically) because it was a terribly boring city at that time.

(loved Amherst/Northampton area though)