Community, with a heavy dose of university culture, is at the core of Amherst. Despite being a town dominated by universities though, and thus possessing a high temporary population during the school year, Amherst is home to plenty of folks who live their entire lives in the area or simply stay for life after going to school here. There are tons of volunteer opportunities and political gatherings (extremely liberal so if that ain't your thing then steer clear), to the countless private meetup groups, to the community events sponsored by town hall and the chamber of commerce, to the weekend farmer’s markets, Amherst is a town defined by its strong sense of community. 

Unlike many college towns, the university population and the rest of the populace are well-integrated and generally on friendly terms, lending a strong sense of local identity to a somewhat isolated area. 

Housing in Amherst is widely agreed by locals to be problematic. The parts of town surrounding university campuses in particular have been known to suffer increasingly high prices for both home ownership and rental. More and more local housing has been purchased to accommodate the high student populations, but some students report being housed in hotels and bussed to school in the morning. Add into this the fact that apartment rental rates have also gone up in light of the work-from-home boom of the past several years, Amherst, while still less expensive on the whole than the most of the rest of the country, particularly nearby New York and Boston, the prices can be surprisingly high. Additionally, actually finding a place to live can prove a time-consuming and costly endeavor. For this reason, it is recommended to secure housing before moving to Amherst. 

Intellectual Community

LookyLOO Review of Amherst?

Amherst prides itself on making a wide array of lifestyles happen here. Students will naturally find much to entertain themselves with in the local college party scene, but working professional adults can also make it work with diverse bar and restaurant options. Amherst prides itself not only on farm-to-table cuisine but also local, independently-owned options over chain restaurants at every opportunity. 

Hiking and cycling in the nearby forests gives locals a chance to commune with the gorgeous New England scenery, while those interested in high culture have museums dedicated to national history, art, literature, and natural history, as well as live music spots and theaters. Community events sponsored by the local library also provide entertainment for Amherst’s younger residents. 

Check out the Amherst [calendar of events](https://www.amherstbulletin.com/Events#!/) to see what happens here throughout the year.

We highly recommend visiting Amherst and staying in the community in a [VRBO](https://vrbo.com/affiliate/p4JS4ZC) rather than a hotel to get a feel for living among the locals. You can receive discounted fares on travel via our [partnership with Expedia](expedia.com/affiliate/9NZ8LBQ) as well.

Lifestyle 

As befitting a community-oriented city, much of the worklife of Amherst centers around giving back to the community. Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst provide work for professors, administrators, healthcare workers, and facilities workers, as does the local school district. The local service sector thrives due to the high number of locally-owned businesses. The agricultural sector employs countless workers, in part thanks to assistance from the universities’ respective agricultural science programs. And finally, the public sector, namely the public works department, the parks department, and the chamber of commerce, provide countless jobs for lifelong residents. If you are willing or looking to give back to your new home while you make your living, Amherst is the place for you. 


Worklife 

The pristine natural beauty of western Massachusetts, vibrant public and private sectors of the economy, and friendly populace all add to the immense local charm of Amherst. If you're looking for a place to settle down and raise a family, a place to start over as a young single/couple professional, or a student hoping to start the next stage of your life, Amherst should make your shortlist. 


The Beauty

Why You Should Move Here Now

**Fit-Bullfrog6681**
2y ago
🦉🦉🦉

Biggest frustration from west coast and NYC transplants is the comparative restaurant scene.

In fact there are bunch of good restaurants in the area, including Northampton, but it cannot possibly compete with SF or NYC.

Health care is an issue in terms of supply and quality.

Folks with serious issues — cardiac, cancer, other specialized areas — might make day round trips to Boston for treatment.

The few people with money don’t show it off. Few if any Porsche or BMW. Plenty of Subaru, Toyota… Strong biking and hiking culture. Strong loyalty to local businesses and opposition to chains.

Fall is spectacular. Winter is tough but the equipment to plow roads is agricultural industrial unlike places like DC and North Carolina where a dusting of snow shuts down the world.

No one cares about high fashion. Wear whatever you want and you’ll fit in. Karma is calm and simple. Food is local and fresh. Seafood is not a strength, being 80 miles from the ocean.

Beachfront means a small lake. One of the main centers of western Buddhism and “mindfulness.”
Small town. Word gets around. Peaceful, quiet, and calm as long as you are not close to a fraternity. If you don’t want college noise, you have to carefully evaluate locations and other houses on a street and nearby. This is farmland and woods primarily.

For more reviews of what living in Amherst is like from locals, check out [The Reviews](https://lookyloomove.com/locations/amherst/reviews).

Reviews of Amherst from Locals

Central Amherst is both the center/downtown area of Amherst as well as the home of the University of Amherst. If you like your college towns with a college smack dab in the middle + you want to live in that vortex of energy then this is your neighborhood. 

Central is known for being a downtown with tree-lined streets and a mix of older historical homes and newer condo/apartment options for young professionals and students. newer homes. Besides being a quintessential small-town downtown Central also is filled with a larger quantity of boutique shopping, great restaurants, cafes and even outdoor play spots, including the Amherst Common where a lot of community events happen. 

The neighborhood has good public transportation for a small town, particularly for student destinations so you can survive for a bit without a car. 

Young Professionals/Students

Central Amherst

North Amherst is an interesting mix of families, who enjoy the historical and more recently built and reasonably priced homes here, and undergrad and graduate students/families from UMass Amherst, who live in one of several large apartment complexes. 

North Amherst has its own Historic District which is a beautiful example of a traditional farming village. Locals love the mellow commercial district, which gives the area its own gravitational pull, separate from the Center of Amherst. The streets of North Amherst are wide and treelined, the sidewalks broad and kid-friendly, and the parks great for sports or just walking and picnicking. 

Families/Students

North Amherst

East Village is also an historic district (lots of these in Amherst) that is primarily known as a quiet, residential neighborhood, filled with spacious single-family homes. 

While close to the center of Amherst, East Village is "suburban" in the sense the homes are on large lots, the streets are quiet and completely kid-friendly, and you steer clear of the student racket if you choose to raise the kiddos here. The schools in the area are excellent(true for all of Amherst) and easy access to the city center when you need a night out makes it pretty perfect for a family looking to escape, but not too far. 

Families

East Village

Amherst

**kittykalii**
2y ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

There is a lot to do in this area! I moved here for grad school in 2015 and have lived here since. There’s a small downtown area in Amherst (walking distance from campus) with restaurants, bars, and small businesses. About a 5 min drive from campus is a strip with grocery stores and general shopping (target, wal mart, Michael’s, Marshall’s, home depot etc. + many fast food/fast casual restaurants). Northampton is about a 15 min drive and has a ton of stuff to do— restaurants, bars, shopping, music. There’s great hiking in the area. About 2 hours to Boston, 3/4 to New York. The Berkshires are about an hour/hour and a half away— it’s super picturesque with a lot to do (including skiing if that’s your thing!). I’ve lived here for almost a decade and have settled nicely in the area. There are cows and farms, too, but that’s only part of what’s going on. Good luck!

**old_books86**
2y ago
🦉🦉🦉🦉

Each campus of the five college consortium have their own gems. Amherst, Smith, and Mount Holyoke have world class art museums, and UMass has its own impressive contemporary art museum. Amherst College also has a natural history museum and an observatory. Mount Holyoke and Smith have really gorgeous victorian greenhouses that are open year round but especially essential in the cold winter months. There are some good restaurants but even more unique to the area is the local produce. There are farmers markets on campus and in the local villages. There are also tons of farm stands where you can find fresh and inexpensive ingredients to explore. There are outdoor opportunities for any comfort level. There are hiking trails, boating/water sports on the Connecticut river, and rock climbing opportunities. Skiing, ice skating, sledding in the winter. Bookstores, libraries, antique stores, local history. And of course, UMass Hockey.

It's definitely not a city but we have access to so much, and most of the things I mentioned above are completely free with a student ID. Thanks for asking!

**NesquikKnight**
2y ago
🦉🦉🦉

My wife and I went to UMass and ended up moving back out here from Eastern MA a couple of years ago and love it.

As far as the town goes, South Amherst is sleepier than North Amherst and Downtown, with lots of conservation land and access to the New England hiking trail (CT->Canada). Downtown is ever changing with a lot of great restaurants and a music scene that's starting to pick up steam. As you move closer to North Amherst you'll see quite a bit of rental properties for students and during the school year there will be nightly foot traffic as you get closer to UMass.

I will say the tax situation is annoying in Amherst where the property taxes are considerably higher than the surrounding areas, and almost twice as much as Eastern MA.

Health care options are fine but not fantastic, there are a few urgent care centers but the quality of care is hit or miss. The closest hospital is a 20-25min drive. If you need a specialist your best bet would be to drive out to Burlington or Boston, about 1hr40min away, granted Boston has some of the best hospitals in the world.

There are plenty of community/volunteer opportunities in the area of all varieties.

Overall, it's a great little rural college town, I think the year round population is 14k and it jumps up to 45-49k when the schools are in session. Between Northampton, Hadley, and Amherst you can find most of what you need locally and if not at worst the closest big mall is about 25 minutes away. There is a big emphasis here on locally sourced goods and rightfully so with all of the great little farms in the area. A note on that, Amherst is in a right to farm county, meaning if you've ever wanted a little hobby farm, have at it.

**Fit-Bullfrog6681**
2y ago
🦉🦉🦉

Biggest frustration from west coast and NYC transplants is the comparative restaurant scene.

In fact there are bunch of good restaurants in the area, including Northampton, but it cannot possibly compete with SF or NYC.

Health care is an issue in terms of supply and quality.

Folks with serious issues — cardiac, cancer, other specialized areas — might make day round trips to Boston for treatment.

The few people with money don’t show it off. Few if any Porsche or BMW. Plenty of Subaru, Toyota… Strong biking and hiking culture. Strong loyalty to local businesses and opposition to chains.

Fall is spectacular. Winter is tough but the equipment to plow roads is agricultural industrial unlike places like DC and North Carolina where a dusting of snow shuts down the world.

No one cares about high fashion. Wear whatever you want and you’ll fit in. Karma is calm and simple. Food is local and fresh. Seafood is not a strength, being 80 miles from the ocean.

Beachfront means a small lake. One of the main centers of western Buddhism and “mindfulness.”
Small town. Word gets around. Peaceful, quiet, and calm as long as you are not close to a fraternity. If you don’t want college noise, you have to carefully evaluate locations and other houses on a street and nearby.

This is farmland and woods primarily.

Amherst, Massachusetts

Smarty Pants

Looklyloo Score: 92