I've lived in big cities most of my life, so I don't expect
much living in a college town area. Nonetheless, there are some good
surprises around, with shops and services whose quality match or
approach their urban counterparts. And then there are other places
which have the audacity to charge Manhattan or Boston-like prices while
providing the mediocre...
Food
- Best Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurant: Bela in Northampton,
hands-down. Their entrees are consistently good, and so are their
desserts. There's better food in NYC or Boston for those of us who
avoid dead animals, but Bela is more than acceptable. Find them with Google Maps.
- Best Vegetarian/Vegan Brunch: Lone Wolf in Amherst. Good service and a vegan menu section make this a favorite, esp. the vegan omelette or burrito. Only one time have I had an issue: over-cooked homefries whose outside had too much non-diamonoid carbon for my taste, and they quickly gave a new plate of it when asked.
- Best Asian Food, that Definitely Does Not Suck: Either Hunan Gourmet in Northampton on King Street, or Fresh Side in Amherst on South Pleasant (downtown). Hunan Gourmet got new chefs and management in May/June 2007, and they even got a dim sum chef; it was good before that, and it's really good now, on par with places in much bigger, more competitive cities.
Spa
- Most Overrated Spa: Brooks and Butterfield in Northampton.
They charge $100 for a facial where their aesthetician didn't know to
keep the goop out of the client's mouth, nor did she 'fess up to the
mistake. My girlfriend and I were disappointed - they won the Advocate
"Best of the Valley" award for several years in a row, but we found out
that there's no control/check there for ballot stuffing... A complaint
was sent to them; nothing was heard back. That's three strikes. Avoid 'em.
Home, i.e. Real Estate
- Worst Real-Estate Value: Amherst. If you're new to the
area, you'll quickly find that apartment rentals in Amherst suck, for
the money asked. $500/month doesn't get you anything by yourself except for
tiny studios, and some places that are 15-20 minutes from UMass by bus are on the order of $680 per
month for a cruddy basement studio apartment. Ridiculous. I actually
hope the University builds more apartments/dorms to tilt the market
towards over-supply, and teach landlords a lesson, 'cuz they've had it
too easy for too long, renting out crappy, run-down places for big-city
rates. In the meanwhile, consider Hadley, NoHo,
Sunderland, and Belchertown (a tragically bad choice of name, but a
nice town); or, get good roommates.
- Most Useful Rental Resources: the Western Mass
Craigslist, and the UMass
off-campus housing office. Both websites have regularly
updated listings; when you're looking for a place, be prepared to move
fast. That means, bring a checkbook - by the time you've seen 5+
places, you should know when a good spot turns up so you can simply
plunk down a deposit right there and then. Don't forget to check the
water pressure and faucets at a place: tepid showers and old-style
separate hot/cold taps happen to tick me off.
The UMass off-campus housing office (CSHRC) can also help you deal with landlords; they know which ones suck (e.g. landlords who try to skirt the law by asking for more deposit, or have a record of taking more of your deposit when you move out, and jerks who take advantage of international students) and they can help read your lease before you sign it. I even had an issue once with Whiting Heating Oil, which tried to charge us a new customer fee when we had been customers for years, and it was cleared up in 10 minutes by the helpful folks at CSHRC.
Car Maintenance and Mechanics
- Most Reliable Car Mechanic, Thus Far: Firestone in
Northampton, on King Street. Yah, you might think a national chain
would offer merely passable car service, but every time I've taken my
Euro/Teutonic car there, they've done a good job at a very fair price.
- Most Disappointing Car Mechanic: Veryl's, in South Hadley.
At first, I was really impressed by their cleanliness and
friendliness, they did the job I needed (a battery replacement) quickly
and smoothly, and without causing a reset of my car's electrical system
(you need to maintain 12V to the car during the battery swap otherwise
the radio will reset and become unusable without a code).
However, the next day, I noticed that my front hood didn't
seem fully closed - when I popped it, I discovered the mechanic had
left two big socket wrenches on the left inside ledge of the hood,
preventing it from closing properly!! @#$@#$ WTF.
They called me to ask that I return the wrenches, and I did
so, expressing my disappointment in their quality control; they
apologized, but didn't offer anything else. Uncool form for
such a major mistake. It's really too bad, the cartalk.com
website showed they had excellent ratings, but I can't shrug off such
a big goof that could easily have scrapped my engine.