Chicopee

A calm downtown area located along the Connecticut River and skirted by Interstate 391, Chicopee Center has been the site of an appealing city sprawl for 150 years and counting. "You're close to Elms College in that area," says Rebecca Kingston, a Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Realty Professionals who sells homes throughout the Pioneer Valley. "The students add a lot of life." As murals bloom on business walls and locals explore the arrival of new small businesses, Chicopee Center continues its community-led growth into an easygoing commercial hub for surrounding homes. Besides friendly staff, clean facilities and a colorful kids' room, Chicopee Public Library attracts locals for a wide range of community events. These include story time, reading challenges, yoga classes, and even a summer concert series—not to mention monthly visits from Lorraine's Mobile Pantry, which provides fresh fruits and vegetables to the community. Meanwhile, the year-round Center Fresh Chicopee Farmers Market facilitates the setup of produce and craft vendors in stalls at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Chicopee Center. "Restaurants are a draw in Chicopee Center," Kingston says. Munich Haus is a popular spot that welcomes hungry Chicopee residents with arched entryways and a Biergarten. This outdoor setting is prime for sampling beers and German cuisine with friends and neighbors. Island Spice, a brand-new Sri Lankan restaurant, is making waves in its brick-and-mortar location alongside Hot Oven Cookies and Mia Moda, a refreshing women's clothing boutique. These are just a few examples of many small businesses in the downtown area, while grocers like Fruit Fair have been in the community for decades, providing fresh produce and ingredients to the community. Locals can also cross the river to reach ALDI, Costco Wholesale and other big box options at Riverdale Shops. The streets branching off from Chicopee Center's commercial areas are lined with brick and vinyl-sided Cape Cods and ranch-style homes ranging from $280,000 to $320,000. They're joined by homes that were built in the mid-1800s to early 1900s to house multiple families. Grand Queen Anne styles and Colonial Revivals tower over passersby, some containing balconies on all floors or wraparound porches. These range in price between $280,000 and $570,000, depending on the renovations and updates needed. Those interested may need to move quickly to secure their new home. "Similar to other areas in Chicopee, there's a lot of turnover and low inventory," Kingston says. "There is a lot of demand when a new home comes on the market." The area's youngest learners start at Patrick E. Bowe Elementary School, which has a C rating on Niche and a student-teacher ratio of 13-1. Sergeant Kevin A. Dupont Middle School, also earning a C, is right next door. Students finish strong at Chicopee High School, which earns a B rating on Niche and offers a robust selection of clubs, including the game club, chess club and the future businesses club. College of Our Lady of the Elms—more commonly known as Elms College—is a small, private institution that's central within Chicopee. For fresh air in the downtown area, locals head to Dana Park. This grassy field has space for fun sports and relaxing days with family and friends, whether they crack a ball at the baseball diamond, shoot hoops at the basketball court, or clamber around the playground. Chicopee Center is also close to the interactive tanks and bike paths at Szot Park. On rainy days or quiet afternoons, the Chicopee Public Library has residents covered. "Chicopee Center is very central to a lot of surrounding communities," says Kingston. "It's a great hub to the rest of town." For residents, "town" could mean the 4-mile drive on Interstate 91 to downtown Springfield, the 5.5-mile trip on I-391 across the Connecticut River to downtown Holyoke, or a similarly short drive to West Springfield, Wilbraham and more. The neighborhood is also 6 miles to Westover Air Reserve Base—the largest air reserve base in the country—and 11 miles to Massachusetts Air National Guard, each accompanied by a regional airport. Locals can cross the border to Bradley International Airport, 23 miles away, for commercial flights. Baystate Medical Center and Mercy Medical Center are both 2 miles away, and PVTA bus routes, while spotty, travel to each. With such a significant Air Force base presence, Chicopee residents are no strangers to the sounds and vibrations from C-130s flying overhead.

Chicopee Falls straddles the north and south sides of the Chicopee River, the waterway that began powering the city’s textile mill industry in the 1820s. People from across New England, and as far away as Poland and Ireland, settled in Chicopee Falls to work in the mills and factories along the river. They’re no longer in operation, so the neighborhood north of Springfield, Massachusetts, has evolved. Nineteenth-century worker housing was renovated or built over, and two developers are turning a former cotton fabric factory site into housing. “There's an industrial side to the area," says Fred Gonzales, an agent with Executive Real Estate who has been selling properties in Chicopee for 7 years. "There are some old run-down industrial buildings they're turning into new apartment buildings.” The transformation from an industrial hub to a residential neighborhood is further complemented by the ongoing renovations to Szot Park. Even before it became a public green space in the 1930s, Szot Park served as a hangout for Chicopee residents. The family who owned the land before then used its pond to harvest and sell ice. Hundreds of locals would trespass onto the property on Sunday afternoons to ice skate in the winter and swim in the summer. However, failing dams and worsening water quality eventually rendered the pond unusable. Today, Szot Park is better known for its playground and baseball and softball fields, but its water features are getting an upgrade. The city recently started an ongoing project to restore the brook that connects the pond to the Chicopee River. This will improve the water quality, and the city plans to add waterside trails, more trees and an outdoor classroom. Four other smaller parks are spread across Chicopee Falls. Several large events come to Szot Park throughout the year. The annual Fourth of July fireworks show over the park’s baseball field is a tradition experienced by generations of residents. “I remember being a kid lying in Szot Park on a blanket watching fireworks,” Chicopee Mayor John Vieau says. The city has expanded its events calendar in the past decade with festivities such as the Spooktacular. Around Halloween, a couple of thousand trick-or-treaters come to the park, where vendors hand out candy and attendees brave a haunted bus. The two-family Victorian homes mill workers once called home are still a common housing option. They typically cost between $215,000 and $450,000. Additional single-family homes were built over the past century, including Colonial Revivals, Cape Cods and ranches, selling for $250,000 to $400,000. Some Colonial-inspired new builds have been added on the east side, priced from the mid-$400,000s to the mid-$500,000s. Price points draw many buyers to the neighborhood on Chicopee’s southern edge, Gonzalez says. "Chicopee Falls is on the outskirts of town, so you'll find investor properties and starter homes.” The average home value is about $300,000, lower than the Springfield metro’s average of $400,000 or the national average of $550,000. A few homes are at risk of flooding, so buyers may want to research flood zones and insurance options. The city’s mill industry drew immigrants from across Europe and Canada, and it remains a mix of cultures. That’s evident in Chicopee Falls’ food scene, where restaurants serve cuisine from Korean to Nuevo Latino. Milano’s opened in Chicopee Falls in 1987, quickly becoming a local favorite for pizza. First Oriental Grocery sells traditional Korean ingredients, and there are two supermarkets within a mile of the neighborhood: Big Y to the north and Stop & Shop to the south. Both grocery stores are in shopping centers alongside mixes of small shops and big-box stores. Examples include Madrag clothing store and Walmart. A mile west of the neighborhood is Chicopee Center, a restaurant and retail district that acts as the city’s downtown. Most children don’t have to go far from the neighborhood to attend public schools. Barry Elementary School on the north side of Chicopee Falls gets a B-plus from Niche, while C-rated First Sgt. Kevin A. Dupont Middle School is just west of the neighborhood. Chicopee High School in Chicopee Falls scores a B. The high school’s career pathways let students take courses focused on careers such as graphic communication health science and TV and video production. Immigrant communities founded churches across Chicopee in the 1800s and early 1900s, with Greek Americans starting Sts. Constantine and Helen Green Orthodox Church in Chicopee Falls in 1918. Other neighborhood churches are mostly Protestant congregations. First Central Bible Church operates The Lord’s Pantry, where Chicopee families can pick up groceries every Tuesday. Interstate 291 runs through the east side of Chicopee Falls. Drivers can take it 6 miles south to Springfield, the metro area’s biggest city where many Chicopee residents work. Interstate 90 on the north end of the neighborhood leads to Worcester and Boston, 50 and 90 miles away respectively. While the city is largely car-dependent, public transport is easily within reach of those in Chicopee Falls, thanks to several Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus stops along Broadway Street and the neighborhood's southwest side. The closest commercial airport is Bradley International Airport, 25 miles away in Connecticut.

Sandy Hill is Chicopee’s most residential-heavy neighborhood, attracting residents for more than 50 years to simple homes on moderately sized yards. Bonnie Roux, a Chicopee native and Realtor with ERA M. Connie Laplante Real Estate, says “what draws people to Sandy Hill in my line of work is it’s an established neighborhood, and the streets are walkable — not necessarily where there are sidewalks, but you see people walking and saying hi to their neighbors.” The community 3 miles north of Springfield, Massachusetts, is surrounded by interstates and business-heavy neighborhoods, meaning residents of its 800 homes are rarely more than a few minutes from a night out, a shopping run or their workplace. Ranches, split-levels and Cape Cod homes fill quarter-acre lots dotted with leafy trees most of the year. True to its name, Sandy Hill’s elevation provides glimpses of surrounding neighborhoods and natural features. “There are parts of Sandy Hill where you get nice views of Chicopee Center and the Holyoke mountain range,” Roux says. Houses usually cost between $250,000 and $375,000. Homes built since the 2010s are clustered on the south side, selling from $425,000 to $550,000. Despite the proximity to the Chicopee River, homes aren’t in federally designated flood zones. Sandy Hill’s few businesses are concentrated along Grattan Street, where Arnold’s Meats sells pepper steaks and Italian sausages from a red barn. Immediately northwest of the neighborhood, restaurants line Grattan Street. Kyomi serves Asian fusion in a dining room lit by the soft glow of bulbs diffused through paper umbrellas lining the ceiling. It’s about a mile to Memorial Drive, the city’s commercial artery. Shopping centers flank either side of the road, housing supermarkets, chain restaurants and big-box stores such as Walmart and The Home Depot. Mom-and-pop restaurants and cafes are bunched together in Chicopee Center, a neighborhood south of Sandy Hill that acts as the city’s downtown. Founded in 1918, Bernardino’s Bakery in 2004 broke a world record when it baked a 52-foot-long challah bread. A pair of local fraternal organization chapters meet on Granby Road in Sandy Hill. Chicopee Knights of Columbus hold martini nights and car shows at its building, while the Elks Lodge is known for its Tuesday bingo nights and themed dinners, such as French Night. Granby Road is also where Healing Hands of Light Spiritualist Church meets every Sunday. The group gathered in a Victorian church in Springfield until 2013 when MGM bought the property for its casino. To preserve the 129-year-old church, the casino in 2016 moved the 500-ton structure about two football fields away, and Healing Hands of Light Spiritualist Church relocated to Chicopee. Three public schools are within 2 miles of Sandy Hill. Barry Elementary School gets a C-plus grade from Niche, and it has an active parent-teacher organization sponsoring events such as Halloween trunk-or-treat. After fifth grade, children can go to C-rated 1st Sgt. Kevin A. Dupont Middle School. Many students advance to Chicopee Comprehensive High School; the B-rated school’s career and technical education courses include design technology, drafting and horticulture. The Chicopee River flows on the south side of Sandy Hill, but it’s not used for recreation besides occasional fishing from the banks. Szetela Park handles baseball, softball, basketball and soccer games on its three fields. Garrity Grove less than a mile east of Sandy Hill opens a free spray park every summer, and nearby Ray Ash Park is where Little League softball teams often practice. Most homes in the car-heavy neighborhood are within a fifth of a mile of Granby Road, the central street through Sandy Hill. An interchange in the neighborhood connects Granby Road to Interstate 391, which leads 3 miles south to Springfield, home to Baystate Medical Center. Nearby Interstate 90, also known as Massachusetts Turnpike, travels 50 miles east to Worcester and 40 miles farther to Boston. “The biggest thing I tell buyers about is the location,” says local Realtor Joseph Kelley, broker and co-owner of Kelley & Katzer Real Estate. “The convenience is one of the big things in Chicopee.” Pioneer Valley Transit Authority buses stop on Grattan Street as they run between Springfield and the city of Holyoke. Planes fly to 45 destinations from Bradley International Airport, 25 miles south of the neighborhood.

The Burnett Road neighborhood is confined to the southeastern corner of Chicopee, Massachusetts, tucked between a state park and Interstate 90. Residents of the neighborhood’s midcentury subdivisions live alongside some of the most notable green spaces in the city of 55,000 people. Houses often back up to the forests of Chicopee Memorial State Park, the fairways of Chicopee Country Club or the shaded banks of Fuller Brook. Though the neighborhood is geographically separated from the rest of the city, it shares the advantages that attract many house hunters in the Springfield area to Chicopee. A big one is the city’s ability to generate its own electricity through a hydroelectric plant, says Patt Gajda, broker of Skye Mountain Realty and a Chicopee resident. “I recently sold a house to young people who came from another town. They were remarking on how the utilities are so inexpensive compared to surrounding towns. They’re telling their friends about this place.” Meanwhile, Burnett Road has the lowest CAP Index Crime Score among Chicopee’s eight neighborhoods. Burnett Road scores 2 out of 10, with 10 indicating highest crime. That’s lower than the national average of 4. <br><br>Chicopee Memorial State Park’s 575 acres of woodlands cover the north and west sides of Burnett Road. Sunbathers and lifeguards line the sandy Chicopee Reservoir beachfront in the summer, while more than 7 miles of trails are open year-round to hikers, mountain bikers and cross-country skiers. Some homes on Burnett Road are across the street from the park entrance and a half-mile walk from the beach and trailheads. However, most people would need to use the parking lot, which costs $8 for state residents. “There are always people and their kids and dogs having fun, especially in the fall,” says Fred Gonzalez, a Realtor with Executive Real Estate. “People enjoy the foliage. Everything is all yellow and red." Williams Park next door has a playground and fields for baseball, soccer and softball. Eastward on Burnett Road, Chicopee Country Club hosts an 18-hole, par-71 golf course. The city owns Chicopee Country Club, and golfers don’t have to be members to play the course designed by renowned architect Geoffrey Cornish. <br><br>In a clearing among the woods on the south end of the neighborhood, Oregon Sportsmen’s Club of Western Massachusetts hosts events throughout the year. In addition to meeting up for fishing and archery, members put on fishing derbies for kids and classic car shows and steak dinners for the entire community. These events often raise money for local nonprofits such as Shriners Children’s New England clinic in Springfield. <br><br>Burnett Road was developed later than many Chicopee neighborhoods. As a result, ranches and split-levels fill the neighborhood rather than the Victorian homes seen in other parts of town. Homes were laid out uniformly on lots varying from a quarter to a third of an acre. Even the subdivisions without sidewalks have minimal traffic and wide streets, enabling residents to go for strolls or walk their dogs. Most homes aren’t in walking distance of neighborhood businesses, and a lack of crosswalks on Burnett Road makes it tougher to walk beyond individual subdivisions. Mobile homes sell in the low $100,000s, while most site-built houses are priced from the high $200,000s to the mid-$400,000s. Large colonial and Cape Cod-inspired new traditional homes next to Chicopee Country Club cost roughly $600,000. Small pockets of the neighborhood face flood risks, so homebuyers may need to research flood insurance options. <br><br>Businesses are concentrated along Burnett Road. Manufacturers, warehouses and Bowlero Chicopee bowling alley are on the south end, with fast-food restaurants farther north along the road. The street continues past Country Trading Post & Restaurant, a barn-shaped stop for plates of kielbasas and eggs or Vermont cheddar chicken sandwiches. An attached convenience store sells snacks and drinks. A Big Y supermarket is less than 2 miles east of the neighborhood in the town of Ludlow. Two miles west of Burnett Road, Walmart, The Home Depot and other retail chains fill the shopping centers on Memorial Drive, Chicopee’s primary shopping corridor. Immigrants from countries around the world have settled in Chicopee for more than 100 years, contributing to the mix of cuisine available in neighborhoods such as Chicopee Center and Chicopee Falls. “If you wanted Indian food, Middle Eastern food or Japanese food, we have all those things available to us,” Gajda says. <br><br>Litwin Elementary School near the middle of the neighborhood gets a B-minus Niche grade. School lunches often use local ingredients, such as butternut squash grown at McKinstry Farms in Chicopee and fish sticks from Red’s Best seafood market in Boston. C-rated 1st Sgt. Kevin A. Dupont Middle School is about 3 miles outside Burnett Road, and it’s just down the road from Chicopee High School, which gets a B. <br><br>Though it’s tucked away, Burnett Road is linked to the rest of the Springfield region by Interstate 291 and Interstate. The former leads to downtown Springfield, and the latter routes east to Worcester, 45 miles away, and Boston, 40 miles farther. Gonzalez says this makes the neighborhood a good landing spot for commuters. "Burnett Road is a popular pick for people who are relocating because of the interstate." Drivers also get on Interstate 291 to catch flights from Bradley International Airport, located 25 miles south of Burnett Road in Connecticut. The commercial airport flies to more than 45 destinations. <br><br>On the other side of Chicopee Memorial State Park from Burnett Road is the nation’s largest air reserve base: Westover Air Reserve Base. More than 4,000 people work military and civilian jobs on site, also home to Westover Metro Airport. Military aircraft and charter flights take off and land from the facility, but most flight paths don’t go over Burnett Road.

On a Wednesday morning in Willimansett, diners are wide awake at Jennifer’s Kitchen. They chat with each other from several booths away, and waitresses already know what customers will order by the time they sit down. The Willimansett neighborhood in Chicopee, Massachusetts, is about 3 miles long and includes more than 10,000 residents. Still, geography and history have made it a close-knit community. By the late 1800s, it became an enclave for French Canadian immigrants. Many worked in paper mills in the city of Holyoke, directly across the Connecticut River from Willimansett, rather than in Chicopee or nearby Springfield. The neighborhood is no longer defined by a single ethnicity or nationality, but it remains tucked away on Chicopee’s west end, between the Connecticut River and Interstate 391. Chicopee was built by factory work and immigrant communities, and Willimansett retains much of that identity. Restaurants and stores including Jennifer’s Kitchen line the neighborhood’s two north-south thoroughfares: Chicopee Street and Meadow Street. Kielbasa and babkas are available for pick-up from Bernat’s, a deli that started in Poland in 1914 before moving to Chicopee. The store hires a police detail to handle the annual mass of people who come on Good Friday to buy supplies for their Easter dinners. Patrons stuff bags and boxes with paczki, Polish pastries traditionally eaten on the holiday. Most Chicopee residents take care of their shopping 3 miles east of Willimansett along Memorial Drive. Big Y supermarket, Walmart, The Home Depot and other retail chains have stores in the shopping centers along the road. Chicopee has been an industrial center since the 1800s, when textile mills were built along the Chicopee River. One of the city’s largest remaining manufacturers operates on Meadow Street: Callaway Golf. The company makes more than 200,000 golf balls every day in the neighborhood. Residents are rarely more than a mile from taking in views of the river from the Connecticut Riverwalk and Bikeway. The trail follows the river for about 2 miles along the west side of Willimansett. Even in the middle of a chilly fall day, locals are walking along the path. Hikers and cyclists may encounter Chicopee Mayor John Vieau along the way. “I personally use it, and ride my bike on it almost every day,” Vieau says. The southern end of the trail ends at Medina Street Boat Ramp, an access point for the river. Sarah Jane Sherman Park, home to a skate park and three baseball diamonds, is the site of Chicopee’s annual National Night Out in August. Hundreds come for music, games and face-to-face time with local police officers and firefighters, who hand out backpacks and school supplies. One of the city’s biggest events, National Night Out has been held in Chicopee since 1994, garnering awards from the National Night Out organization. A few blocks away, Boys & Girls Club of Chicopee expanded its Willimansett facility in 2024 when it opened a teen center with a video game den, study areas and a digital media lab. Chicopee Street curves through the center of Willimansett, and most homes sit along smaller cross streets that run east and west of it. The oldest homes are on the north end, where multifamily homes with up to six bedrooms date to the late 1800s. Heading south, architecture transitions to American Foursquare and minimal traditional houses and finally ranches and split-levels. Regardless of style, single-family homes tend to be bunched together on small lots. Prices start around $200,000 for houses under 1,000 square feet, climbing to about $400,000 for 2,000-square-foot homes. Townhouses and condos are in the middle of the neighborhood, priced between the low $100,000s and low $200,000s. A floodwall and earthen dike have reduced the risk of flooding by the Connecticut River, according to FEMA. Children can stay in the neighborhood and attend Stefanik Elementary School, graded B-minus by Niche. The public elementary school was built in 1970 without a playground, but that changed in 2019 when the principal raised $60,000 from the community, students designed a playground and locals turned out to build it. After fifth grade, kids can go to Bellamy Middle School, scored a C-plus, and then B-rated Chicopee High School. Chicopee High has a long-running football rivalry with the city’s other high school, Chicopee Comprehensive High. The two teams play every Thanksgiving morning, and since 1964 the mayor has awarded the winning school with a trophy the schools trade back and forth: a 19th-century sword. Many of Chicopee’s churches were founded by immigrants who came in search of jobs, which is the case with St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Willimansett. Families from Poland started the Catholic parish in the 1920s so they could worship in their native language, and today the priest celebrates Mass in English, Polish and Spanish. Sidewalks are common and bike lanes are marked along major roads such as Chicopee Street and Meadow Street. Still, people typically get around by car. Interstate 391 leads from Willimansett 6 miles south to Springfield, where the highway connects to Interstate 91 and continues 30 miles farther to Hartford. Chicopee commute times average 20 minutes, 10 minutes shorter than the statewide average. Generally, the Springfield metro has lighter traffic than other cities in Massachusetts, says Peter Ruffini, president of the Springfield-based Realtor Association of Pioneer Valley. “If you were to experience Boston commute traffic, and then you came out here, you’d laugh. There is commuter traffic, especially on I-91. You just don’t see the gridlock you see in some other cities.” Interstate 391 also extends north of Willimansett to the city of Holyoke, home to the closest hospital: Holyoke Medical Center.

Some Chicopee neighborhoods center around the river that propelled the city’s 19th-century mill industry, but Fairview is built around a more modern feature of the Massachusetts community: Memorial Drive. Fairview is bisected by the four-lane road that has supermarket logos, fast-food signs and shopping centers lining either side of it. Nearly Fairview every resident lives within 2 miles of Memorial Drive, the city’s primary commercial drag. Plus, there are practical benefits to living in Chicopee compared to other communities in the Springfield metro, says resident Bonnie Roux. “We have our own electric company, so our electricity is much cheaper,” says Roux, a Realtor with ERA M. Connie Laplante Real Estate. “We started our own fiber optics services for cable, so it’s quicker, cheaper and we’re not having to go in for the national companies. We also have our own sanitation department. The trash gets picked up weekly, and it’s included in taxes.” The segment of Memorial Drive running through Fairview hosts longtime Chicopee favorites and draws new businesses expanding to town. Founded in 1935, Masse’s American Bistro serves seafood in the form of clam rolls and seared scallops at its restaurant but also sells fresh fish and shrimp at its attached market. Meanwhile, chains such as PrimoHoagies sandwich shop select Memorial Drive for their first local locations. The roadway is also bordered by retailers such as Walmart, Marshalls and supermarkets. A few places are off the beaten path away from Memorial Drive, including a cash-only breakfast joint called Al’s Diner. Subdivisions fill the spaces east and west of Memorial Drive, with homes sitting on quarter-acre lots. Tree cover becomes more plentiful farther from Memorial Drive. "There are tons of trees, so you get beautiful foliage in the fall,” says Fred Gonzalez, a Realtor with Executive Real Estate who has been selling properties in the greater Springfield area for 7 years. Housing development in Fairview spanned nearly a century, starting with late 1800s Colonial Revivals before transitioning to early 20th-century bungalows and eventually midcentury ranch homes. Prices typically fall between the low $200,000s and the low $400,000s. Condos are common on the east end, with prices varying from $150,000 to $250,000. More than 4,000 people work military and civilian jobs at Westover Air Reserve Base just outside Fairview. The largest air reserve base in the nation, Westover is known locally for hosting the Great New England Air Show. More than 60,000 people come onto the base to see military aircraft on display and watch the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, a group of pilots who tour the country performing tricks and maneuvers in F-16 jets. There are usually several years between each iteration of the Great New England Air Show; the last event was held in 2018, and the next show is coming in 2027. Despite the proximity to the base, noise isn’t a concern, Roux says. “When we first bought our house, everybody said it would be so noisy because of the base. We’re not in the flight path at all. People in Ludlow get more air traffic noise than we get.” Streiber Elementary School and Bellamy Middle School stand within 2 miles of each other on the south end of Fairview. Streiber, an elementary school that teaches kindergartners through fifth graders, receives a B-minus from Niche, while Bellamy Middle gets a C-plus. B-rated Chicopee Comprehensive High School, about a mile outside the neighborhood, lets teens explore career interests through courses such as Business Information Technology, Sports Journalism and Legal Studies. Preston Park near Memorial Drive features a baseball field and a playground good for everyday recreation. Less than a mile north of Fairview, Buttery Brook Park has a larger set of amenities including pickleball courts and a spray park open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Buttery Park often hosts events for the town of South Hadley, such as farmers market held every Wednesday afternoon from June to October. Neighborhood churches include Faith United Methodist Church, started in 1891, and St. Anne’s Parish, a Catholic church that’s been active since 1912. Both congregations help fellow church members and community residents by collecting and donating canned foods, clothes, shampoo and more. Most homes are within 5 miles of Interstate 391 and Interstate 90. The former leads to the colleges, hospitals and museums 8 miles away in Springfield, and the latter routes eastward to Worcester, 40 miles away, and Boston, about 90 miles away. Pioneer Valley Transit Authority buses don’t reach the neighborhood, but they stop at the Walmart a mile south of Fairview. Bradley International Airport, which flies directly to 45 destinations, is about 30 miles away in Connecticut.