Not unlike any other PVTA ride, my experience began with sprinting to catch the bus on time. Fortunately since the bus costs $1.25 to get anywhere, other Mount Holyoke students are busy trying to deposit their quarters or stuff their crumpled dollar bills into the machine so I had time to catch my breath before taking a seat. As the bus began meandering through South Hadley it almost felt like a suburban environment to a larger town. And I noticed the crowd was quite diverse compared to the usual route I take simply between the five college consortium. There were rich college students with Louis Vuitton bags, families with newborns, and some people who smelled like they were long overdue for a shower. In addition multiple languages were spoken,
…show more content…
A formerly industrial town broken down and composed almost entirely of brick, unlike more modern or developed towns. The dam over the river is a large landmark, and is surrounding by closed buildings on the shores that look exactly like it. What struck me most about looking at those buildings was that they were businesses, not homes. In my home state of California that the most luxurious real estate for homes is on the bank of any river or shore of any ocean or lake. I would never find a large factory or office headquarters near a body of water, much less built out of bricks. The homes were more inland in Holyoke and as we approached downtown they started to look more and more similar. There were long chains of houses attached to one another that all had identical structure. One explanation could be that what I saw was low income housing, in which case the location is an interesting choice; situated near the water with no economic opportunities direct near. The homes closer to the mall on the other hand all had front and back yards, a quintessential New England style, were near stores, and had holiday decorations still up. The main difference though was the proximity to main streets, and the wealthier homes had a substantial
A formerly industrial town broken down and composed almost entirely of brick, unlike more modern or developed towns. The dam over the river is a large landmark, and is surrounding by closed buildings on the shores that look exactly like it. What struck me most about looking at those buildings was that they were businesses, not homes. In my home state of California that the most luxurious real estate for homes is on the bank of any river or shore of any ocean or lake. I would never find a large factory or office headquarters near a body of water, much less built out of bricks. The homes were more inland in Holyoke and as we approached downtown they started to look more and more similar. There were long chains of houses attached to one another that all had identical structure. One explanation could be that what I saw was low income housing, in which case the location is an interesting choice; situated near the water with no economic opportunities direct near. The homes closer to the mall on the other hand all had front and back yards, a quintessential New England style, were near stores, and had holiday decorations still up. The main difference though was the proximity to main streets, and the wealthier homes had a substantial