Whats it like in Northampton, MA? rent? schools? jobs? -

I m a kid fresh out of college and I m ready to strike out on my own. I m from a small town in the middle of kill-the-gays USA and being gay myself I m thinking about moving.I ve read that Northampton has a high lesbian population and I m just wandering what it s like to live there. what s rent like, how s the economy, are there any jobs available, and most importantly, since I m going back to school what s the cost of college. (going for a doctorate on a poor persons salary. wish me luck!) so yeah, any info?

I went to school in western Massachusetts. Amherst/Northampton are college towns. Between UMass, Amherst, Smith, Mt. Hollyoke, and Hampshire there are some 30,0000+ undergrads in the area. A fair amount of the entertainment jobs are geared towards them.Northampton is extremely gay friendly. Lots of rainbow flags, more than 1 gay club that I m aware of, couples are quite affectionate in public and no one blinks an eye. It s really cool. There are a lot of interesting restaurants and boutiques downtown. The hiking/biking in the nearby Berkshire mountains is really nice. Rent is extremely affordable in comparison to more urban parts of the east coast, it s a good place to live on a rather tight budget - I paid $300 a month as a student sharing a (crappy) 4 bedroom place in Sunderland. The bus system is extremely good, because of all the students. As far as jobs - it really depends on what exactly you want to do and expect to be paid. I can t give you much of an answer beyond that Massachusetts hasn t been hit as hard by the recession as a lot of other areas.If you like small town, it s a great place. If you want some of the amenities of a big city, you re out of luck. The closest large city - Springfield - is a dying, crime filled dump. Worcester and Hartford aren t much better. Boston is a great city, but it s a two hour drive.Last I knew, UMass was on the order of 15k a year for state residents (you d qualify after living in MA for 1-2 years), 20-something for out of state. The private schools are 30-something a year. I ve been out of school for a couple years so my info might be slightly dated.If you want more urban, Boston is great. It s also extremely gay friendly (particularly Somerville and Jamaica plain). There s a ton of top-notch colleges there too - mostly private though. You d be paying a good amount to live/study there.

I ve visited the town a few times, but I m unsure of the job situation or housing cost, however, there are several colleges to choose from in the Northampton area. I can assure you, you won t be the only starving college kid working on a doctorate in town There is a very large lesbian population in Northampton as well, same goes for nearby AmherstEDIT: Kman is incorrect on Worcester. Worcester has improved a lot in recent years and is really a nice place, though much of the downtown area is still a dump (there are also a few other rough areas mainly Main South), Worcester has many nice neighborhoods, he is right when it comes to Springfield, hartford and Western Massachusetts, however.

What is the minimum living cost in Los Angeles? -

per year

hmmm if u make about $3000 a month you ll have a decent life here

The same as it is anywhere on the planet. Zero dollars.There are tens of thousands of homeless here. They mostly find a way to get by. So that s the minimum. If you want a nice apt. by the beach and furniture and pictures on the wall and a parking place and a place where your neighbors are not smoking crack or dodging bullets? Then it would be around $45000. $36000 is cool if you don t count withholding taxes.I m a San Diego guy, but the same holds true for all of Southern California.

Tom is right, As best I can tell somehow people are surviving on nothing...Some day I will summon up the courage to ask one of them how the hell they do it.....that would really cut down on my monthly expenses.....which know everyone is trying to do these days...

$36,000/year would still be a struggle but possible.

I live in in New York, and I was wondering how long would it take to get to Canada by driving? -

I live in the city, if it helps, and I wanted to plan a road trip with my friends and I. Any suggestions of where to go?

depends on what part of canada. montreal - 5 to 6 hours, quebec city - 7 to 8, ottawa 10 to 11, toronto - 9 to 10. you will all need passports.

it would probably take 6 to 8 hours going to Montreal. Be careful with your speed heading up there. I got pulled over twice within 30 minutes just for going a little past the speed limit on the I-87.

Anybody know the motto on the wall at Jimmy Jones sandwich shop in Seattle? -

The shop is at 4141 University Ave. NEIts on the right hand wall as you walk in (just beside the menu board).I did contact the company but they weren t much help.The motto is sort of new age-y / inspirational stuff.Anyone got a copy?

you mean jimmy johns ? the motto is experience is what you get when you don t get what you wanted

What kind of music are people into in Denver in general? -

I know everyone s different with their individual taste, but what would you say would be the general favorite genre? just curious cuz I m thinking of moving there.

Like you said its very hard to say, I will tell you that Colorado caters to just about every music taste. I happen to like the jamband scene and it seems like that s all that s here only because that s what Im looking for, however we do have alot of everything else and we support many local bands as well. If you want to get a feel for whats here, check out some of our local radio stations that put on concerts..http://area93.com/pages/events_concerts.��http://www.jambase.comhttp://www.957theparty.com/pages/concert��We have a ton of venues here, there is usually always some sort of live music happening most nights of the week...not to mention we have the greatest venue of all...Red Rocks.

Stupidest question I ve ever seen on this website. Everybodies music taste are different so you can t generalize!!!!! Would it be a decision maker if you got an answer like Country, Mexican (with all the trumpets) or hard rock. Basically are you just asking the question to ask a question or is there an actual reason for the question, cause I can t figure out a valid reason to ask such a question.

Like Sunshine, I don t think you can generalize about the music scene in Colorado. If you want a specific genre, someone can probably point you in the direction, but there is no single musical taste or anything close to it. There is a jazz scene, a bluegrass scene, a folk-rock scene, a classical music scene, a chamber music scene, a country music scene, an R B scene.. and that is just among us old farts.

The Electronic Dance Music scene here is huge. I moved here from L.A. 5 years ago and was thrown away by how many people are really into techno/electronic/dance music. There are always HUGE names coming to club Beta, The Church, and Vynal. The rave scene here is also very big which draws a lot of electronica artists

well theres different favorites for different areas in the denver areaaurora and denver mostly listen to hip hop and r b and rapparker listens to a lot of country, then rapdenver is same as aurora lakewood is half mexican and rap and then rockgolden is mainly country and rap boulder and north is rock and rapBUT IN GENERAL.... POOR = RAP/MEXICANMIDDLE = RAP, ROCK COUNTRYRICH = RAP, COUNTRYo ya and all chicks like pop lol

There is a little of everything in Denver. There are lots of people into Jam Bands in Colorado. There is also a pretty ok goth scene too. There is also lots of electro clash in Denver. Streets of London pub in cap,hill used to have a pretty cool punk night on mondays.Big clubs to check are Vinyl, and The Church. Polyester is pretty ok, as far as theme clubs go. Some tiny clubs and bars are fun too. I always liked the Snake Pit, and Lion s Lair. Check online to make sure these places are still open. I haven t lived in Denver for 3 years.