"Northampton, the biggest little town in... " a Northampton Travel Page by hajin

Send Photo to a Friend

I spent a few years in Northampton and really love it here. At the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains, it is a beautiful place filled with hills, trees, creeks, and is, generally, a pretty hip town. A lot of this has to do with the fact that it is a college town and part of the 5 College Consortium.

I remember when I was attending school here, 20/20 did a piece on Northampton celebrating it's notoriety as "the" place for lesbians in the US. Why is this? It could be that there are two prominent women's colleges in the area and the one in Northampton itself is the alma mater to two renowned feminist thinkers of the 20th century--Gloria Steinem (hello...Ms. Magazine among many other things) and Betty Friedan (wrote "The Feminine Mystique" and founded NOW--the National Organization for Women). It could also be that Northampton boasts the highest percentage of businesses run by women. It could also be that big lesbian festival they hold every summer.

Whatever the reason, the town really is New England quaint, has lots of great bookstores, some of the best ice cream in the country (Bart's or Herrell's), tons of cute restaurants, and, most importantly, a really liberal and cool atmosphere.