Talk:Sunderland, Massachusetts

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According to statistics found here, more than half of the residences in Sunderland are rental units (909 of 1632, or approx. 56%). So the statement in the article ("Although desirable for current homeowners because of appreciating home values, the gentrification effect means that the town starts to become a place for wealthy second home owners and ceases to function as an ordinary town.") is pretty misplaced/misleading, especially in local context.

Sunderland borders Amherst, which is itself home to three colleges -- Hampshire College, Amherst College, and the University of Massachusetts flagship campus -- and very close to two more, namely Smith College in Northampton and Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley. What this means is that there is a heavy population pulled into an essentially rural area by the opportunities in higher education. Aside from protected conservation land, there are a lot of working farms and land that is protected as farmland, which does mean that there is insufficient single-unit dwellings to meet the demand and thus prices are high, they remain lower than Amherst or many of the other towns that border it. Thus the character of Sunderland itself is emphatically not one of wealthy second homeowners, but of a town with a small permanent population and a much larger transient population of students.

While I was unable to find statistics on the number of homes in Sunderland that are second homes, it would surprise me greatly to learn that it was anything other than rare or non-existent.

Prices are lower than in Amherst. However the gentrification has already started with some very wealthy homebuyers moving in. The permanent population is very slowly gentrifying. Only very wealthy people can now afford it. Your point on the rental units is well taken. Sprew 19:19, 9 August 2007 (UTC)

There are already a significant number of second home owners in Northampton MA. Sprew 19:24, 9 August 2007 (UTC)