Northhampton fun without car or ID (Boston, Holyoke: house, movie theater, schools)

[esya]

My daughter will be starting at Smith in the fall. I'd like to hear about the best things to do in the area if you are under 21 and don't have a car.

She lives to socialize, likes restaurants but will be on a budget, likes media like movies, internet, etc, and is a bit shy but is still interested in meeting boys.

[goyguy]

The Pioneer Valley is a collegian's paradise! Smith (congrats to your daughter for getting in) is part of the Five College consortium, of which the other schools are Mt Holyoke, Amherst College, Hampshire, and UMass. There is free and frequent bus service between each of the schools. Cultural events, whether art gallery openings or alt-rock shows or movie marathons, go on "all the time." Most area merchants cater to college students, with quite a few focused on that "demographic," as there's practically a 1:1 ratio between degree seekers aged 17-30 and the towns' "permanent" residents. Kids drive the regional economy, in other words. And it's easy to find car space on a road trip when people yearning for a taste of "real" city life decide to embark on an excursion to Boston (2 hours east) or NYC (3-4 hours south.)

More first-year college students feel socially awkward than not. An advantage to your daughter's being female - from this man's perspective - is that she's likely to find kindred spirits on her hall or in classes within about a week. "Girlfriends" band together for advice and support, and for companionship when studying is done and no parties are going on. (The latter does, I've been told, happen once in a while even in the Valley!) So I doubt that she'll experience any real sense of isolation; maybe homesickness if she's never spent much time away independently or left Colorado, but not a feeling of alone-ness. Both of my twin sisters - we were raised in the Midwest - wouldn't trade their time at Mt Holyoke for anything in the world. And that school's in sleepy South Hadley as opposed to bustling "Noho."

One word I free-associate with Colorado is "skiing." Know that there are ski clubs at all of the colleges (except for, perhaps, the "alternative education" Hampshire) and slopes as close by as Massachusetts towns west/northwest of Northampton and in southern Vermont. A ski club would provide instant friendships as a favored activity is pursued. On the more general social front, all sorts of dances/mixers are put on by various groups at each of the schools on many weekends.

Fear not, mom, she should do just fine.

[libracat]

I'm born and raised western mass and a smith alum (07) smith parties and events happen all the time. Though it can get mobbed by umass boys. If she's opk with that there are also parties at amherst college and umass (alot of these are frat parties so be careful) they are all accessible by the 5 college pvta buses that run till 12 or 1 i think. Also most often karaoke at packard if you get there early won't card and will let you stay but not drink, it's a few blocks from there. There's the local artsy movie theater on pleasant street and the cinemark at the hadley mall (has student prices! $6.25 last time i was home)
divas (dance club) is 18+ every night but saturday. They have goth night tuesday, drag shows most wednesday and it used to be a great 80s night on thursdays (started going there when i turned 18 in HS). check [url=http://www.divasofnoho.com/]Diva's Nightclub[/url] it's supposedly a gay bar, but has always gotten a mixed crowd most nights. It's a 10-15min walk the long way (main st.) a little less via the back roads. But safe to walk I used to walk back and forth all the time or it is about $5 - $6 by taxi.

There are a lot of restaurantes in town that aer open late and herrells for ice cream is open late too. Smith used to do a free movie night a couple times a week on campus and i think they gave out free candy too.
Townies throw parties etc too so if she makes non smithie friends she'll find things to do via that route too. Though I'm not sure she should get into that scene so young. some party harder than others. There are often concerts and town too. If you visit grab a valley advocate for listings plus other great stuff - [url=http://www.valleyadvocate.com/]The Valley Advocate[/url]
Amherst will also have its own events and is accessible by bus. The only thing I would say for holyoke is the mall, but it can be a long bus ride to get there. Make sure she grabs a ton of bus schedules from the campus center and uses pvta.com learning the bus routes is key to having fun in the area.
Hampshire college throws a variety of events including possibly the best halloween party in the area in my opinion. If only because they go all out creative and waacky for costumes.
Make sure she goes to celebration in november sometime (a thursday night) big event she'll understand once she's there. It's in the quad on campus.

well that's all i can think of, but as long as she reads the chalkings and listens to the announcements for events she can find a lot to do without leaving campus.

Dooes she know what house she is in yet?