Springfield, Massachusetts
[Wikipedia]

Springfield is a city in Massachusetts. It is the county seat of Hampden County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 152,082. It is the third largest in Massachusetts and the fourth largest in New England (behind Boston, Providence and Worcester). The city is the largest (and also historically the first) city called Springfield in the United States. It is also the largest city on the Connecticut River and the largest city in Western Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley. It is home to the Basketball Hall of Fame and the Springfield Falcons hockey team.

Springfield sits on the bank of the Connecticut River, just a few miles north of the border between Massachusetts and Connecticut. Along the river, the city is fairly low and flat. Moving outward from the river, the terrain becomes more hilly, most prominently along State Street and Belmont Avenue.

Springfield is typically divided up into seventeen distinct neighborhoods. They are, as defined by the city Election commission: Bay, Boston Road, Brightwood, East Forest Park, East Springfield, Forest Park, Indian Orchard, Liberty Heights, McKnight, Memorial Square, Metro Center, Old Hill, Pine Point, Six Corners, Sixteen Acres, South End, and Upper Hill. Their exact boundaries are disputed by Census data, civic wards, precinct borders, zip codes, and the opinions of the city's citizens. Many of the neighborhoods are subdivided again according to landmarks or voting precincts. Some names are unofficial, but are used by area residents nonetheless. For example, the Hollywood section in the South End actually refers to a housing complex, and Mason Square is the central intersection in the McKnight neighborhood.

Forest Park lies in the southwestern part of the city, along the border with affluent Longmeadow. The park is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. The city shares borders with the towns of East Longmeadow, Wilbraham, and Ludlow and the city of Chicopee. The cities of Agawam and West Springfield are across the Connecticut River. The city also owns Cobble Mountain Reservoir, its water supply, located in the towns of Blandford, Granville, and Russell, at the western edge of Hampden County. It also owns Franconia Golf Course, located mostly in East Longmeadow.

Springfield was and remains, in many respects, the cultural center of Western Massachusetts since its founding in the early 1600s. Because of the distance from Boston then (and to a degree now) many feel that the city and region are ignored by the powers that be in the eastern parts of the state. Said powers are periodically accused of lumping Springfield and its former industrial neighbors together with the rest of the agricultural areas west of Worcester. Some have observed, sarcastically, that Springfield maintains a better relationship with Hartford than with Boston. Springfield is physically closer to Hartford, shares a major interstate highway, and Bradley International Airport. Sometimes they are considered twin cities.

Though not nearly as cosmopolitan as Boston or New York City, Springfield retains strong ethnic characteristics seen in the variety of restaurants available in all parts of the city. Remnants of the city's industrial glory are best represented in its museums at The Quadrangle and its library system. Though both have suffered funding cuts in recent years, they remain well-respected and sizable considering the relatively small population. Springfield also has its own well-respected orchestra.

Known as the second poorest city in Massachusetts, (behind Holyoke) Springfield retains a strong middle class and high homeownership rates in many neighborhoods. Many of Springfield's suburbs are affluent, most notably Longmeadow, to the south.

Springfield, according to Morgan Quitno, is the 19th most dangerous city in the United States., a fact called into question by officials and citizens. This by extension makes the Springfield the most dangerous city in Massachusetts. While Morgan Quitno uses FBI statistics received by the police department, the city asserts that the crimes are weighted unfairly, by measuring all major offenses equally. Measuring the incidence of each crime against the population would show the city is not within the top twenty for each category.

A major cultural attraction during the Christmas season is Bright Nights. The trees of Forest Park are decorated with lights in the form of various characters (including some from the works of Springfield native Dr. Seuss) and scenes, some of which are animated. Tourists form a line to drive their cars along a meandering path through the park.

The Springfield-Hartford, Connecticut area is served by Bradley International Airport in nearby Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Springfield and Hartford are located 25 miles (40 km) apart.

Springfield also has an Amtrak station served by trains destined for New York City, Washington, D.C., Boston, Vermont, and Chicago. Amtrak operates out of its own station facility built into one of the old platforms of the city's long condemned train station on Frank B. Murray St. with an entrance on Lyman street, which lies on the side of the railroad embankment opposite the station. Buses running into the city use a facility owned and operated by Peter Pan Bus Lines, located on the corner of Main and Liberty streets. The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority is the regional public transit provider, operating a fleet of buses from the Peter Pan terminal.

Plans exist for redevelopment of the city's Union Station into an Intermodal Transportation facility for both Amtrak and bus lines. While significant federal, state, and civic investment has been appropriated for this project, disputes between the owners of the right-of-way and the planners in charge of the project, originally scheduled for completion in 1998, the PVTA, have slowed progress. In 2005, it was revealed that the project and the PVTA had been embroiled in the city's ever-widening corruption probe, throwing its future into question.

Springfield is often referred to as the "Crossroads of New England" because of the crossing of major east-west and north-south railroads. While the same railways exist and operate today, the city is also served by a number of Interstate Highways including I-90 (Mass Pike) and I-91, which connect New Haven, Hartford, Holyoke, Northampton, and Vermont to Springfield. One of the only spurs of I-91 in Massachusetts, I-291, runs through the city. It connects I-90 to I-91 since the turnpike does not actually enter the city.