Campus and Community
01003—you could argue that it’s the center of the world. Going too far? OK, but at UMass Amherst you will feel like you’re in the middle of everything.
Let’s start with the campus itself. 01003 is UMass Amherst’s zip code (the town of Amherst itself is 01002) and within those five digits you’ll find an entire world. With a campus of 1400 acres, UMass Amherst is its own city. You can live in one of five neighborhoods, or clusters, and can opt for high-rise living or a traditional brick residence, a place in the middle of campus or high on a hill surrounded by an apple orchard. (Just imagine how beautiful that can be in the fall). With multiple places to eat, kick back, socialize, work out, and study, sports and arts venues like the Mullins Center and the Fine Arts Center, you may never want to leave. But we recommend that you do leave, because you’ll find that life outside campus is just as great.
Your next stop is Amherst, the quintessential college town. You’ll find few places with such a rich literary and cultural history and with such a collection colleges in its town limits: UMass Amherst, Amherst College, and Hampshire College. Amherst bristles with shops, cafes, restaurants, art galleries, museums and bookstores, and breathtaking natural areas, not to mention the renowned National Yiddish Book Center and the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.
Head west into the rolling and verdant farmland of the town of Hadley, some of the richest agricultural land in the East. (Hadley once enjoyed worldwide renown for its asparagus—“Hadley Gold.” A little bit of farm trivia for you). You can take this trip by car or bus, but the best way is to take your bike, blades, or board onto the Norwottuck rail trail that stretches across the valley. You’ll hit the great Connecticut River and then the other great Pioneer Valley town of Northampton.
Northampton, which had its 350th anniversary in 2004, has been called one of the “Best Small Arts Town in America.” It boasts abundant shops and restaurants, the stunning campus of Smith College, and first-rate venues for music and the performing arts. Just to the west of Northampton are the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains leading to the Berkshires themselves. This area bursts with natural beauty, hiking trails, rivers for canoes and kayaks, and any number of ski and snowboard slopes, as well as the towns of Stockbridge, Lenox (home of the Tanglewood Music Festival) and Becket (home to the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival).
The Green Mountains of Vermont and the White Mountains of New Hampshire are north and northeast of campus, both within two hours’ drive and home to some of the best slopes in New England. If an urban outing is your thing, New York City is a mere three-hour drive to the southwest, Boston just two to the east. Portland, Maine is three hours away, Montreal is about five, Hartford, Connecticut is an hour’s drive, and if you need an ocean fix, you can take care of that in a couple of hours as well.
Keep in mind that within a twelve-mile radius of the UMass Amherst campus, you also have access to the cultural riches provided by the four other schools of the Five College Consortium: Amherst, Smith, Hampshire, and Mount Holyoke colleges.
It’s a panoramic view of the world from 01003, shot through with the intellectual and social riches for which the Northeast is famous. More than a zip code, 01003 is a hip code—a global meeting place in a beautiful natural setting.
