Hampden County is a non-governmental county located in the Pioneer Valley of the state of Massachusetts, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, Hampden County's population was 465,825. Its traditional county seat is Springfield, the Connecticut River Valley's largest city, and economic and cultural capital; with an estimated population of 154,758, approximately 1 in 3 residents of Hampden County live in Springfield. Hampden County was split from Hampshire County in 1812, because Northampton, Massachusetts, was made Hampshire County's "shire town" in 1794; however, Springfield—theretofore Hampshire County's traditional shire town, dating back to its founding in 1636—grew at a pace far quicker than Northampton and was granted shire town-status over its own, southerly jurisdiction. It was named for parliamentarian John Hampden. To the north of Hampden County is modern-day Hampshire County; to the west is Berkshire County; to the east is Worcester County; to the south are Litchfield County, Hartford County, and Tolland County in Connecticut.
Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern Mill River. As of the 2020 Census, the city's population was 155,929, making it the third-largest city in Massachusetts, the fourth-most populous city in New England after Boston, Worcester, and Providence, and the 12th-most populous in the Northeastern United States. Metropolitan Springfield, as one of two metropolitan areas in Massachusetts, had a population of 699,162 as of 2020.
Springfield Technical Community College is a public technical college in Springfield, Massachusetts. It is the only technical community college in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Located on the site of the Springfield Armory National Park, which was founded by Henry Knox and George Washington during the Revolutionary War, Springfield Technical Community College now occupies many of the buildings used by the U.S. Armory at Springfield prior to the Armory's closure in 1969. While 20 acres (81,000 m2) of the 55-acre (220,000 m2) site remain in the hands of the U.S. National Park Service for historic preservation, 35 acres (140,000 m2) comprise the college campus. Numerous historic buildings have been repurposed as classrooms, in addition to newer facilities built on-site.
Boston's diverse neighborhoods serve as a political and cultural organizing mechanism. The City of Boston's Office of Neighborhood Services has designated 23 Neighborhoods in the city:
Sergeant First Class Jorge A. Otero Barreto, a.k.a. "the Puerto Rican Rambo" and "Sergeant Rock", is a former United States Army soldier. He earned 38 military decorations during his career, and has been called the most decorated U.S. soldier of the Vietnam War. He has received recognition from numerous organizations and has had buildings named after him. He is also the main subject of Brave Lords, a documentary about the Puerto Rican experience in the war in Vietnam.
Baystate Health is a not-for-profit integrated health system headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts, serving Western Massachusetts and the Knowledge Corridor Region of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The system has 5 hospitals, over 80 medical practices, and 25 reference laboratories. With 12,000 employees including 1,600 physicians, it is one of Massachusetts' largest employers. Baystate also owns the for-profit insurer Health New England.
Metro Center is the original colonial settlement of Springfield, Massachusetts, located beside a bend in the Connecticut River. As of 2019, Metro Center features a majority of Western Massachusetts' most important cultural, business, and civic venues. Metro Center includes Springfield's Central Business District, its Club Quarter, its government center, its convention headquarters, and in recent years, it has become an increasingly popular residential district, especially among young professionals, empty-nesters, and creative types, with a population of approximately 7,000 (2010.)
East Springfield is a neighborhood located in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Liberty Heights neighborhood is a neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Six Corners and Maple Heights neighborhoods are located in Springfield, Massachusetts. They are often combined for political purposes, although they feature dramatically different political and socioeconomic characteristics.
Memorial Square is a neighborhood located in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Brightwood neighborhood of Springfield, Massachusetts is located in the northwest corner of the city, along the Connecticut River; however, it is separated from the rest of Springfield by the Interstate 91 elevated highway. Many recent academic papers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst' School of Urban Design have focused on the detrimental physical and sociological effects that Interstate 91 has had on the Brightwood neighborhood, and on Springfield in general.
Van Horn Park is a park in Springfield, Massachusetts' northern Liberty Heights neighborhood, in a subdivision called Hungry Hill. It is the second largest park in the City of Springfield.
The Connecticut River Walk is partially constructed park and bikeway in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, along the banks of New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. Currently, Springfield's section of this park is 3.7 miles (6 km) long, running from Chicopee, Massachusetts to the South End Bridge in Springfield, Massachusetts. Unusual features of the trail include its path alongside an active train line, making it a "rail-with-trail," and its passing in very close proximity to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The longest river in New England, the Connecticut River is the Knowledge Corridor's most prominent natural asset. For centuries it has been a source of regional identity and pride; however, currently most residents are cut off from it by Interstate 91 - a 1960s-era elevated highway, which has become a major inhibitor to Springfield's economic and recreational riverfront growth, especially in recent years.
The City of Springfield, Massachusetts, has 19 distinct neighborhoods. Many feature subdivisions known by other names, such as The X, Hungry Hill, and Mason Square. Springfield's neighborhoods fan out north, south, and east, from its original, colonial settlement in what is now Metro Center.
Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences (MCAS) is the oldest and largest constituent college of Boston College, situated on the university's main campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, it offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the humanities, social science, and natural sciences.
As of the 2010 census, Holyoke, Massachusetts had the largest Puerto Rican population, per capita, of any city in the United States outside Puerto Rico proper, with 44.7% or 17,826 residents being of Puerto Rican heritage, comprising 92.4% of all Latinos in the community. From a combination of farming programs instituted by the US Department of Labor after World War II, and the housing and mills that characterized Holyoke prior to deindustrialization, Puerto Ricans began settling in the city in the mid-1950s, with many arriving during the wave of Puerto Rican migration to the Northeastern United States in the 1980s. A combination of white flight as former generations of mill workers left the city, and a sustained influx of migrants in subsequent generations transformed the demographic from a minority of about 13% of the population in 1980, to the largest single demographic by ancestry in a span of three decades.
South Holyoke is a neighborhood in Holyoke, Massachusetts, located approximately 0.5 miles (0.80 km) south of the city center. Today the neighborhood contains many historical brick tenements and 165 acres (67 ha) of mixed residential, commercial, and industrial zoning including many of the remaining businesses of the city's paper industry. The neighborhood is also home to the city's Puerto Rican-Afro Caribbean Cultural Center, the Carlos Vega and Valley Arena Parks, as well as the Holyoke Turner Hall, one of the last remaining turnvereines in New England, and the William G. Morgan Elementary School. In 2018, South Holyoke had the highest percentage of renter-occupied housing of any Massachusetts neighborhood outside of Boston, with an average of 1.5% owner-occupied households across the neighborhood's two census block groups.
Joshua A. Garcia is an American politician from Holyoke, Massachusetts. He was elected Mayor of Holyoke in 2021, and is the first Latino to serve as mayor.
