Ever been to Springfield? (1 Viewer)

I live in a Springfield. I live in the Springfield that won the draw to host the premier of the Simpsons movie. According to the Post Office, there are 41 Springfields around the country and since we're doing this stupid asking about everywhere, i thought i take the op to compare my Springfield to yours or a Springfield you know.

My Springfield sucks, but it shouldnt. My Springfield was the only town in New England on Hitler's list of American places to bomb because it made pretty much every gear in America, including for munitions. My Springfield is depressing because it's nothing but empty mills & factories now. My Springfield is the hilliest town i've ever seen, being built around the cascading Black River which powered those plants. My Springfield's downtown could be beautiful but is all decayed brickfronts and empty stores. Most of our housing went Section 8 when the mills closed, so we have a higher rate of junkies than Chicago. My Springfield has two national chains - Mickey D's & Dunkins - and the only microbrewery in the state that went belly up. My Springfield has a Steampunk Festival every September. 98.9% of our non-junkie population has no idea what steampunk means. That's my Springfield - what's yours?

I hung out in a Springfield in my thirties. Probably the worst move of my life. It, too, was in the Northeast and solidified many a bad habit I had. It's right on the 1-91/95 corridor from NY to VT. It also is home to junkies, empty mills, and empty factories, but is not as hilly as your town. I could tell of many tales, but I've chosen to remain anonymous not only to this board, but in general. I only want to paint a picture of sunshine and roses in my life and not depress the rest. 

Springfield, to me, will always be an uncomfortable second home, full of tragedy and wasted potential, yet so many transient and lost friends. Mickey D's and Dunkins also plays a large part in this world.  There are no microbrews -- we're too poor in our Springfield. Some of the greatest bars on Worthington St., though. 

And the strip club capital of the Northeastern American world. Where I met my own love and lost my soul. I got into a top ten law school writing about Solzhenitsyn,  Salinger, and the strip club scene in Springfield, MA. 

Even won me a scholarship somewhere. Was a whacked out essay in a whacked out, cracked out town.  I got in everywhere in the Midwest and in that town. Rejected everywhere East and West.  Go figure. 

No, but Shelbyville is really nice.

The one I've been to has a nice museum.

I drove through Springfield, Illinois once. Once.

I grew up a few miles away from Springfield, Ohio.  It was a scary POS then and has gotten worse.  

They did have some mighty fine public golf courses though.  

Springfield, Va: Probably the definition of a congested suburb. 

Go hang out at the basketball hall of fame.

rockaction said:

I hung out in a Springfield in my thirties. Probably the worst move of my life. It, too, was in the Northeast and solidified many a bad habit I had. It's right on the 1-91/95 corridor from NY to VT. It also is home to junkies, empty mills, and empty factories, but is not as hilly as your town. I could tell of many tales, but I've chosen to remain anonymous not only to this board, but in general. I only want to paint a picture of sunshine and roses in my life and not depress the rest. 

Springfield, to me, will always be an uncomfortable second home, full of tragedy and wasted potential, yet so many transient and lost friends. Mickey D's and Dunkins also plays a large part in this world.  There are no microbrews -- we're too poor in our Springfield. Some of the greatest bars on Worthington St., though. 

And the strip club capital of the Northeastern American world. Where I met my own love and lost my soul. I got into a top ten law school writing about Solzhenitsyn,  Salinger, and the strip club scene in Springfield, MA. 

Even won me a scholarship somewhere. Was a whacked out essay in a whacked out, cracked out town.  I got in everywhere in the Midwest and in that town. Rejected everywhere East and West.  Go figure. 

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ooo, did your Springfield have any strippers who were working their way thru one of the Five Sisters on the DL? That would have the makings of a Rothworthy novel, that would....

Willie Neslon said:

Go hang out at the basketball hall of fame.

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I once spent Thanksgiving at BHoF. Pretty much the same as everywhere.

joffer said:

No, but Shelbyville is really nice.

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We'll get back our lemon tree or choke their rivers with our dead.

wikkidpissah said:

ooo, did your Springfield have any strippers who were working their way thru one of the Five Sisters on the DL? That would have the makings of a Rothworthy novel, that would....

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Oh, it sure did. More like it had sisters from the schools going there on the DL. From Mt. Holyoke to Elms, mang.  

The girl I fell in love with got wasted one night and spilled the beans a bit, so to speak. She was not a Five Sisters girl. I gathered she was going to Dartmouth. Nobody moves from White River Junction, VT to Hanover, NH without a reason. They don't pay taxes anyway. 

It was Rothworthy. She was Native American and Swedish. 

Oh, my. I'll never see anything like her again.  

rockaction said:

She was Native American and Swedish. 

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SproiIIIING!!

I've been to TWO Springfield's - Illinois and Missouri.  Neither made much of an impression, except the one in MO has a really nice steak restaurant.

So what I did, wikkid, was I realized around the second time I met her I was in love. Like far gone. Through the moon. So I meet her around Thanksgiving and I start paying her just to talk. Yep. Just to talk. I'm getting played here, but she starts to like me. Starts sort of going out of bounds for her typical self. Maybe wants to bring it back to normal, but I'm a weird guy. I've decided we're getting married. I'm shooting the moon, here, see. 

So around Valentine's Day. I get this idea. Oh, it's every patron's and patheticism's idea, but I'm shooting the moon here see so I do it. 

And you know what I do. 

Yeah, I bring her one. But not before I've already almost bedded a girl telling her the idea. Gorgeous girl. Five Sisters. Perfects rat's nest hair, wikkid. 

I tell her this as my friend is hitting on her. He loses. I'm king alpha. 

I tell her I'm in love with a stripper, that she seems to have been abused in some way. (She was.) I tell her...

I'm going to go down the street on the 14th. I'm going to give her a Valentine. My friends are all going to make fun of me and I don't care. Here's why...and I quote this, from Anthony Hecht, as the reason why I'm doing this for her...

Anyway, I should want you to know I have done my best,
As I'm sure you have, too
Others are bound to us, the gentle and blameless
Whose names are not confessed
In the ceaseless palaver. My dearest, the clear unquaried blue
Of those depths is all but blinding.


So this is what I tell the girl. Feb. 7th. Quoth she "I've never been so impressed by someone standing before me in my life."

I think I missed the real girl. 

Anyway, so I go. The 14th. She's not there. Fine. I go the 15th. She's there.  What I have is nothing corny. I have a blank piece of stationary and a box of Cartier cigarettes, because she smokes. And a stuffed puppy named Darby I leave in the car. #### that. She gets quotes and smokes. 

So I take a bit of her time. She's probably getting money cost, but she's happy. 

I give her the smokes. "They're a millionairesse's cigarette," says I, "I hope you enjoy them." She smiles and laughs and thanks me. Hey, they are ten-fifteen bucks a pack back then. 

I give her the note. She smiles, folds it down and doesn't really read it. 

It reads: 

Everywhere you are is beauty

In every way, artistic grace, 

A form not yet defined. 

Yeah, I wrote that ####. 

So I tell her I won't take her time, start walking downstairs. Then a force from above. "T---! Are you coming tomorrow??!!!" 

"I don't know, should I?"

"Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes!"

Mark the bouncer looks at me. Everybody looks at me. Win. 

Then a big loss the next day.  

rockaction said:

Oh, it sure did. More like it had sisters from the schools going there on the DL. From Mt. Holyoke to Elms, mang.  

The girl I fell in love with got wasted one night and spilled the beans a bit, so to speak. She was not a Five Sisters girl. I gathered she was going to Dartmouth. Nobody moves from White River Junction, VT to Hanover, NH without a reason. They don't pay taxes anyway. 

It was Rothworthy. She was Native American and Swedish. 

Oh, my. I'll never see anything like her again.  

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Indians go to Dartmouth free tuition. My dad, who had been pathologically DL about his nativeness til then, joined his sis/bros in applying for the NA exemption on behalf of their kids (my youngest cousin was the only one who went, married a lumber heiress from Seattle worth 9 figs, spends 6fig shelter funds on buying Scottish bulls for his farm to make $100/lb meat products he sells online to foodies, so chalk one up for set-asides) right about the time i unceremoniously squeaked out of HS. Even tho i never filled out a college ap as a matter of principle and even took my SATs on acid, i did a Dartmouth visit just to shut him (first in fam to college, invented the growlight - we dont get along to this day [remind me to tell you the briefcase story sometime]) up.

Did a tour, acted smart, pretended i hadn't run away for most of my last two yrs of HS, they told me if i didn't have accommodations i could stay in a frat house. Went where they directed me, a stately house on a side street. The door was answered by an offdee8 wearing a cowboy hat, gun holster and bikini bottom. "Well, hi!" she said in a deeply southern accent, "Ah'm Sugah. Ah run the house heah." Only moment i ever considered higher education.

Wish i had a good followup story to that, but there werent. Make one up, combine it with your ABBAnaki Indian, tho, we got the makings of a pretty engaging tail....er....

Binky The Doormat said:

I grew up a few miles away from Springfield, Ohio.  It was a scary POS then and has gotten worse.  

They did have some mighty fine public golf courses though.  

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Springfield Ohio is probably the largest city in Ohio that the fewest Ohioans have ever been to. 

Andrew74 said:

I've been to TWO Springfield's - Illinois and Missouri.  Neither made much of an impression, except the one in MO has a really nice steak restaurant.

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The MO one scares me more than the SBronx did in the 80s.  Pleasant looking, always treated decent there when i've passed thru from Albq to NE but, between I-44 horrorful rousting stories i heard as a hippie hitcher backinaday and the number of churches and bat#### Baptist preacher shows on the radio skeers the crap outta me.

What about the Buffalo, Dusty and Rick varieties?

I'm staying in Springfield, MO tomorrow night.  I plan to be in bed by 7:30.

dgreen said:

Springfield, Va: Probably the definition of a congested suburb. 

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I grew up in West Springfield Va but the mailing address was (is?) Springfield. Not sure if I qualify for this thread. I wonder if I "know" you.

Swing 51 said:

I grew up in West Springfield Va but the mailing address was (is?) Springfield. Not sure if I qualify for this thread. I wonder if I "know" you.

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Oh I don't live in Springfield. Just adding to the list since I'm familiar with it. I did live there from birth to about 1 year old when my parents rented a townhome after moving to the area. 

Swing 51 said:

I grew up in West Springfield Va but the mailing address was (is?) Springfield. Not sure if I qualify for this thread. I wonder if I "know" you.

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I lived in West Springfield from 1988-1990.  Washington Irving Middle School represent.

Philadelphia suburbs have a Springfield Township Montgomery County and a Springfield Township Delaware County 

Will be in (W) Springfield in a NE state tomorrow for a few hours (trade show), but will fortunately get to leave the area.

Dragons said:

Will be in (W) Springfield in a NE state tomorrow for a few hours (trade show), but will fortunately get to leave the area.

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Help further a young lady's education before you leave, won't you?

JaxBill said:

Philadelphia suburbs have a Springfield Township Montgomery County and a Springfield Township Delaware County 

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I live in the neighboring TWP to Springfield Delco. Reasons this could be the Simpsons' Springfield - It has a mall and Homer prefers hoagies. Also, Springfield Pa is a few miles south of Villanova, the school that Barney once gave a guest lecture at and just before last year's NCAA Championship, Bart wrote "If Villanova doesn't win we lose everything" on the blackboard.

 

Nugget said:

I lived in West Springfield from 1988-1990.  Washington Irving Middle School represent.

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Went to Irving from 89-91. Did you beat me up?   

So, anyway, next night happens. She's asked me to go to the club, right? For sure this happens, right? 

Well, let's back up. This is a girl who looks gorgeous but angry with the world.  I think, "I can change this. For sure."

And so it begins. 

Thanksgiving: "Oh I thought you were going over your father's." 

Her: "I blew him off."

Literally those words, so we can imagine where this story goes. 

Enter Val. 

Val is a stripper. She likes me. Punches her number in my phone (yes, they date the customers) and gives me through clothes blowies in the lap dance room. She digs me. I see her on the 14th. She wonders where her valentine is. So does Aggie. Aggie is another story. Blowing rails off of the toilet at the local Cheers, she gets thrown out frequently...

Hey, this is Springfield.  

But, Val, well Val is a thief. She gets defensive one night and I've accused her of nothing. Not even insinuated. But in the end she steals. Steals quite a bit. I watch her and let her. It's brilliant on both our parts, really. She gets to steal. I get to let her. But back to Casarena. Yes, it's Casarena. 

So I go to the club the next night. No her. No her the next night. She's also got my number, me not hers. But I ask, I say, where were you last night? 

You asked me to come. (I'm a bit naive)

She says, "I do. What. I want."

"Oh, okay. You had my number. You could have called me," says I. 

"I have your number," she says, "at home in a stack of bills."

"Oh."

So this is Springfield.  

Enter Val again. 

"HOW ####### DARE YOU DO THAT TO T___ THAT IS ####### CRUEL YOU #######..."

I am not making this up. 

I now have a stripper war on my hands.  

Andrew74 said:

I've been to TWO Springfield's - Illinois and Missouri.  Neither made much of an impression, except the one in MO has a really nice steak restaurant.

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Been to both of those as well, 25 years ago. Don't remember much about either, actually

Is it somewhere between Quahog, Rhode Island and South Park, Colorado?

So Val has flipped her lid on Casarena. We've got a Hartford/Springfield war going on now, only I haven't realized it. Guys are beginning to surround me in the club. The mafia is indeed watching me (yes, they own the clubs still).

I'm completely oblivious to this until years later, when some of the bouncers that let me in and love me tell me this. I'm on a watch or something. I kid you not. So, anyway, Val and Casarena have had their battles. I'm not dating but constantly making out with their women, especially Erin, who is bisexual and dates the Five Sisters girls that are bold enough to date strippers and be gay in college. (No, I'm not making this up.)

Erin is hot.  I'm pretty sure I sound like Bret Easton Ellis right now, but that's cool. At least I use commas. 

Anyway, Erin is hot. We make out in good faith, leaving the patrons a bit jaw-dropped but okay. She just goes off and we enjoy each other. Same with me and Maria. Same with the cocktail waitress that has now become a stripper. 

Oh, and then there's Shannon. Shannon is my friend's love. But she blows him off. However, she likes me. Another number. They love you when you love another. I wasted all this for Casarena. 

So back to her. 

Me and an unnamed hockey player hit the town one night. He's a former player, now a scout, and he hits up the local Cheers. One of the locals makes fun of his talent. I'm appalled. "D-, says I, I know how good you were. #### that guy."

I tell him about the strip club down the street 

He trumps. Tells me about the strip clubs in Montreal. You win, D---

So we go to the strip club. See Casarena. He sort of nods, that Canadian impressed nod. She refuses my money. I wonder what's happening, as it's not like her to refuse money unless it's me. She nods over to the room...and we go.  

In the late 70s I was in the Berkshires for a spell. We went to a Springfield a couple times. Sounds like yours. It was on a highway.

I missed this thread earlier and just found it on a completely unrelated search.

I live in Springfield, MO.  I've pimped the area a few times in threads about good places to move to or retire in.

Grew up here, left for about 6 years and came back.  Sure it ain't perfect, but it has a lot going for it in a "still old fashioned and small-townish, but growing and kinda cool" way.  The big draws are AA Cardinals baseball team, D-I college (Missouri State) and Bass Pro Shops headquarters.  Lots of corny stuff like "the birthplace of Route 66" and the Missouri Sports HOF are here as well.  We also invented our own dish, "Springfield-style Cashew Chicken" which is served at a Chinese restaurant on just about every major intersection in town.  Just 30 minutes north of Branson, MO (the Las Vegas of the Religious Right) and within a 1.5 hour drive of several nice lakes (including Lake of the Ozarks).  You get all 4 seasons here with nothing overly extreme and limited threats of natural disasters and a really low cost of living.  Lots of scenic land is nearby and if you like hunting, fishing, hiking, etc. it is a fantastic place to be.  The metro population is growing (over 500K) and was exploding up through 2008, but the downturn tempered it back a bit.

The biggest drawback is a lack of diversity in the general population.  MSU is a fairly liberal and diverse place, but it is really its own world compared the rest of the metro area.  Back in 1906, all of the black people left town after a likely innocent man was lynched and there hasn't been many non-whites around since.  We have about a 70/30 Republican/Democrat ratio and more churches per capita than just about anywhere else in the country.  The Assemblies of God church is headquartered here and some refer to Springfield as the "Buckle of the Bible Belt".

Overall, I like it a lot but I am a white middle-class Christian male.  I understand why others would avoid it.  However, I think it is trending in the right direction socially and will continue to be a great place to live.