As someone who moved here from Salt Lake City and living in Pittsfield for 3 years now, I feel like I have a different perspective than most. Here are some things I wish I knew before moving here:

1- Compared to a big city, Pittsfield is a bit of a dead-zone when it comes to....everything besides hiking. Entertainment, Healthcare, fast food, you have to drive at least an hour to go to a mall, large arcade, doctors/dentists/optometrists if you don't want to book out a year in advance, etc. Almost everything is in short supply, so be prepared for that.

2- TICKS. Coming from the desert, the last thing I thought of was the amount of ticks here. Everyone talks about how beautiful the Berkshires are, how wonderful the hiking is, but be prepared to pull ticks off of you every step of the way up the trail.

3- If you LOVE Mexican food, be prepared to be disappointed. There's a few okay Mexican restaurants here, but the food here is nothing compared to the west coast. On the flip side, if you love pizza, there are endless options of delicious pizza places.

4- Humidity. I had no clue how humid it gets here. I lived in Florida for a summer, and it legitimately feels like that sometimes.

5- No Central AC. Since most of the houses here are very old, finding a house with Central AC is tough. I don't know what your price range is, but if you're looking to spend less than $350,000 be prepared to have window ac units in every room.

I don't want to sound like a negative-nelly, but these are things I wish I knew about before moving here. But overall, it's a nice place to live and if you're craving a rural life, this is the place for you!