Woostah is absolutely commutable. Lots of non-highway roads to ride on, and the suburbs are close to downtown if you don't want to live in the city. Also as mentioned above, the train station is right there. You could live anywhere along the line and have no trouble getting into the city. Studded tyres are a good idea for the winter. Western Mass gets a fair amount of snow and ice, which makes for fun winter recreation, but slippery roads.