Is Fall River a suburb of Providence? (Cranston, Pawtucket: neighborhoods, place to live)

[Hollytree]

It's only about 15 miles away and many of its residents come here frequently to cultural attractions and events, restaurants, etc.

[lrfox]

I don't think it's a true suburb, but it's definitely a second city in the Providence metro area (not unlike Brockton or Lowell is to Boston). It's more aligned with Providence than Providence is with Boston and many Fall River residents work and play in Providence. It's separated by some stretches of semi-rural land in Seekonk and Rehoboth, so it's definitely not an extension of Providence's urban fabric, and does have it's own downtown area, urban residential neighborhoods and suburbs, so it is semi-independent. But it's highly influenced culturally and economically by Providence.

[Raiderman]

I agree with lrfox. I would put Seekonk and the Attleboroughs in the "suburb of Providence" category, but not Fall River. I think of suburb as a residential vs. urban area that is basically an overflow of the city. Pawtucket, Johnston, Cranston, East Providence, etc, are directly connected to Providence, but have a suburban feel to them. Driving down the highway to Fall River, you have Rehoboth, Swansea, Somerset, etc - mostly rural, that gives one a break from the city/suburbs of Providence, to the city/suburbs of Fall River (Dighton, Berkley, Freetown, etc). My own personal feeling is that the suburbs have to be contiguous to the metro area. I don't consider Newport or Westerly a suburb of Providence for that reason.

[massnative71]

Isn't the real definition of a suburb a community where most reside (sleep at night) and commute to jobs in a nearby city? In that case, FR is not a suburb of Providence (or anywhere for that matter).

[mp775]

Implying an entire city of 90,000 doesn't work! Wow.

[MTQ3000]

15 minutes? How would you manage that even with zero traffic? Forget rush hour, you'd be parked on I-195.

Suburb implies that it is a nicer place to live than the city in question. Let's just leave it at that.

Mick

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by mp775

Implying an entire city of 90,000 doesn't work! Wow.

Not quite, please read my post again.

[MTQ3000]

Sorry, I misread the OP. 15 miles, not 15 mins. My bad.

Mick

[sandsonik]

Originally Posted by massnative71

Not quite, please read my post again.

Does that mean most Fall River residents work in Fall River?

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by sandsonik

Does that mean most Fall River residents work in Fall River?

Haha, no. Most FR residents don't work anywhere.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Fall-R...achusetts.html