Providence to Storrs commute? (Coventry: renting, school, college)

[chunga21]

I recently applied to a PhD program at UConn, Storrs, and my wife and I are considering our living possibilities. We have family in Providence and like the area, so would like to not be in Hartford.

In this program, after the first 2 years I won't need to be on campus except periodically. Also, it will likely be 3 days, 4 max, per week that I am on campus. My wife is a teacher so we want to go somewhere and stay so there isn't a need to switch jobs again, thus eliminating the idea of just doing Hartford for 2 years then moving.

Any thoughts? Would this be a pain in the rear? I previously did a 45-minute commute each way in the Phoenix area for 2 years and while long and often annoying it was worth it for our reasons.

Thanks for any input!!

[professorsenator]

While geographically the distance is not large by Western standards, covering long distances (except on interstate highways) is not as easy. Highways are usually populated, winding roads with frequent stoplights. Most people in Southern New England would probably think Providence to Storrs is too far to commute to work.

I would suggest flying into Providence and renting a car and doing the drive yourself.

[RIMarti]

Consider Windsor CT...outside of Hartford, nice area.

[mikey2]

I've made the trip from Coventry, R.I. to Storrs a number of times.
It's not too bad if you go Rte 6 to Rte 101 to Storrs.

I didn't encounter any traffic on Rte 101.

If I were you I'd try it a few times from Providence and see how it goes.

There are worse commutes to and from Providence.

Mikey.

[ontheroad]

It seems like you might not find it too strenuous the first few times, but after awhile you might really regret having to travel about 3hrs a day/3x per week.

I commuted from Providence in the opposite direction for about the same number of miles, 5x/week, and after about 6 months I decided to take public transportation and leave my car at the station.

But whatever you decide, enjoy both school and Providence!

[chunga21]

I definitely plan to fly up and check into it when the time comes. The smaller roads could be good or bad, as in PHX I had about a 25 mile commute per way on freeways, but the traffic was horrible. This would be longer mileage, but possibly less traffic, as some of you mentioned.

My wife and I visited both Hartford and Providence this past summer, and while you can only take away so much from a few days we really liked the vibe of Providence and while not totally fair, weren't as impressed with Hartford. Also, we have cousins there who we went to college with and would love to live in the same city again.

The main reason I am even considering this is that the academic schedule if very fluid, as I could have only 3-4 days on campus per week. Then with various breaks, winter and summer, I wouldn't need to go there. And finally after 2 years I wouldn't have to go but every so often.

Thanks for the input so far, any other issues I might want to consider please keep em coming.

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by chunga21

My wife and I visited both Hartford and Providence this past summer, and while you can only take away so much from a few days we really liked the vibe of Providence and while not totally fair, weren't as impressed with Hartford

There's little question that Providence is a more vibrant, atrractive city than Hartford. At one time, Prov. was considered a total basket case but the city's renaissance in the 90's enabled the RI city to leapfrog past it's Connecticut rival.