Providence or Southern MA? (East Providence, Bristol: for sale, rental, house)

[bostonruru]

Hi. We are trying to looking for a rental place in the east side of Providence (We love the neighborhood around there). But we have had difficulties in finding a single house home. Because income/sales tax is expensive in Rhode island, we are thinking of looking for a place in southern MA. We are currently thinking about a place in Seekonk. One of us works at Providence but one works near Southern Dartmouth. Could you give me a good sense about which city/town is a good place to live for a family? We are not worried about a school yet since our child is only 2, but we want a middle- to upper-middle class family-friendly neighborhood/community.

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by bostonruru

Hi. We are trying to looking for a rental place in the east side of Providence (We love the neighborhood around there). But we have had difficulties in finding a single house home. Because income/sales tax is expensive in Rhode island, we are thinking of looking for a place in southern MA. We are currently thinking about a place in Seekonk. One of us works at Providence but one works near Southern Dartmouth. Could you give me a good sense about which city/town is a good place to live for a family? We are not worried about a school yet since our child is only 2, but we want a middle- to upper-middle class family-friendly neighborhood/community.

Tough choice. The towns between--Seeekonk, Swansea, and Somerset--are unremakable middle class towns. They're certainly not bad places to raise a family, but there are quite forgettable, too. The east side of Prov. is cool, trendy, and upscale in places--in other words, nothing like Seekonk, Swansea, and Somerset. Seekonk is probably a little better than the other two (which have large numbers of old folks). The town in the area that is probably most family friendly is Barrington, RI, but it's not cheap.

[wxjay]

Seekonk would be an ideal locale for you, though the commute to South Dartmouth for the other person would be a little long.

Barrington is "cute", but it's overrated IMO. Growing up in the "poorer" neighboring community of East Providence, I am probably a tad biased, but the students I knew at Barrington High School were just complete jerks, and for a supposedly wonderful school system, they had just as many drug problems as EP High School did. Plus, the whole "we're a dry town" mentality is bogus (the Barringtonites invade Warren and Riverside for their liquor needs).

[ljd1010]

As usual, professorsenator has provided very accurate information. I would also recommend either the East Side of Providence or Barrington. The East Side is quite electic and definitely family friendly. Barrington is lovely but more of an upscale suburb. If you are thinking ahead for schools for your child, most likely you would need to seek out private schools in Providence or try to have your child enrolled in a charter school (there are a couple of excellent charter schools). Barrington has excellent public education.

[ProvGuy]

Check riliving.com, plenty of single family homes on the East Side for sale. I'd rank the SE Mass towns in this order of good: Seekonk, Swansea, Somerset, Fall River. They are all very suburban, though, not really like the East Side much at all. Commuting from the East Side of Providence isn't too bad to Dartmouth, luckily you can use the Henderson Bridge to get into the city instead of 195 which backs up daily past Broadway in East Providence.

[dmyankee]

Originally Posted by wxjay

Seekonk would be an ideal locale for you, though the commute to South Dartmouth for the other person would be a little long.

Barrington is "cute", but it's overrated IMO. Growing up in the "poorer" neighboring community of East Providence, I am probably a tad biased, but the students I knew at Barrington High School were just complete jerks, and for a supposedly wonderful school system, they had just as many drug problems as EP High School did. Plus, the whole "we're a dry town" mentality is bogus (the Barringtonites invade Warren and Riverside for their liquor needs).

Gotta laugh out of this, thank you. Those same kids used to show up at our keg parties and to buy their weed in Bristol.

LOL!

[tepps]

We live in Barrington and love the feel of it - great schools, very safe and lots of stuff for kids to do. Email me at tepps2@yahoo.com for more info.

[bostonruru]

Thanks for your info, everyone. We are renting a place, but debating a house between Seekonk and Barrington. I like the Barrington neighborhood, but tax saving by living in Seekonk is significant. Touch choice.

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by bostonruru

Thanks for your info, everyone. We are renting a place, but debating a house between Seekonk and Barrington. I like the Barrington neighborhood, but tax saving by living in Seekonk is significant. Touch choice.

Though you may not care about schools yet, you're only 3 years away from caring (and if you need special pre-school services, schools could be a concern very soon.) Go with Barrington--it really is much better. Your resale value will hold up better, too. Also, Seekonk has had city management issues recently, and has had to make draconian cuts to schools and other (already meager) services.