Company moving me to the area... (Providence, Pawtucket: for rent, home, schools)

[miwhi]

The company I work for is moving me to Easton, MA in January/February. With a wife and 2-yr old, maintaining quality of lifestyle is really important to me. We live in Southern Jersey (about 20 minutes from Philly) now and miss the urban feel we had when living in Memphis. I'm looking at Providence as a possible home for us. I'm comfortable with the 30 minute drive to Easton every day if we can get what we're used to in Prov.

Housing here runs you around $800 for a 2-br in a comfortable part of time. Am I being naive to say we can find a similar offering for $1k?

[Ro-Dialin]

I would suggest living outside of Providence perhaps. $1K might be on target for rent. Truthfully, Easton is a nice location, it is next door to Brockton which has approximately 90K people. Providence is nice because there is a lot to do. Your commute from Prov would probably be 95N to 495S and a few exits down.

[Hollytree]

Try the Rumford section of East Providence (check Craigslist). That would get you 5 min outside of the city and should get you a decent 2 bed. Also the Oak Hill section of Pawtucket.

[mikey2]

Yeah, I'd look in the areas surrounding Easton.

You can always go to Providence anytime you want. Why pay taxes, deal with traffic, etc. if you don't need to.

Good Luck,

Mikey

[miwhi]

I flew into Providence last month when I was at the Easton location. The city looked nice (passing through). I didn't see much housing in Easton. Brockton looked big but I've heard terror stories from some residents about it... so I'm weighing the options.

[Hollytree]

Definitely not Brockton. I'd look at Mansfield if you decide you want to stay closer to Easton but even that is a small town. North Attleboro might be an option, but if you do want a more urban and less suburban feel, I would go closer in towards Providence as your first post suggested. Since you'd be renting, taxes not a significant issue.

[Jenkins86]

Keep in mind Providence schools are not good at all.

[ljd1010]

Originally Posted by Jenkins86

Keep in mind Providence schools are not good at all.

There are, however, some excellent Charter Schools. you will need to apply early and may get waitlisted.

[lrfox]

^Taunton? it's not terrible and it's a good middle point if you're interested Providence but working in Easton. It's got a nice city center ("the Green" which is gorgeous at Christmas time) and it's on routes 24 and 495 (also route 44) so going to either town wouldn't be trouble at all. You'd also only be a 40 minute drive to Boston.

[ProvGuy]

I would not recommend Taunton. It's city center may be nice during Christmas but it's not any other time. It's full of druggies and jobless wanderers. In most places, this would be acceptable because there are others who balance them out, but not in Taunton, everyone seems crazy! For small town centers, I'd go with North Attleboro, Attleboro, or Mansfield. If you want larger centers, I'd go with Providence or Pawtucket, though parts of Pawtucket's downtown are Tauntonesque.