Is there a large part of the population that commutes to Boston for work from RI (Providence: real estate market)

[leedspaddy]

Hey folks, my family and I currently reside in Vermont and are looking to escape as soon as I can secure employment out of the state. As you can imagine there are no decent jobs here in this backward state and the guiding principle behind my search is to find cities close enough to commute to. I am currently looking for jobs in Boston and Hartford and then someone suggested that I look at Providence for jobs as it was supposed to be a city on the up. First of all, is that true......second if I can't find work in Providence, will it be cheaper to live in Northern RI than southern MA and commute to Boston or if I did get a job in Providence would it be cheaper to live on the state line in CT. To be honest, I am lost where to start my research and sometimes think that I should just apply for the jobs first, find out where I will be working and then worry about where to live then.........but of course the danger of that is ending up in an area I can't afford.......so any help about places to look for houses and schools and jobs would be very much appreciated...........also any honest opinions especially about Providence would be nice....thanks in advance

[mr2448]

Originally Posted by leedspaddy

Hey folks, my family and I currently reside in Vermont and are looking to escape as soon as I can secure employment out of the state. As you can imagine there are no decent jobs here in this backward state and the guiding principle behind my search is to find cities close enough to commute to. I am currently looking for jobs in Boston and Hartford and then someone suggested that I look at Providence for jobs as it was supposed to be a city on the up. First of all, is that true......second if I can't find work in Providence, will it be cheaper to live in Northern RI than southern MA and commute to Boston or if I did get a job in Providence would it be cheaper to live on the state line in CT. To be honest, I am lost where to start my research and sometimes think that I should just apply for the jobs first, find out where I will be working and then worry about where to live then.........but of course the danger of that is ending up in an area I can't afford.......so any help about places to look for houses and schools and jobs would be very much appreciated...........also any honest opinions especially about Providence would be nice....thanks in advance

Find the job first and then worry about the commute. Most Southern New Englanders spend 30-90 minutes commuting. Providence is up and coming, but the job market has not kept up with Boston. Pays in the Boston area for the same type job, run 15-20% higher. If you live in the Boston area you then pay the higher cost of living. Many Boston workers live in New Hampshire or Rhode Island for a lower cost of living. Housing costs are less in Rhode Island than Massachusetts and Connecticut housing along the Rhode Island border could be cheaper. It all depends on where you buy in Connecticut. The average cost of a 2500 sq ft home will cost you upwards of 400000 in any of these states.

[Apple Annie]

It's difficult to find a job in another state before you sell your house in VT. It's a Catch 22 most of the time. You need a job before you can buy a house in the state you're going to or at least some kind of job opportunity. Job opportunities certainly will be better around Boston and the surrounding larger cities. If you can handle traffic problems and commute times, which can be brutal. You'd be going into a much higher population density with all the associated problems.

Take a few weekends and drive down to look around northeast RI. Towns like Cumberland, Lincoln, Smithfield etc. and over the line in Mass. such as Attleboro, Norton, Mansfield, Plainville. Home prices in Mass. may be a little higher than RI, but the property taxes are less than RI by almost 1/2 on a similar home. I'd say do some homework. Go to www.projo.com which is the Providence Journal website. There was an article on its front page just today regarding RI being in a huge budget, and the Governor wants to close the state offices for 7 days to save expenses. That's a bit disconcerting. The average 1800 sf home in a nice area will start in the low $300's. In Mass., you're looking at mid $300's to start.

The RI Realtors' MLS website is: www.riliving.com to search out prices and taxes etc. I don't have the Mass. or CT MLS websites, but a Realtor would be glad to put you on their email list. Over the CT line, housing is less for sure, and there are some nice quiet small towns in eastern CT. Probably a 45+ min. ride or so to Providence center. CT is a very pretty state.

[leedspaddy]

Originally Posted by Apple Annie

It's difficult to find a job in another state before you sell your house in VT. It's a Catch 22 most of the time. You need a job before you can buy a house in the state you're going to or at least some kind of job opportunity. Job opportunities certainly will be better around Boston and the surrounding larger cities. If you can handle traffic problems and commute times, which can be brutal. You'd be going into a much higher population density with all the associated problems.

Take a few weekends and drive down to look around northeast RI. Towns like Cumberland, Lincoln, Smithfield etc. and over the line in Mass. such as Attleboro, Norton, Mansfield, Plainville. Home prices in Mass. may be a little higher than RI, but the property taxes are less than RI by almost 1/2 on a similar home. I'd say do some homework. Go to www.projo.com which is the Providence Journal website. There was an article on its front page just today regarding RI being in a huge budget, and the Governor wants to close the state offices for 7 days to save expenses. That's a bit disconcerting. The average 1800 sf home in a nice area will start in the low $300's. In Mass., you're looking at mid $300's to start.

The RI Realtors' MLS website is: www.riliving.com to search out prices and taxes etc. I don't have the Mass. or CT MLS websites, but a Realtor would be glad to put you on their email list. Over the CT line, housing is less for sure, and there are some nice quiet small towns in eastern CT. Probably a 45+ min. ride or so to Providence center. CT is a very pretty state.

Thank you everyone for the advice. Basically the plan I have and probably the only option to me because of the poor housing market is to get the job first, and then move to the area within commutable distance of the job and rent a room and be away from home 5 days a week until we sell the house. As hard as it will be being away from my wife and kids, I will gain one benefit and that will be the experience of living in the area prior to buying.............something I wish I was able to do prior to our move to vermont because had I known what I know now about the state, we would never have come to this backward state in the first place. Saying that, the one thing I do fear is having the house on the market for a long time and being in another state away from family.........so you could argue that we are indeed in a catch-22 situation but I'm positive if we can overcome a huge move from PA we can overcome any problems with a move within New England.
Taking into account your advice, it seems that if I get a job in Providence then it maybe cheaper to live in CT and if I get job in Boston, live in NH.....is that a fair summation??? Do salaries really differ markedly between Boston and Providence? The one situation I want to avoid is what I have expereinced here in VT where the salaries are falling way behind the cost of living. I know the cost of living in MA is drastically higher but I have been lead to believe that the salaries on the whole keep pace with the COL.

[Apple Annie]

Someone else may have a better piece of advice on this; but I know for a fact that if you're going to live in NH and commute to Boston for work, you will be among thousands of others with the same plan. Homes in NH within commuting distance to Boston are even higher than they would be within commuting distance to Boston from northeast RI. You should check on www.Realtor.com and use it as a guide. Price of home vs. square footage etc.; and check the map for driving distances in between each.

[Veropb]

Originally Posted by leedspaddy

Hey folks, my family and I currently reside in Vermont and are looking to escape as soon as I can secure employment out of the state. As you can imagine there are no decent jobs here in this backward state and the guiding principle behind my search is to find cities close enough to commute to. I am currently looking for jobs in Boston and Hartford and then someone suggested that I look at Providence for jobs as it was supposed to be a city on the up. First of all, is that true......second if I can't find work in Providence, will it be cheaper to live in Northern RI than southern MA and commute to Boston or if I did get a job in Providence would it be cheaper to live on the state line in CT. To be honest, I am lost where to start my research and sometimes think that I should just apply for the jobs first, find out where I will be working and then worry about where to live then.........but of course the danger of that is ending up in an area I can't afford.......so any help about places to look for houses and schools and jobs would be very much appreciated...........also any honest opinions especially about Providence would be nice....thanks in advance

I used to drive the opposite commute trip Boston to Providence everyday back in the early 2000s... However a lot of people who escaped Boston's outrageous real estate market commute from RI every day.