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We will be moving to the Providence area this fall, and my husband will be working in Cranston. We have one daughter and plan to put her in a private school. Hopefully, this post won't trigger a debate about public vs. private, we just feel strongly about keeping her in private after we move. With that in mind, what are some suggestions for the following:
Housing between $500k and $700k -- which city or town, and which neighborhood within that community?
Which school for a 10 year old girl? Based on Internet research, St. Mary's Bay View appears to be an ideal fit (we are Catholic though that isn't a requirement for a school) but are open to other schools.
Other interests include libraries, dog friendly areas, swim club, bike paths, art classes and studios, and for our daughter, a girls gymnastic club to join as she is on a competitive team right now.
I want the location to be convenient to shopping, work and school, but also want it to be safe. (The East side of Providence looks great but I worry that we'd be in a beautifully restored home only to discover that a frat house is right around the corner). Is there a better community in Massachusetts that would match our needs?
Would love some input to help us get started on our research. Thanks.
We will be moving to the Providence area this fall, and my husband will be working in Cranston. We have one daughter and plan to put her in a private school. Hopefully, this post won't trigger a debate about public vs. private, we just feel strongly about keeping her in private after we move. With that in mind, what are some suggestions for the following:
Housing between $500k and $700k -- which city or town, and which neighborhood within that community?
Which school for a 10 year old girl? Based on Internet research, St. Mary's Bay View appears to be an ideal fit (we are Catholic though that isn't a requirement for a school) but are open to other schools.
Other interests include libraries, dog friendly areas, swim club, bike paths, art classes and studios, and for our daughter, a girls gymnastic club to join as she is on a competitive team right now.
I want the location to be convenient to shopping, work and school, but also want it to be safe. (The East side of Providence looks great but I worry that we'd be in a beautifully restored home only to discover that a frat house is right around the corner). Is there a better community in Massachusetts that would match our needs?
Would love some input to help us get started on our research. Thanks.
Barrington, East Greenwich, Lincoln, Cumberland -- in that order. All are very sports oriented and have the amenities you seek, especially Barrington. A good resource will be the Rhode Island MLS: www.RILIVING.com and the Providence Journal newspaper: www.projo.com
An experienced Realtor who has lived in the area for a long time can discuss neighborhoods and further amenities with you.
On the East Side, consider Wayland Square as a place to live and all of the private schools nearby as well (including the all-girls Lincoln School). Your frat-house concern isn't much of a factor there (compared with, say, the Wickenden area or College Hill) and, even so, any experienced realtor (or anyone living in the Square) can guide you away from the one or two properties of concern.
Is there a better community in Massachusetts that would match our needs?
Would love some input to help us get started on our research. Thanks.
Yes. Pop up St Mary Academy on Bing Maps, or whatever you choose,
and you'll see Bay View is on the east side of the Providence River.
Just to the east is Seekonk and Swansea. Also close is Rehoboth,
which has many fine homes and is very quiet.
you have a high budget for a home, you could also look into
Barrington or Warren in RI.
We will be moving to the Providence area this fall, and my husband will be working in Cranston. We have one daughter and plan to put her in a private school. Hopefully, this post won't trigger a debate about public vs. private, we just feel strongly about keeping her in private after we move. With that in mind, what are some suggestions for the following:
Housing between $500k and $700k -- which city or town, and which neighborhood within that community?
Which school for a 10 year old girl? Based on Internet research, St. Mary's Bay View appears to be an ideal fit (we are Catholic though that isn't a requirement for a school) but are open to other schools.
Other interests include libraries, dog friendly areas, swim club, bike paths, art classes and studios, and for our daughter, a girls gymnastic club to join as she is on a competitive team right now.
I want the location to be convenient to shopping, work and school, but also want it to be safe. (The East side of Providence looks great but I worry that we'd be in a beautifully restored home only to discover that a frat house is right around the corner). Is there a better community in Massachusetts that would match our needs?
Would love some input to help us get started on our research. Thanks.
The schools you'd probably want to look at if you want private country day schools would be The Wheeler School wheelerschool.org
In the old days when I was at Wheeler, Wheeler and Lincoln were all girls and PCD and Moses Brown were all boys. Rocky Hill where both of my sisters went for a while was always co-ed.
Elmhurst would be my first choice - also known as the Catholic Triangle - elementary school to Academy HS then on to Prov College. Streets you'll find the best housing are within 1 block north of Smith St on Huxley over to Academy.
If you are sending your children to private school, I recommend living on the East Side of Providence. Yes, Barrington and East Greenwich are nice suburban areas but can't beat the vibe of the East Side. A good majority of East Side kids go to private school, my 3 grandchildren included. There are several private schools in the area; the best (from an educational standpoint) being:
Moses Brown (my grandchildren go here)
The Wheeler School
Lincoln School (girls only)
Good luck with your move.
Other than "vibe", which I'll leave you to absorb from spending some time here, you'll probably also want to consider property taxes when choosing to move to Rhode Island.
Providence has an extremely high tax rate and the East Side is one of the few places that property values did not change much (they didn't go down) during the recent real estate crash.
Also, if you own a car, the automobile tax rate inside the city is $60 per thousand of valuation per tax year. That translates into roughly $1,000 per year or roughly $266 per quarter to own and operate a $16,000 vehicle in addition to insurance, etc.
For comparison, the tax rate in Little Compton, RI, is $15 per thousand-ish.
And actually, if you have 500 to 700k to spend on a house, you might like Little Compton.
Since Rhode Island is fairly small, I would probably make my choice based on the practicality, safety, and economic stability of the community in question where I'll live - of which the suburbs usually trump the city - and then realize that you can always drive a child to school or drive into the city for an evening out.
I've lived in Providence for 10 years and am a RI native. Though there is little love lost between me and many other RI communities I would have to say that I don't feel like a house purchase in the actual city of Providence with the added burden of private school tuition is as sound economically as it might be in better times. Unless you are, of course, coming from Detroit. Providence's highly touted "Renaissance" has slipped backward somewhat in that all the nice touristy things are still here to do except no one who lives here can afford to do them anymore. Which, in turn, forces some of those cool touristy things to go away eventually. Oh, and that none of those cool things were actually paid for, which is why taxes and budget concerns in the state are coming back to haunt us.
I feel that your money is best spent, if you must move here, in one of the more traditionally stable communities outside the city such as Barrington, Bristol, East Greenwich, Wakefield/South Kingstown.
Just my two cents.
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