thinking of moving to Providence from Oakland (Warwick, Cranston: sale, real estate)

[JupiterL]

My wife and I currently live in Oakland, CA and are thinking of moving to Providence. We absolutely love it here, but it's just too expensive and we have a ton of family in the Northeast.

How expensive are houses in Providence? We both are creative professionals and live in a really diverse and hip neighborhood in Oakland, with tons of coffee shops and amazing eateries, etc. Where might this exist in Providence? We also love the outdoors and have a big dog. Are there good hiking opportunities near Providence?

[GermanSpy]

I've got no idea about hiking whatsoever so maybe somebody else can help you there.

Houseprices vary widely over here, depending on where you choose to live. We've got a few parts of town which might fit your bill. You probably want to take a look at houses on the East Side of Providence, not to be confused with East Providence. Median price for a one family house in RI is probably around 230k at the moment. I'd expect a house on the East Side to come with a scarier pricetag though.

[Hollytree]

Look in the Elmwood or Elmhurst section of Providence, also Federal Hill or the Armory District. You can get a nice big old house in Elmwood, for example, that needs fixing up at a reasonable price. These are all diverse neighborhoods, with Elmhurst being the least diverse.

RI's highest point is about 800 ft above sea level. If you want to mountain hike, you go to New Hampshire or Vermont, or maybe the Berkshires of Massachusetts, both of which are a few hours drive away. The city of Providence can be hilly however, College Hill where Brown U is on a steep hill- that's enough of a hike for me!

Here's a pretty good map that shows the neighborhoods:
http://www.brown.edu/Courses/HA0191/new/thecity.php

[1979]

Channel 10 news just announced this morning the median price for a home has dropped to 185K

[missionhill]

Lots of public lands exist in RI, CT, and Eastern MA in the form of state parks, Audubon sanctuaries, town forests, and such, that make for nice outings of a few hours at a time. For significant climbs you have to get off the coastal lowland, as Hollytree says. The Appalachian Mtn Club has lots of sponsored hikes throughout the region and various local chapters; they're a good source on hiking.

[Hollytree]

Real Estate stats EXCLUDE the East Side of Providence and keep those figures separately since they are much higher than the rest of the city. Median was 468K on East Side at end of 2008- at that time a 3% increase.
Can't find stats on 2009 but I do see many sale pending signs so market is still alive.

[JupiterL]

I'm a little familiar with the hiking in the Berkshires and Vermont. I was just kind of referring to the need to get away from the city and get into the outdoors. Do you have to travel far to get to a nice park for wooded walks on trails or mountain biking (mountains not needed - just trails)? Are there nice city parks that aren't over-crowded or overly manicured?

From reading other posts, it sounds like the East side of Providence is really the right fit. However, $468K average house price? That's almost what I paid for my house in Oakland. Do these other sections (Elmwood, Elmhurst, etc) have a good progressive feel to them? Are there local cafes and shops? What are the public schools like? I hear they're not too great. I'm just a little resistant to move to the suburbs. That's where I grew up, and all the families were exactly like mine. It's not really what I want for my children.

[ocngypz]

Originally Posted by JupiterL

I'm a little familiar with the hiking in the Berkshires and Vermont. I was just kind of referring to the need to get away from the city and get into the outdoors. Do you have to travel far to get to a nice park for wooded walks on trails or mountain biking (mountains not needed - just trails)? Are there nice city parks that aren't over-crowded or overly manicured?

From reading other posts, it sounds like the East side of Providence is really the right fit. However, $468K average house price? That's almost what I paid for my house in Oakland. Do these other sections (Elmwood, Elmhurst, etc) have a good progressive feel to them? Are there local cafes and shops? What are the public schools like? I hear they're not too great. I'm just a little resistant to move to the suburbs. That's where I grew up, and all the families were exactly like mine. It's not really what I want for my children.

Elmwood, while having some attractive larger Victorian homes, is full of boarded-up bank-owned multi-family units. Not a neighborhood I'd want to raise my children in.

Elmhurst is a mixed bag of seniors...........and college kids renting in multi-family buildings.

Well, my family is originally from the Eastside. Yes, depending where you live, there are lots of shops, etc you can walk to. Lots of college kids. Lots of rentals. Farther away from the commerical streets are the large single family homes everyone drools over. And they are very much in excess of $500,000! Property taxes are just terrible in Providence. Quite frankly, you are better off in other communities housing, tax and school-wise.

The Edgewood section of Cranston is nice. Better tax structure, lower housing costs, better schools.

One thing you must understand about Rhode Island is that it is quite provincial compared to California. I've lived in both.....and Little Rhody can't hold a candle to Northern California.

BTW one of the prettiest places in Providence to walk is Swan Point Cemetery in the spring. It's located off Blackstone Boulevard on the Eastside... going north towards Pawtucket.

[Hollytree]

Current advertised prices on the East Side range from upper 200s (Mt Hope neighborhood- can be very "diverse"- some drug problems) to almost 6 million (Blackstone, College Hill, etc). The high end houses are historic mansions- much of the East Side is in designated historic districts. We have no new single family housing developments because there are no suitable unbuilt tracts of land. For the most part, thankfully!!!, preservationists have saved our houses and there are few tear downs.

There are houses in the 300s in Summit neighborhood which you might like- also look at Oak Hill in Pawtucket which is very close to the East Side.

[ProvGuy]

There are some deals on the East Side in the Mt Hope or Summit neighborhoods. In Mt Hope try to stay east of Camp St to avoid the drug area. Both neighborhoods are close to the business district along Hope Street between Rochambeau Ave and Tenth Street.

You could also try Pawtuxet Village on the Cranston/Warwick line. It's just south of Edgewood, which someone mentioned earlier. It has coffee shops and restaurants and is historic yet pretty affordable.