More questions about Providence...

[RunawayJim]

I currently live and work in Providence. You can buy a house with a mortgage right now for under $2000/mo. I live in a nice neighborhood near PC just off Pleasant Valley Pkwy with a small yard, walkable to restaurants and other amenities right on a bus route and near another. Taxes are higher in Providence, but my 2400 sq ft house with 2 bed and 2 bath comes in well under $2000/mo.

Providence is easily the best city in its class in New England (in the 100k-200k range). New Haven comes in a close second. Burlington is a very small city (40k) with some big city amenities, but not quite like what Providence has to offer. There are some traffic issues in Providence, but nothing compared to bigger cities or even traffic in CT on 95 between Bridgeport and New Haven (and even east of New Haven, I lived there for many years). Public transportation here is decent with a decent bus system and commuter rail to Boston and Amtrak.

The music scene is pretty good with a lot of local bands and musicians. The restaurant scene is huge here with a ton of excellent options for food. The neighborhoods are all different, some quirky, some more "suburban" in feel, and some pretty urban. It's a funky city and definitely worth living. I love it here. I wouldn't move to the suburbs of Providence. They're all pretty bland and boring.

[NY Annie]

My favorite place raising my kids was South County. No Kingstown, from Wickford and south, South Kingstown (note the spelling, not "ton") specifically PeaceDale, Kingston which is out by the University (some really nice big old houses rentable) and good schools (professor's kids); The Oaks in PeaceDale, lots of professionals - most kids go to Msgr Clarke Elementary School; E. Greenwich is great - 1/2 hr commute to the city; north of the city, Lincoln, some parts of Pawtucket; west - Exeter.

The thing about Providence - and I so miss RI but not the weather - is that anywhere you go, you're only about 45 minutes from Providence. But I love the beaches so I always headed south, west Bay.

[Hollytree]

That reminds me of what I find so interesting about RI. Not only is it a small state, but it's pretty much divided up because of the bay. So you end up being either a west bay or east bay person, primarily for convenience. And yes, there are beaches in both sections! We are only 37 x 48 miles in size but have over 400 miles of coastline.

[zerralia]

Originally Posted by Hollytree

That reminds me of what I find so interesting about RI. Not only is it a small state, but it's pretty much divided up because of the bay. So you end up being either a west bay or east bay person, primarily for convenience. And yes, there are beaches in both sections! We are only 37 x 48 miles in size but have over 400 miles of coastline.

Agreed! I live in East Providence (not to be confused with the East Side of Providence...hehe) but I feel a bit of a disconnect to areas like Cranston and Coventry. I work in Warwick and most of my coworkers come from South County, it's like we grew up in two very different states! . Even places like Barrington, although it's literally minutes away from me, are totally different. It's funny to introduce my out of state friends to my home turf. They don't understand how a town 5 seconds away can be so much different. I guess it all goes back to the old village days. I actually think East Providence is much more like nearby Massachusetts than RI, we should have never split up!. We're kind of like the oddball town...hahaha. It's funny how the state is so small, but the regions are all so different (and the local foods...yum!) . I guess the one thing that ties us all together is the ocean

[terrasurf]

Yes, it is funny. I know people in Tiverton and Little Compton who are much more aligned towards Fall River and MA, than RI, although going way back this part of the state belonged to MA anyway.

[zerralia]

Originally Posted by terrasurf

Yes, it is funny. I know people in Tiverton and Little Compton who are much more aligned towards Fall River and MA, than RI, although going way back this part of the state belonged to MA anyway.

Yes indeed! That's what I meant by "we should never have split up", hehe. I spend way more time and money in MA than I do in RI. We should get back together

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by GermanSpy

Cost of living is fairly steep and the job market is pretty abysmal at the moment.

Curious about the cost of living...I mean, when I view realtor.com, there still seems to be a small number of relatively affordable housing.

It SEEMS more affordable than Seattle, Boston, New York, etc. Probably is, right? Or is there something seriously wrong with the housing stock I'm seeing on realtor.com and other places?

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by RunawayJim

I currently live and work in Providence. You can buy a house with a mortgage right now for under $2000/mo. I live in a nice neighborhood near PC just off Pleasant Valley Pkwy with a small yard, walkable to restaurants and other amenities right on a bus route and near another. Taxes are higher in Providence, but my 2400 sq ft house with 2 bed and 2 bath comes in well under $2000/mo.

Providence is easily the best city in its class in New England (in the 100k-200k range). New Haven comes in a close second. Burlington is a very small city (40k) with some big city amenities, but not quite like what Providence has to offer. There are some traffic issues in Providence, but nothing compared to bigger cities or even traffic in CT on 95 between Bridgeport and New Haven (and even east of New Haven, I lived there for many years). Public transportation here is decent with a decent bus system and commuter rail to Boston and Amtrak.

The music scene is pretty good with a lot of local bands and musicians. The restaurant scene is huge here with a ton of excellent options for food. The neighborhoods are all different, some quirky, some more "suburban" in feel, and some pretty urban. It's a funky city and definitely worth living. I love it here. I wouldn't move to the suburbs of Providence. They're all pretty bland and boring.

Just reading more of the thread...this answers it better.

Since comparing cities...how about Manchester NH? I know it is significantly smaller than Providence, New Haven, etc. But wonder how it rates on the New England chart of things...