Cranston or Warwick Area Info (Providence, Pawtucket: cul-de-sac, houses, safe neighborhood)

[digital12]

I was wondering if someone could give me a run down on cranston vs warwick any information would be helpful and then the different subsections of each city?

[digital12]

alright, my fiance and I are going to be moving to RI and will be living in Westerly with her family for a year. After that we are going to be looking to buy a place to live closer to the MA border, where I work.

I was intrested in Warwick or Cranston because on riliving.com I have seen some nice small single family homes for around 250k. Which is what we are interested in. Ideally we would like to live close to the water, have a decent school system and be able to make it to boston in about an hour with no traffic.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated?

[ProvGuy]

If you're going to be commuting to Boston, I would immediately suggest living either in the Darlington neighborhood of Pawtucket or somewhere in Providence. That way you can take the MBTA train to Boston, the only way you'll ever get there in an hour (driving from Warwick would take FOREVER with all the traffic.) Darlington has nice single familys in your price range and it's a nice safe neighborhood with lot's of close by destinations (slater Park is wonderful too!)

You could also try the Elmhurst section of Providence for single families.

Whatever you do, don't drive to Boston!!!

[OREGONRAIN]

I don't know where you live now, and that is a fact in where you move to, RI is a different ball game for say someone that is moving from a different regions of the country. Probably Warwick would seem more familiar, since its a standard suburban town, the airport is there, so you can get out fast, when you hear southwest airlines calling you, and you need a break from things. In this day and age with the gas problems and cost, and the severe traffic up 95 to Boston, as the other post said, The Darlington area is so close to the MBTA commuter rail in South Attleboro, Mass within a few minutes, Im not sure if there is one in Pawtucket or not, Really where you live if part of your life is to be in Boston, then Warwick might be a bit too far any longer for commuting, otherwise you better buy something like one of those little smart cars. By the way I grew up in Attleboro, Darlington is just over the state line from Mass, its my old neighborhoods. Alot of nice things about New England I think you will enjoy it. I always found the people to be pretty friendly, a little different that other places I have been, but I always liked the family feel to it, I don't see that as much elsewhere.

[digital12]

Both Darlington and Elmhurst look like great areas. If the commute into boston wasnt a factor would those still be the areas that you would recommend for a young professional couple starting a family and at around 250K?

[rockfisherman]

Originally Posted by digital12

Both Darlington and Elmhurst look like great areas. If the commute into boston wasnt a factor would those still be the areas that you would recommend for a young professional couple starting a family and at around 250K?

The requirement to commute to Boston changes everything. As said earlier, you won't make it to Boston from Warwick in an hour and you definitely don't want to drive. The train ride alone from South Attleboro to South Station is about an hour. Then you have to take the subway to wherever you are going, and add your commute time to the train station. Forget about parking in the commuter lot after the 7:20 train, you'll be parking out by Home Depot and hiking to the train. There's a lot more people making the commute than there used to be. Take it from a ex RI to Boston commuter...move to MA if you're working in Boston. Now, if you're not commuting to Boston...look at Warwick and Cranston again.

[ProvGuy]

Digital,

I would still recommend Darlington even if you didn't have to commute to Boston, mainly because its affordable, convenient, and Pawtucket schools are better than Providence ones. The South Attleboro Train parking lot does get very crowded, but if you live anywhere north of Armistice Blvd in Pawtucket (and near Newport Ave), its only a short walk and then you won't have to pay to park either. That's what I used to do.

If not going to commute to Boston, I would also recommend some Cranston neighborhoods such as Edgewood or the Stadium area. They're perfect for young professionals with kids-the areas are generally safe, they have good schools, but there's still some sort of urban living associated with them so they won't bore you to death like a cul-de-sac neighborhood will.

Of course if you don't mind suburban living there are tons of nice suburbs in RI, but I don't know much about them other than I would hate living there out of sheer boredom.

[OREGONRAIN]

The areas that everyone has been mentioning to you, are excellent choices,expecially Darlington if Boston is part of your daily life there. Im not sure I understand are you going to be working in Boston or you just want to go there now and then? Either way Darlington should be a good bet. If not working in Boston then give the Cranston and Warwick areas a look at, there are some areas there that are decent. If you want to do an entirely different scenario and find you want to try suburbs. Lincoln RI, expensive though. Smithfield, maybe Johnston RI. these are all in Northern RI pretty areas, If you like biking there is a scenic trail along the Blackstone River that goes for many many miles now all paved, beautiful area. Oh yes parts of Cumberland RI, along the Mass border is very nice also. Im making myself homesick reading what I wrote, I always go jogging along the blackstone river when I go back for a visit. I am sure that you will find something to your liking in housing there.

[digital12]

Thanks for the information.

We went to RIC last weekend and I wanted to know if that was part of the Elmhurst nieghborhood that was mentioned. We then traveled down atwells ave to Federal Hill.

Some parts around RIC seemed nice however atwells and into federal hill looked like it was more city-ish than we are looking for how does darlington compare to these areas and does it sound like Smithfield, Cranston or Warwick would be more of a fit?

[melzee]

Hi, just some more info to pile into your heads. I am a lifelong resident and moving as soon as I can sell my house, my husband works in DC and has been commuting back and forth for 4 1/2 years until our youngest graduated and is off to college. So we are making the move, we live in Cranston, great family neighborhood, it is in Auburn section of Cranston, off Reservoir Ave near Garden City. Access to all major routes, highways, busline etc...great schools , bus stop was our house until our kids grew and it is now 2 houses down for the younger kids. If you have any interest please email a private message and I can give you details..