Boston or Providence? (house, community college, utilities)

[Mr.Wax]

Hello, I am a 21 year old considering relocating to new england from Phoenix, either Boston or Providence. I plan on attending community college and am fine with working a low paying part time job. I am fine with living in the cheapest area possible short of a hood where being mugged is inevitable ,using the library for internet, basically living very cheap but still i'm wondering is boston one of those hard to survive places like san francisco or nyc? I have been to providence for two days and really liked it but i feel like a move to the more metropolitan boston may be more exciting. Pros and cons?

[Justin Sparks]

Boston is better but Providence is cheaper, by a lot.

A bohemian friend of my son's recently visiting said he is living in a $3200@mo. rented house in Alston with seven! roomies, and thought that was cheap.

[ogre]

You may think you'd be fine with the idea of working a low-paying part-time job, but that's a tough way to make in Boston. Boston is not as expensive as NYC, but it is still expensive enough to be one of those cities where you basically don't live on low-paying part-time jobs. The main hope of doing so would be to live in an arrangement like the one Justin Sparks describes. Even then your finances likely would be tight.

I don't know enough about how rents run in Providence to know how it compares to Boston in terms of housing costs. I do know that if Providence turns out to be substantially less expensive, that's probably your better bet if choosing between the two, because Boston does have very high housing costs, and is a tough place to make it on a low-paying job.

[AandD]

Providence will be MUCCCH cheaper. And the commuter rail runs up to Boston for excitment.

[riblue]

You can find a shared living arranagement for 400-500 dollars a month in Boston. Plus utilities. If you want big city vibe, Boston is the place. There are plenty of things to do in Providence and it is charming but it is still a small city. Plus I think there would be a whole lot more job choices in Boston. Boston also has the T which goes everywhere. That being said, if you liked Providence, try to visit Boston and then you can make a more accurate assessment. There are also more colleges in Boston to choose from.