Where to Live in Newport (Bristol, Middletown: rent, condos, neighborhoods)

[Lotus03]

Hi, I'm thinking of checking out Newport. I havent been there since I was a kid with my father and all I remember is having the best stuffed lobster of my life at a restaraunt on a marina. We did some sailing that day.

I can rent a place between 1500-2200 month for a while so i can get to know the area. I'm 35 & single and would eventually buy a boat.

1) should i live in town where i can walk to restaraunts and bars etc? Is that quality living in Newport?

2) or should I live by a marina??

3) Is downtown a large place?

I need to visit but thought i'd try to get some feed back. thanks a lot

[Saltatrix]

Newport is a beautiful place to live, and living right in town, which would be near the marina's more or less, is quality living, I mean if you are into boats and the ocean, it's great. It's not stuffy of preppy or down homey, like Maine for instance. In the summer, you can get quite sick of the tourists and summer residents, sometimes it's hard to feel local, and everyone assumes you are from out of town too. The social and boating community seems fairly friendly and open, maybe not as exclusive as in other areas, so there's quite good opportunity there, but competition as well. With that rent you should have a good choice of options, condos. In some neighborhoods around Thames, things get rowdy after the bars close, with late night parties and such, so that can be an issue.

[emilybh]

Most of the marinas are close to restaurants so you can be close to both. Your most central and convenient location would be a half mile radius of the main post office at Thames St and America's Cup Blvd which ends there and Memorial Blvd. Right across the street is the Newport Yachting Center. If you head north from the Post office, you'd pass all the restaurants, Starbucks, shops en route to Washington Square and Broadway beyond that. If you headed east, you'd head up the hill to Spring Street and Bellevue Ave and heading further east on Mem'l Blvd. takes you to the Cliff Walk and First beach or Easton's Beach and on to Middletown. If you head south on Thames from the Post Office, you'll pass shops and boat yards and restaurants on your way to the Fifth Ward. Ideally you'd want to live in the 3rd, 4th or 5th ward where you'd be closest to the harbor and the marinas. There are a couple big ones in Portsmouth and in Bristol as well and a couple in Jamestown, (but you said you wanted Newport).

Newport, sizewize to me is small. There are under 30,000 residents that live there year round. I guess it is just considered a city because of its colonial history and being the first major seaport in New England (before Boston). In the summer it is a different story. Hundreds of thousands visit.

BTW, there are boat manufacturers in the area as well. You might want to check them out for work that might interest you.

[Lotus03]

Thanks a lot. I assumed Newport would be the best spot for me.