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I currently live in Danbury, CT which is a pretty populated city with a big mall, shopping and restaurants in close proximity. My wife and I are currently playing state hop scotch as we just moved to CT last year from NH. NH drove us away due to how boring it was and we don't want to make that mistake again.
Moving forward, my wife got a job offer at Tiffany & Co in Cumberland, RI and I was curious what it is like there compared to where we are now. We have started the research and noticed Lincoln seems to be somewhat reasonable when it comes to rental prices (compared to Danbury, ct) and its a short commute to Tiffany's in Cumberland.
What is Northern, RI like? What are the best towns for rentals? Will we move there and be bored to death? Is there a lot of shopping, restaurants, parks, beaches etc nearby? We do have a 2 year old son, so schools are important as well.
we are both 29 if that matters. Clubs and going out to bars is long in the past but we still like to be active and make weekend trips to outlet stores, malls, and restaurants as well as parks and beaches.
First, congratulation on the job at Tifffany & Co.! Glad to hear people moving to RI for jobs. Rhode Island is a very small state. No need to restrict your home search to just Northern RI. You mentioned not wanting to be bored a couple of times. While there is much that recommends the northern part of the state, stimulating and exciting may not be at the top of its list of attributes.
How important is being close to the beaches? Since you're only 29 and your child won't be ready for school for a few years, did you consider Providence? The capitol city is hands down the most exciting part of the state. Best restaurants, entertainment and shopping by far in RI. The commute from PVD to Cumberland shouldn't be too long. Much will also depend on your rental budget. Northern RI does tend to be less expensive than Providence, the Bays or South County. As everywhere, the closer you are to the water, the more it costs.
What you might do is just secure a rental in Cumberland for a year and take the time to explore the rest of the state. You can then decide what communities you like the best, since as IM said, your child is only two. RI has only one major city, Providence. Everything else is either much smaller towns or distinctly suburban when it comes to nightlife. In fact, Providence draws from nearby Ct and south coast MA for night life.
Your other advantage is that Danbury is close enough to drive here for a weekend and look at rentals.
Beaches are weekend adventures so being close isn't too important as long as we are within 45min. Providence would be nice if we can find the right area. We stayed at the Omni Hotel in providence last night and it seemed like a great city but the drive home was very trafficy in providence and my wife is not going to want to deal with that everyday. Is there parts of providence that would allow her to commute without dealing with all of that?
As far as our budget, we would like to keep the rental under $1400/mo with at least 2bdrms and keep the commute to work under 20-25min.
There is traffic, so living close to the job is not a bad idea. You could do that on the East Side of Providence or in the Elmhurst neighborhood. About a 20 minute commute to Cumberland. Also check out RILiving.com our MLS website. You can select rentals as an option at the top. I see some nice ones in Cumberland 2/2s for about 1400.
Beaches are weekend adventures so being close isn't too important as long as we are within 45min. Providence would be nice if we can find the right area. We stayed at the Omni Hotel in providence last night and it seemed like a great city but the drive home was very trafficy in providence and my wife is not going to want to deal with that everyday. Is there parts of providence that would allow her to commute without dealing with all of that?
As far as our budget, we would like to keep the rental under $1400/mo with at least 2bdrms and keep the commute to work under 20-25min.
Yeah, traffic was horrible last night and has been pretty bad all week. It's not always that bad, but it's never going to be great around rush hour. From Providence, you'd take 146 to get to Cumberland and 146 isn't as bad as Rte 95, but the trick is finding something close enough to 146 so you can bypass Rte 95 (which it connects to) entirely.
I did this commute in reverse, going from Cumberland to work in Providence. During rush hours, it bottlenecked at the end of 146 where it met Rte 95 but otherwise traffic was usually ok. If you were leaving Cumberland to go home to Providence, it would be easy enough to hop off on Branch Ave or Admiral St (before 146 meets 95) to head home - depending where your home was.
I don't think you necessarily have to live in Providence though. Providence is a short enough drive away from Lincoln or Cumberland - and right now there are some really sweet apts - or a single family cottage - in your range in Cumberland on Craigslist.
Yes I agree, I want to leave danbury because of how over crowded it is here and I think Providence is too much like Danbury. Living within 20min of the happening city is ideal and it seems as cumberland/Lincoln may be the perfect towns to be within reach of it all and not having to deal with the "city life"
Yes I agree, I want to leave danbury because of how over crowded it is here and I think Providence is too much like Danbury. Living within 20min of the happening city is ideal and it seems as cumberland/Lincoln may be the perfect towns to be within reach of it all and not having to deal with the "city life"
If you left Danbury because it was too crowded, then Cumberland or Lincoln may be your cup of tea. Providence may be much more interesting than Danbury, but not less crowded. Why create a commute for no good reason.
well, Tiffany is basically across the street from Diamond Hill Park which is a nice
place for sledding and walking/playing, etc. Woonsocket and Manville
are very close, just look at the maps..and Lincoln Woods.
Twin River Casino is in Lincoln, and your best bet malls are Providence
but also the more local Lincoln Mall. Discover Lincoln Mall | Lincoln Mall, Lincoln RI
It's really Providence Place which is more of a "mall" proper, but Lincoln
does have a Cinemaworld. Cumberland has some shopping but no malls
you might like Ann & Hope.
There's also shopping in North Smithfield and you're not far from the Emerald Mall
in North Attleboro either which is really big like Providence and often less of a
hassle. There's a drive-in movie theater on Rt. 146 called
the Rustic Tri-View which has 3 screens and is fun for kids.
Also Seekonk is not too far and has the Seekonk Grand Prix with arcade games
and go-cart racing, and the Seekonk Speedway. Down the other way towards
Harrisvile there's the Spring Lake Arcade. Your closest salt water beaches will
be in the Narragansett Bay - Warwick. Then there's all the southern RI beaches,
Newport beach and Horseneck Beach just over the line in MA, or you could go
further out to the Cape.
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