Is Providence right for me? (Warwick: extended stay, apartment, violent crime)
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I'm from the West Coast and next year I plan to move east. I want a change and I'm sick of the culture and my overfamiliarity here. Providence sounds great because it looks scenic and historic and it's also very close to Boston and NYC and even Montreal is not that far away. So I could take lots of fun short trips.
I don't drive because of anxiety and nobody being able to take the time to teach me. I did some research and apparently Providence is great for people who don't drive a car - would you vouch for this? Numbeo suggests it's also a very affordable city for the Northeast. A one bedroom outside of downtown is about $850 which is not much more than where I come from.
Is the crime that bad? A murder rate of 10 to 100K is higher than I'm used to, but not too horrible either. Is it mostly thugs killing other thugs or do innocent uninvolved people often get murdered as well? Walking outside at night is important to me (I'm a male in my mid-20s and a night owl) and I'd like to be able to continue this habit when I move.
Are jobs abundant or at least not too difficult to come upon? If I moved there I'd have to stay at an extended stay for a while and I'd need to latch on to a job within a few weeks.
Also - what is the nightlife/arts/dating scene like?
I will comment on part of your question and leave the part about transportation to those who know better.
Crime won't be an issue if you take typical precautions. In my opinion a lot of violent crime tends to be gang, drug related, or family/relative violence. There are the occasional stabbings/shootings at some of the more seedy club venues, which I would make an effort to avoid. Still, those instances usually involve people who know each other (who usually don't even live around here) having a beef over whatever and someone ends up shot/stabbed. It's really no different than any other major city. Avoid known bad areas and don't go venturing off into dark corners alone at night and you should be fine.
The job situation is another story. Unless you are involved in a specialized trade that is currently sought after in the state, you may run into issues. RI has one of the highest (or currently THE highest, not sure) unemployment rates in the country at the moment. Those with specialized experience in desired sectors should have it a bit easier. I would definitely get a job lined up first if at all possible.
Read some of the major news sources, along with the countless threads on here. That should give you an overall look at the current state of the state. Good luck.
i wouldn't move here. look elsewhere, more prospects in this country than
Providence. You're from west coast, can't get much different, and meanwhile
everything is in between. plus you don't know anyone here. why bother ?
I'm from the West Coast and next year I plan to move east. I want a change and I'm sick of the culture and my overfamiliarity here. Providence sounds great because it looks scenic and historic and it's also very close to Boston and NYC and even Montreal is not that far away. So I could take lots of fun short trips.
I don't drive because of anxiety and nobody being able to take the time to teach me. I did some research and apparently Providence is great for people who don't drive a car - would you vouch for this? Numbeo suggests it's also a very affordable city for the Northeast. A one bedroom outside of downtown is about $850 which is not much more than where I come from.
Is the crime that bad? A murder rate of 10 to 100K is higher than I'm used to, but not too horrible either. Is it mostly thugs killing other thugs or do innocent uninvolved people often get murdered as well? Walking outside at night is important to me (I'm a male in my mid-20s and a night owl) and I'd like to be able to continue this habit when I move.
Are jobs abundant or at least not too difficult to come upon? If I moved there I'd have to stay at an extended stay for a while and I'd need to latch on to a job within a few weeks.
Also - what is the nightlife/arts/dating scene like?
What do you do for work? Jobs here are very dependent on being in demand.
I have a license and can drive, but I am carless by choice. My fiance has a car, but I never use it by myself and mainly rely on the RIPTA to get where I need to go. The RIPTA is pretty reliable and convenient if you're a Providence resident. It was a pain to deal with when I lived in Warwick, but the bus system in Providence is fairly straightforward and most of the lines run every 20 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays. From my apartment in Valley, I can get almost anywhere in the city in less than 40 minutes if I time it right. Some of the buses get crowded during peak hours, but that's to be expected. It is totally doable to go carless.
However, I'm going to have to agree with other posters that if you want to move to RI, it's best to have a job lined up first or at least a degree and/or desirable skill set before you take the plunge. The job market here is abysmal, especially if you don't know anyone. I've had a great deal of trouble finding an entry level human services job, hell, even just an entry level job, period. There is a lot of competition for the low-level, minimum wage type jobs as well.
If you don't have a degree and your heart is set on Rhode Island, maybe consider applying to one of the colleges here? You might be able to get work study for the time being, and after you get your degree, career services and/or internships could help get you plugged into a career. In Providence alone, we have Brown, Providence College, Rhode Island College, Johnson & Wales, Rhode Island School of Design, and the URI Providence campus, where I'm currently a student. There's also Bryant, Salve Regina, New England Tech, Roger Williams University, and URI's main campus if you're willing to venture outside of the city. The buses run to all of them and most subsidize RIPTA so you can get free or reduced fare.
Last edited by GetYeFlask; 04-07-2014 at 03:45 AM..
Reason: Clarity
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