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I think this is the exact reason the op wants out you sound a bit snooty about where you live don`t ya think?
Snooty? No just trying to correct information that was not objective, untrue and unfair. I happen to enjoy Rhode Island- always like my visits to Providence and the beaches.
The Hartford area ugly? C'mon. Glastonbury, South Windsor, Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, Avon, West Hartford, Simsbury, Canton. Some of the most attractive suburbs in the nation- with a quality of life that is unsurpassed.
Try also Coventry, Somers, Ellington, Vernon, Bolton. Ugly? Please. You will not see better places to live in New England, or nationally.
Crime ridden? The Hartford suburbs rank way below the national average for crime-just check the towns I have named at City data.
South Windsor crime rate 100- national average 323
Glastonbury 70
Wethersfield 153
Rocky Hill 165
West Hartford 167
Vernon 130
With crime rates half the national average or less- its silly to say the area is crime ridden.
I stand by my statement - Hartford is really ugly, particularly the city itself. A criss-cross of highways and pavement everywhere.
Regarding the crime, you were very smart is quoting some of the nicer areas. But, in 2005, Hartford was ranked as the 7th most dangerous metro area in America: City Crime Rankings by Population Group.
And in 2006, it was still in the top 25 (24). It's not in the top 25 in the 2007 report (I cannot view anything further down the list). Now, things might be getting better, and I am sure that not ALL parts of Hartford are completely crime-ridden, but let's not pretend it's some pristine environment in CT. To be ranked as high as #7 just 3 years ago is something telling of the region as a whole.
The people here strike me as aloof, unfriendly, clannish, inconsiderate, rude and sometimes outright hostile. Wound way too tight! I've never experienced so many slights, snubs, and freezing stares. Please, excuse me and thank you are apparently foreign phrases, neither used nor acknowledged. It's like being in a perpetual 5th grade nightmare of ill-mannered brats and your only defense is staying out of their way as much as possible. I know that Rhode Island has a history of people fleeing there from the puritanical meanness of the Massachusetts Bay Colony -- maybe this will work for me, too! So what are the people like?
Hey Lady what is wrong with you? Did you get hit in the head by conrete falling from the big dig? Ummm Rhode Island sucks worse than Boston TRUST me. If you don't like that closed society and that clannish feel then stay the hell away from RI. The men-- well if you like dumb ass guidos drivng the latest infiniti then you might like the men in RI. Don't be so dumb get OUT of the NORTH EAST there is no future there, no industry to speak of, it's FREAKING expensive and for what? snubs? clans? rude miserable people all around you? Lady you can't be this stupid. Fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me.... GETOUT OUT OF THE NORTH EAST. Try FLORIDA Fort LAuderdale or Miami.
I love Miami. Yeah...RI isn't really the promised land. I like it here b/c my family is here mostly....and the beaches . Honestly you can be happy anywhere if you stay positive and don't give up hope. I'm nice and I'm from RI and have lived here my whole life. If you smiled at me on the street I'd smile back
Honestly I don't know if I'll ever leave New England, but if I do I'm escaping these horrible winters. I don't know if I could live without my family, though. My brother longed to leave RI and now lives in Miami....he loves it there and I've been down to visit him, very beautiful. Research areas, go and visit and stay a while...come hang out in RI and see if you like it. Just remember, it's nice now...the winter will freeze your socks off!
I would NEVER EVER EVER want to live in Miami. Roaches with their own matched luggage, hurricanes, nights that don't get out of the 80's, piercing hot sun, a backwards state Govt. - and an economy in an even bigger recession than Rhody.
There are plenty of people with different perspectives on things, everyone has to make their own decision.
I do tend to find that people who move to Rhody from somewhere else are often more apt to like it than people who have lived here their entire lives. It's probably natural for someone to want to 'escape' where they grew up.
I'm a few hundred miles away from you here in Scranton, PA, but as a frequent visitor to Massachusetts I must say that I am shocked that you found the people there to be so unpleasant. People there are unbelievably friendly, in my humble opinion. I never saw a state where from Plymouth to Salem to Worcester and everywhere in between people actually stop at crosswalks to permit pedestrians to cross busy streets. Here in the NYC exurbs it's every man for himself, even if you have the walk signal! Speaking of courteous driving it was not uncommon to have people leave gaps in traffic at parking lot entrances and side streets to permit us to pull out onto busier roadways, which proved providential when we wanted to turn left. Overall I'd consider moving to Boston myself if the cost-of-living wasn't so disgustingly overinflated; as a CPA I'd never be able to afford to live downtown as I'd like to.
With that being said I found the people of Rhode Island to be very similar, if not even more laid-back and genteel, than the residents of Massachusetts. When my family vacationed in Providence several years ago we were approached by a man in a suit on a downtown street as we were studying a street map. He urged us to walk with him and chatted with us as he told us all of the city's favorite haunts and how to get to them. We later learned he was a lawyer of all things---totally shatters that "shark" stereotype, doesn't it? On one evening we enjoyed a free Celtic concert on the riverfront in the late-afternoon, with the fire lanterns lighting the river behind the amphitheater as gondolas cruised on by. We were amazed by how family-oriented the scene was, with a lot of neighbors, co-workers, etc. bumping into each other, greeting each other, etc.---it was definitely a very cozy, tight-knit scene for a major city. Providence reminds me of a larger Scranton, only cleaner, more attractive, and with less of a "keeping up with the Jones's" mentality than what we have down here in the NYC exurbs (i.e. you don't seem to see receptionists driving Range Rovers on maxed out credit cards while complaining that they are "struggling" up there as often as you do down here).
I truly believe though that if you were miserable in Boston, a COMPLETE change of scenery may be in order. Have you considered the Twin Cities? You'll be back in the Midwest, and supposedly it is one of the best overall metropolitan areas in the nation to move to---excellent schools, literate population, arts out the wazoo, reasonable cost-of-living, healthy job market, etc.
Hello. I have to agree with Rob on this one. I'm looking to join you in Miami Rob and get the hell out of this one-horse town. I'm originally from NY and have been here in hell for 9 years. I hate RI worse than anything.
Why? The long list is:
-Dummies by the thousands
-Rain, rain and more rain - every day. Even today, at the end of June
-The beaches are not that impressive, except for pristine Block Island
-The job market is essentially nonexistent
-The housing stock is old and rotting (and full of lead) unless you have lots of money to buy an old house and restore it to its once enjoyed vigor
-The "luxury" condos on the river are empty - even squatters dont come around here
-It is so liberal here that it is not even comfortable to be a moderate
-Water fire is boring after you've seen it twice, unless you like to pack your cooler of $12 6-packs of imported beer, grab an extra large sized kettle corn and a doughboy and park your fat as$ on the river bank and eat yourself into a coma, all the while observing mimes and other street spectacles
-Yeah, the restaurants are fine, but come on people, there are better restaurants in bigger cities. Just try to find an authentic Malaysian or Moroccan restaurant here in little Rhody. If clamcakes and chower are your thing, head to Iggy's at Oakland Beach and enjoy the spectacle of inbreds who are regulars there. You'll also enjoy the bikers, with their gold chains and wife beaters stuffing their faces with, what else, but stuffies
-The contractors are the worst in creation so if you need some repairs to your home, take some classes at Home Depot. Trust me on this one.
-Did I mention all the dumb people?
I cant comment on the men and whether they are ripe pickings as I already had one when I came here. I can tell you this, though, if you are under 35, your options are limited. The men around Providence usually push baby carriages and have ultra receding hair lines. Can you say "i'm just white and nerdy??"
Do yourself a favor, pick a more vibrant place to live. I recommend NY if you want fun, real culture sans the snobby yankee puritan Bostonian elitists. Or just go south where people are in good moods because it is sunny all the time.
I would NEVER EVER EVER want to live in Miami. Roaches with their own matched luggage, hurricanes, nights that don't get out of the 80's, piercing hot sun, a backwards state Govt. - and an economy in an even bigger recession than Rhody.
In case you havent noticed, the Government of Rhody consists of an enclave of incestuous and corrupt "natives" who do nothing but create more and more social programs to support the people who have no jobs since there is no industry here.
And in case you have not noticed, there are TERMITES and CARPENTER ANTS everywhere that feed on all the rotting housing stock. Roaches may be gross, but so are termites and ants.
Your right though, different strokes... My stroke is to blow out of this dump.
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don't do it
. Honestly you can be happy anywhere if you stay positive and don't give up hope. I'm nice and I'm from RI and have lived here my whole life. If you smiled at me on the street I'd smile back 
Speaking of courteous driving it was not uncommon to have people leave gaps in traffic at parking lot entrances and side streets to permit us to pull out onto busier roadways, which proved providential when we wanted to turn left. Overall I'd consider moving to Boston myself if the cost-of-living wasn't so disgustingly overinflated; as a CPA I'd never be able to afford to live downtown as I'd like to. 
