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Thanks for considering New England! Rhode Island is a fantastic place to live, especially the area you are considering. Providence has a lot going on- great music, art, culture. The city is experiencing a fantastic renaissance and is really cleaning up. There is great food- go to "Federal Hill" Though I have to say... too many people come here thinking they're going to get a "new house." The vast majority of houses are 50+ years old. But that's where the charm, character, and uniqueness of New England come from. You will see houses that have 5-7 additions on them spanning 200 years.... literally. Your walls will not be square and straight, your floor will not be level... but there wont be 10 others within a half mile that look exactly the same... well depending on where you are.
The coast of Rhose Island is great. South County has excellent beaches for this part of the country...
I live in far eastern Connecticut, and Rhode Island is very nice. Keep in mind though, Providence is no Denver. Denver is much larger. However, Providence is very charming, and walkable.
The coast of Rhode Island is beautiful. It has suger white beaches, and is a less rocky (it parts) than the beaches furthur north in New England. In fact coastal Rhode Island has more of a Mid-Atlantic feel.
Don't worry about winter. Winter type weather is confined to the true winter months of December, January, and February. Despite the New York media hype, the East Coast south of Boston is not really a snowy place. In southern Rhode Island the big snowstorm is the exception, not the rule. Another thing to keep in mind if you hate snow (I do), the snow melts real fast in south Rhode Island because of the warm (relatively speaking) ocean influence. By mid –March the snow season is all but over, and by late March those occasional 65 F days gets everyone in the gardening mood again.
However as a poster above noted - A WORD OF WARNING HERE. THIS IS HURRICANE COUNTRY! Hurricanes have hit the Long Island/Connecticut/Rhode Island region in August and September. In 1938, almost a thousand people died here in a terrible cyclone. So remember, although much more rare than a Florida of Gulf coast state - Hurricanes do hit Connecticut/Rhode Island with heavy rain, flooding and sometimes damage winds. I found this out in 1999, when Floyd only a tropical storm blew down several trees on my property.
As another poster mentioned, living in North Kingstown will not give you a view of the ocean, just one of the bay, which isn't bad, I mean, it's water, right? From NK you will be able to easily access the beaches in RI (some of the best on the East Coast in my opinion) but in the summertime there is some considerable beach traffic gridlock. If you can bear that then you'll be fine.
In 1938, almost a thousand people died here in a terrible cyclone. So remember, although much more rare than a Florida of Gulf coast state - Hurricanes do hit Connecticut/Rhode Island with heavy rain, flooding and sometimes damage winds. I found this out in 1999, when Floyd only a tropical storm blew down several trees on my property.
I don't get it, you're talking about a storm from 1938? That was almost 70 years ago! It's ancient history. Rhode Island, relative to the rest of the country has no discernable weather issues. It hardly even snows there, for heaven's sake.
Sorry wavehunter007, you need to get real.
p.s.: don't tell me that I don't know what I am talking about, I grew up in RI and know it well.
Well, from what I saw on the web, that's not really true.
(www.geocities.com/hurricane/ (broken link)) 1938 was the last very severe hurricane to strike Rhode Island, but there have been Hurricanes in Rhode Island every decade.
1944 Hurricane (NY, CT, RI) 344 killed.
1954 Hurricane (Carol) (NY, CT, RI, MA) 60 killed. 5000
homes in Rhode Island damaged. Providence flooded.
1960 Hurricane (Donna) (NY, CT, RI, VA, MA) 130 killed.
1985 Hurricane (Gloria) (VA, MD, DE, NY, CT. RI) 8 Killed.
minor storm, not much damage, but sadly 2-year old
killed in flying debris in Rhode Island.
1991 Hurricane (Bob) (NY, CT, RI) 5 killed. Roof blow off
buildings in Newport. I was in this one, and it was
not too fun. The waves were(!)
so hey, don't shoot the messenger. See for yourself.
I just checked the site is www.geocities.com/hurricanene/ also has pictures of Rhode Island. I think my point was even though hurricanes are inferquent in Rhode Island, there is some risk. Today only someone who is in their 60's or 70's can recall the bad hurricanes. As you said - it's been 75 years, so this could be the year for the big one.
Who knows for sure?
Point taken, wavehunter007. I guess I was just trying to point out that Rhode Island, compared to other places, is a safer place to live than most others.
Hurricane Bob was a blip on the radar in RI. You want weather? How about the great snowstorm of 1978? 21 lives were lost as a result of it.
However. it's spoken of to this day because of it's rarity.
Not shooting the messenger, just getting my point across.
As a result of Hurricane Carol I believe it was in the mid '50's, the Providence Hurricane Barrier was installed to keep the sea water out of the City. Hurricanes are not an issue, they are rare. RI does have snow and winters can vary from mild to severe in both snowfall and temperature. The winter of 2005 saw a lot of snow, one storm after another. The temperatures can be extreme in winter from a low of maybe 2 or 3 degrees below zero for a few days at a time, to highs of 98 to 100+ with very high humidity for a heat wave that could last two to three weeks in the summer. You do need air conditioning; more and more homes have it because the humidity can be oppressive, you are close to the ocean. WJAR Chanel 10 TV keeps weather statistics.
I didn't take offense cleobarker. You know how weather and climate can be - bad things seem to be spread out over many years, and as soon as you think it will never happen again...your caught off guard. My family has been around the ocean and beach communities for 100 years. My Grandfather fished off the Florida Keys, and in Long Island Sound in Connecticut, this is how I came to love the ocean and surfing.
My grandmother lived in South Florida from 1970 to 1993. When she moved there - it had been generations since a major hurricane had hit south Florida. I can even remember how she would laugh when my father and others would warn her that someday it WILL HAPPEN. She would smile and joke at us kids. She lived in Pinecrest, near Kendall. Durning Andrew her roof blew off, and she survived in a kitichen closet with my grandfather holding the door for 1 hour against 170-mph winds. When I think of them in the pitch black, screaming, calling to god, two 70-year old people it cuts into me. My granmother was never the same after Andrew- until the day she died.
So after seeing a few minior hurricanes here (Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island) and having her go through that experince, you can see why I fear hurricanes. Many people have been in the outer fringes of weak hurricanes (like Bob), and they are not so bad - but being in the core of a severe hurricane (120-mph or more) is something else.
Oh my gosh Jupiter! I am so sorry--once I planned to move, I rarely checked this site. I guess I was really busy. I hope you got into a good area in Colorado.
I am actually looking at moving again--must be the gypsy in me! Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy Colorado!
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Rhode Island.
