xyz

I know this is a very vague and general question, but what is it like to live in Providence, RI? Is it very cityish, in the boonies, how is entertainment, food, etc.? Anything that you can tell me!
Thanks.

Joanne

My daughter just bought a house there and thinks it's a cool, interesting place to live. She was raised in downtown Boston (Beacon Hill), went to college in Cambridge, and says Providence compares favorably.

Lots of places and things to do for the 20- and 30-somethings. Lovely parks, great restaurants (remember, Johnson and Wales culinary college is right in town). Housing prices are roughly half what the same place would be in the Boston area. The nicest places are on the East Side of Providence (not to be confused with East Providence, a different town altogether). She and several co-workers commute into Boston on the MBTA's Commuter Rail.

xxx

Joanne,

Thanks for your reply. Do you happen to know how long the commute is by car and also by train from Providence to Boston? Thanks a lot.

z

Does Providence really look the way that it does on the TV program 'Providence'?

Mare

The commuter rail ride from Boston to Providence is around 70-75 minutes. (I used to take the same train from further up the line.) I would not want to be driving to Boston from Providence during rush hour--it would take forever. I am not why you would settle in Providence if you wanted to work in Boston. There are plenty of jobs in Providence. And there are plenty of nice towns to live in in MA. Why make your life more complicated?

Providence is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. It used to be lost in Boston's shadow, but it has come into its own culturally. It certainly is not in the "boonies", it is a city. In my opinion, it is rather industrial looking, but I haven't spent a lot of time there so maybe I am off-base.

Joanne

Mare is right about the train commuting time (you an check it at www.mbta.com) and the fact that commuting by car would be terrible, IF you were going all the way into the city. (But that's tru of almost any car commute into Boston, LOL.)

My daughter chose to live there despite working in Boston because she wanted an urban environment, but couldn't afford to live in downtown Boston. Now she says that Providence is better because on the East Side you can be close to urban stuff (e.g., walk to restaurants and the train) and still have a yard!

The parts near the highway are indeed "industrial-looking" but the rest of the city is not.

The prices were similar to what her house-hunting cousin is finding in outer suburbs like Sharon and Canton, and she didn't want to live that far out. Taking the train for commuting, she can read, socialize, or even sleep rather than driving, and finds it very relaxing.

xyz

Oh, I definitely would not commute from Providence to Boston. There are quite a few job opportunities out there as well. I was just wondering what the commute was for the weekends. Anybody else out there with experiences?
Thank you all so far.

Mare

Until a few months ago, I lived exactly halfway between Boston and Providence, and generally had a half hour commute to Boston by car on the weekend. So your commute at non-rush hour would be about an hour. However, parking is very expensive and traffic can be difficult to manuever even on the weekends. You are probably better off leaving you car at home if you can. The traffic once we got to the city could be unpredictable--if we were driving north of Boston, we would frequently take the long way around the city (past Burlington, etc). This meant more miles but an easier, more predictable drive. The quietest time to drive in Boston is Sunday morning.

Joanne

Weekend traffic is definitely much lighter, at the speed limit all the way til you get off this highway. From my house in Milton to daughter's on the East Side, or home again, is 45 minutes on a Sunday afternoon.

The commuter rail train doesn't go all the way to Providence on weekends, though, so to take the train into town you'd have to park at the station in Attleboro.