Jenkins

My 23 year old sister-in-law is looking at an apartment on Toby Street near Broadway. How is the area? She is from a very small town up in central Massachusetts and has never lived in a city setting.

The way I look at it is that most *older people with money want things quiet, safe, and predictable. Any build up or change on Thayer threatens any one (or all 3) of those elements, thus the opposition to building up or changing Thayer street... *an admitted generalization, no offense if you are loaded, older, and livin on the edge

I was aware that Providence had a poor school system. I did not know it was about the worst in NE, but either way I factored in the reality that I would be in Providence for less than 10 years probably. But, even had I the money to stay in Boston, I would have moved when it came time to put a kid in school. To me, even an ok city school system is still not comparable to a good suburban one (sorry in advance for my admitted suburban prejudice and p*ssing off a few of you who had a good experience in a city school). But for me, the savings on my mortgage payment every month compared to living in Boston absolutely more than makes up for the flaws Providence has. I can't say I am sold on the long term health of the state, though. Things politically very much remind me of Massachusetts in the 1970's - when Taxachusetts earned its name, corruption was common, and Boston was shabby. Mass. made the changes neccesary to now have a state that other than high housing prices, is in great shape. I hope RI can make those changes, but I it seems the special interests have a very very tight hold and vested interest in keeping the status quo. The recent budget was a step in the right direction, however. I certainly hope things improve, because I love so much about the state otherwise. Oh ya, and would I invest in more property, I don't know, I am very conservative by nature, so maybe not now...

That sounds like a pretty reasonable assessment to me. But as long as the general trend is for the better and not for the worse I will stick around. Looking at it in 5 years increments, is Providence better off today than 5 years ago? 10?

Yup, that is me living on a hill on Smart St. And the Ledge area is the crappy area for sure, but in most any city you are only a few blocks in the wrong direction from some unpleasantness or other. Guess it just depends on your tolerance for such things. For awhile there the next door neighbor had a teenage son who consorted with the Ledge Street types, but now he is off in the Navy. If it wasn't these things, though, wouldn't it be the opposite. i.e. 'that damn neighbor down the street with the just oh so perfect lawn and the newly leased german sports car every 3 years, what is he doing building an addition onto his already large home' etc... Sounds like 02908 is ready to make that swap, which is fine, to each his own. Someday I will be ready to move I am sure, if because of kids and the need for a good school system. But until then I love being just a mile or two from so many things I enjoy doing.

Sounds like you got yourself some really annoying neighbors. Not to sound to pollyanish, but I gotta say my street is zoned for only single family homes, and the there is a nice mix of middle class families (i.e. elderly retired Italians, multi-generational Indian family, African-American school teacher, blue collar Latino family, double income no kids young professional, etc.). No triple deckers or pitbulls to be found. Quiet and well kept overall. Now a few streets over you get more of what you are talking about with triple-deckers and ill-kept area's, so I guess to some extent it depends on what you consider your neighborhood.

Hi neighbor. I live on Smart Street, just a couple blocks from you. We do indeed live in the Charles neighborhood. Things are pretty clean and quiet around here, although I wouldn't mind a few more businesses around.

That price sounded so reasonable I checked out their website. They list tuition at about $5400 actually, which is still not bad at all. They also say that kindagarten classes are picked by lotter in January. Does this mean they have more people wanting to enroll than they have slots?

I am so not pc usually, but is Jap Wrap possibly an offensive name for a place? Am I missing something here?

Hi, I've been commuting to Boston from Providence for 3 years now. Living in the north end of Providence it is actually easier, faster and cheaper for me to take the train out of South Attleboro, Massachusetts, which is the first stop on the trip. My monthly pass is $191; out of Providence would probably be a bit over $200. See if you can pay for the ticket through your job because you may be able to get a tax deduction on the cost. The trains take varying amounts of time, but if you take the express train it is probably just over an hour. In general the train is reliable and clean, not a bad trip at all. Certainly beats driving

Another option is the Charles/North End section of Providence. Inbetween Windmill Ave to the east and Smithfield Ave to the west they are building a lot of new construction houses. Where I live certainly flies under the radar as far as "hip" or urban style neighborhoods go, but what you will get is well kept houses in a quiet area that has easy access to the certainly hipper but much more expensive east side area.