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.

I was just up there and his fingers are indeed broken off, but it is on his other hand, the one you can't see in that photo.

They did major sidewalk work last spring in my neighborhood (North End, up off Smithfield Ave.). To get a sidewalk built where none exists (or fix one I assume) call your council person and ask for a request form. Fill out the request form and generally in about 2 years you should see a result. At least that is what Carol Ramano, our council woman told me, and it seems to be true. My next door neighbor put in a request for a new sidewalk when I moved in, and two years later she got her sidewalk.

That is funny you write that, as I had friends down this weekend from Salem, NH. We went to Bravo for dinner and then to Tazza for drinks. Driving through Providence they said "wow, this is a REAL city, I like it a lot" and then somewhat surprisingly "it is so clean", guess the downcity improvement district is working.

Lippitt park on the corner of Hope and Blackstone was improved dramatically with the addition of new lighting (old style gas lamp looking lights). Made a big difference. Plus they seemed to mow the lawn a bit more this past summer. You get a nice mix of people using that park.

Hi - I live in the North End of Providence, but not near Providence College (Elmhurst being a distinct area from the North End). If you are looking for a very good value in a quiet neighborhood, you might want to check out the streets off of Windmill. Basically, any street inbetween Argol (to the east) and Windmill (to the west) is a good choice. You can still get a single family home for under 300k, and be within a mile or two of downcity and the east side. The down side is that it feels more like a suburb than a city neighborhood. You would drive to say Hope Village to go out for some curry, as opposed to walking. But only a 2 minute drive. Also, if you are really lucky, you might find a house that actually has views of downtown Providence, since Windmill is up on a hill. In fact, there is a very large brick Cape on sale with amazing views of downtown Providence. It is on Windmill, although that house is closer to 350K. Good luck!

Amen to that, pardner. There have been fireworks going off in the North End for about a month now. I figured after the 4th it would end. Nope. It was pretty cool and all on the 4th, but come on now, let's put this to rest. Saw the Providence fireworks from the top of Smart Street. Great location with a complete view of Providence from up high on a hill. The neighbor who has the property opened up his fence to let anyone in his yard who wanted to watch.

Trip home is even faster - I take the 5pm train out of south station and am in my house at about 6. Anyway, good luck in whatever you do... Jenkins

Well, I moved down here for a varity of reasons. I got married and was looking to buy a house with my wife. We both lived in Boston for years, and loved it, but the market had already exploded. We decided to look at housing as far out as about a 1 hour commute (non rush hour), that was on a train line. We found that we could get a much better house for the money in Providence than say Worcester or New Hampshire or Lowell or Plymouth. And just as importantly, we wanted to live in a city that had some of the same things Boston offered as far as night life, the arts, and history goes. Providence has that, Worcester certainly does not, nor for that matter does New Hampshire, Lowell, etc. So yes, it has been worth it overall. Providence is very small compared to Boston, and we did have to get over the "where are all the crowds" feeling and just enjoy the easy parking and lack of a wait to get a table Small things do annoy me, like why do they not clean or pave the roads? Why are there weeds growing as high as an elephants eye on all the bridges and side streets and exits. Taxes are high. Special interest groups control the government. But even with all that, we are very glad we moved here.

I work near Chinatown in Boston and live in Providence. I take the train out of South Attleboro, both because I live in the North End of Providence, and because it is much cheaper to park there then in Providence. The express train takes 48 minutes to get to Back Bay station, and then I take the Orange line to the Chinatown stop. Total commute from my door to my office is about 1:15. The train is very low stress, so I don't find the commute bad at all. I've driven a couple times and simply would not put up with that insanity every day. Also, the exit you live off of in Providence will have a big effect on your commute time. I get off at exit 25 (Smithfield Ave.), and the Providence evening traffic jam can easily back up to my stop. If I had to go a couple more stops south I would spend an extra 10-15 minutes in my car every day.

Thanks for your input on the school situation, Gregg. My wife and I have lived in Providence for almost two years now, and except for the poor upkeep of roads (both in terms of not paving enough and simply not cleaning up the trash that collects on bridges, etc.) we love Providence. However, we might have kids in the next couple years and have been thinking that we will unfortunately have to move to the burbs or even back to Massachusetts. Still not convinced I would actually send me kids to the Providence school system at the moment, but you have at leased given me pause to consider.