PVDtoPDX

I feel the same way.

This probably deserves its own discussion thread, i.e. Are kids dumber than in past? If so, is it due to suburban living arrangement? I mentioned Cotuit's post to my girlfriend, this was her response: "2 things seem likely to me: 1) Kids are stupider because of the suburban cocoon and what my parents refer to as the over-extension of adolescense. There's a lot going on here. There's an internal conflict when you're that age - you "don't care" and you want to shrug off the adult world, but you're so accustomed to a certain level of comfort and material wealth that you still want to take that all in. I mean, college kids will certainly have an element of credulity in any generation. It's not completely burned into your brain to think about having stuff stolen when you're not used to "locking yourself up." ( i.e. living on your own) 2) Kids will always seem stupider when you're older. I think it's a given. Even a small element of stupid kids will change the character of a neighborhood when it houses several thousand college kids. When you are among the kids, you don't notice the subtle differences as much. You also are less likely to be paying attention to the consequences/reports of stupid behavior. You could be an exceptionally mature and smart college kid and still not see that part of the picture until you're older. That's just how it works. "

Good point. kids (especially those growing up in post WWII suburbs) have much less independence than past generations. In a suburban cacooon kids get driven everywhere. They don't get to discover the world on their own. A great example of this is that the decline in walking or biking to school. In 1969, 42% of youth (ages 5-18) walked or biked to school. By 2001 this had dropped to 16%. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/kidswalk/then_and_now.htm It makes sense that this would translate into fewer "real-world savvy" college freshmen.

I'm not a big fan of commuting. I prefer living close to where I work. However, my brother-in-law commutes from Newport to Providence daily and doesn't think it's all that bad. He lives off of Broadway in Newport (where the bus to prov travels) and works in downton providence. He takes the bus most days, and it's only a 50 minute ride if you catch the express bus. The am one leaves newport at 7:10am and arrives in downtown prov (kennedy plaza) at 8:00am. The afternoon express bus leaves prov at 5:10am and arrives in newport at 6:00pm. However, if you miss the express bus it takes more like 1 1/4 hours. see schedule: http://ripta.com/schedules/view.php choose the #60 Newport has lots of nice neighborhoods with old victorian and colonial houses, but home prices have skyrocketed in the last couple years. In the late 90s, you could find houses for less than $200,000, but now it's hard to find any for less thatn $300,000. I'm not sure about the rental market. I grew up in Newport, and it's a nice place to live, expecially since its right on the ocean. Other nice things: old architecture, compact walkable/bikeable city so you don't need a car to get around town, it has cooler summers (ocean breeze) and slightly warmer winters than providence. On the downside, it gets really touristy in the summer months, and generally goesn't have as much interesting urban cultural stuff as providence (where I lived as a college student). Although, from my recent visits, it does seem that Newport has a lot more urban cultural stuff, i.e. intenet cafes,funky bars,ethnic restaurants, yoga studios, etc.) than when I lived there in the 80s and 90s.