[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

East Prov has some of my favorite restaurants: Sun and Moon Korean, Sax's, Cafe Brazil, several good Portugese restaurants, and soon Spain.

Mrs Stink and I ate at Sun and Moon last night with a buncha medicine interns; it was excellent! Certainly better than our favorite place in New Haven, and almost as good as our favorite Korean place in Oakland.

My only complaint was that the Yook Gae Jang could have been spicier - but that's a quite a typical experience for me at any asian resturant. No one ever believes this silly white guy really means it when he says he wants it very spicy. Oh well...

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

Just wanted to let everyone know that MrsStink and I have officially arrived.

We couldn't sell our place in CT in time to make buying feasible, so we're renting a 2nd fl apt on Rochambeau for the next 12 months. We're staying in the Hotel Providence for one more night and then we're unpacking our POD tomorrow and moving in to our apt. Good times!

Anyway, I look forward to putting faces to names at the next UP GTG.

Cheers.

Stink.

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

Great, great book quote. I loved it. It's hard to believe that's the same David Brooks of the NY Times Editorial section, defender of all things traditional, Republican, and conservative.

Brooks really fascinates me. Some of his Times editorials absolutely infuriate me with their lack of insight and reason, and then I'll hear him on NPR and he'll sound erudite and reasoned, and he'll make many really level-headed, rational points, like he really does "get it." So I'm guessing he is merely playing the role of knee-jerk conservative for his NY Times columns?

Did you like the book?

PS: I know it's really off topic, but are there any equally bisteringly good quotes of him about the "urban hipster zone?"

Full disclosure - I was already a Brooks fan before this book while my boss can't stand him, so keep that in mind. My wife and I saw him in person last year at a CT Forum event with Ralph Reed, Frank Rich and Margaret Carlsen. (Tonight, we're celebrating my birthday a month late and going to see Tom Friedman and Malcolm Gladwell.)

Regarding On Paradise Drive, it was much less even than Bobos in Paradise, his previous foray into social commentary. Bobos had a better unifying thesis and had better flow but the very best parts of Paradise Drive were so insightful and cutting and funny that I was repeatedly laughing loud out while reading it. And not little chuckles but full belly laughs. Here's a free copy of the rest of the original Patio Man essay. I stopped before Brooks described his wife Cindy - Realtor Mom- and their children Haley and Cody and their cul de sac friends Cory and Britney.

And yes, Chapter 1 opens in the urban core, with equally cutting commentary on the "urban hipster zone". So yes, read OPD.

With regard to his writing at the NYT, I don't think you give him enough credit. I don't think he's a token kneeejack conservative at all. Rather, he's been described as "a liberal's conservative." First of all, he is ideologically a conservative, but I think he wants the same things progressives want: social justice, educational and economic opportunity, etc, but he doesn't agree with big government approach as a means to that end. Second, he is actually a thinking conservative, meaning he doesn't only drink the company KoolAid. He'll call out both sides when appropriate and he'll reacch across the aisle and give credit when credit is due.

Consider his Sept 8 column on Katrina:

The first rule of the rebuilding effort should be: Nothing Like Before. Most of the ambitious and organized people abandoned the inner-city areas of New Orleans long ago, leaving neighborhoods where roughly three-quarters of the people were poor.

In those cultural zones, many people dropped out of high school, so it seemed normal to drop out of high school. Many teenage girls had babies, so it seemed normal to become a teenage mother. It was hard for men to get stable jobs, so it was not abnormal for them to commit crimes and hop from one relationship to another. Many people lacked marketable social skills, so it was hard for young people to learn these skills from parents, neighbors and peers.

...

That's why the second rule of rebuilding should be: Culturally Integrate. Culturally Integrate. Culturally Integrate. The only chance we have to break the cycle of poverty is to integrate people who lack middle-class skills into neighborhoods with people who possess these skills and who insist on certain standards of behavior.

The most famous example of cultural integration is the Gautreaux program, in which poor families from Chicago were given the chance to move into suburban middle-class areas. The adults in these families did only slightly better than the adults left behind, but the children in the relocated families did much better.

These kids suddenly found themselves surrounded by peers who expected to graduate from high school and go to college. After the shock of adapting to the more demanding suburban schools, they were more likely to go to college, too.

The Clinton administration built on Gautreaux by creating the Moving to Opportunity program, dispersing poor families to middle-class neighborhoods in five other metropolitan areas. This time the results weren't as striking, but were still generally positive. The relocated parents weren't more likely to have jobs or increase their earnings (being close to job opportunities is not enough -- you need the skills and habits to get the jobs and do the work), but their children did better, especially the girls.

The lesson is that you can't expect miracles, but if you break up zones of concentrated poverty, you can see progress over time.

Supporting mixed income integration and giving credit to a Clinton era program doesn't sound like a "defender of all things traditional, Republican, and conservative. " to me, but as I said, I was already a fan. Now as urbanists, we may not like the idea that only the suburbs can provide middle class values, but when I read that column, I think he's showing some rather progressive ideas filtered through language that conservatives can relate to. Ask yourself whether his message of high standards and achievement is very different from what Barack Obama is selling - I don't think it is.

Anywho, back to work.

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

Everyone knew that this kind of thing didn't happen all the time, and it was no reason to revert to seige mentality.

The desire for the perception of safety is a reoccuring theme in Behind the Gates by Setha Low. A bit dry in parts perhaps - doesn't make you laugh out loud like David Brooks' On Paradise Drive - but certainly worth reading, especially for this group.

I can honestly say that having read these two books shortly before we starting looking at where to live is part of the reason we're looking in Providence rather than out in Sciuate or Foster, in spite of it making my commute to Storrs that much longer. I truly fear becoming Brooks' 'Patio Man.'

I don't know if you've ever noticed the expression of a man who is about to buy a first-class barbecue grill. He walks into a Home Depot or Lowe's or one of the other mega hardware complexes and his eyes are glistening with a faraway visionary zeal, like one of those old prophets gazing into the promised land. His lips are parted and twitching slightly. Inside the megastore, the grills are just past the racks of affordable-house plan books, in the yard-machinery section. They are arrayed magnificently next to the vehicles that used to be known as rider mowers but are now known as lawn tractors, because to call them rider mowers doesn't really convey the steroid-enhanced M-1 tank power of the things.

The man approaches the barbecue grills and his face bears a trance-like expression, suggesting that he has cast aside all the pains and imperfections of this world and is approaching the gateway to a higher dimension. In front of him are a number of massive steel-coated reactors with names like Broilmaster P3, The Thermidor, and the Weber Genesis, because in America it seems perfectly normal to name a backyard barbecue grill after a book of the Bible.

The items in this cooking arsenal flaunt enough metal to suggest they have been hardened to survive a direct nuclear assault, and Patio Man goes from machine to machine comparing their features

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

Our first official house hunting trip in tomorrow.

We're rolling into town around noon and looking at properties until about 3 so we can get back to CT in time to get the little one from daycare.

Wish us luck!

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

i have a bunch of friends over here in Armory/Federal hill with newish babies...most of the mommies (and daddies!) i know know each other... I suppose it all depends on whether you make friends easily or not...There certainly are more little pocket parks and bigger parks ... over on the east side...if i you can't, i think Armory is very family friendly and Federal Hill is coming along as well.

Well, our favorite brunch spot in New Haven (Bella Rosa in Westville) doesn't allow strollers, so we've gotten used to just lugging the car seat.

If your friends would be willing to talk with us about pros and cons, we'd love to have their input! Email or telephone would be fabulous, or we can certainly meet for coffee with enough advance notice. We'll be in Providence this Thursday during the day to start scouting places.

Thanks to everyone for their insight.

Stink

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

Just wanted to say hello to everyone and thanks for all of your "insider" thoughts --

I'm moving to Providence in the next few months to start up my residency at Brown, and am really excited about living here.

And a special "shout out" to Garris -- I saw your posts on the Yale Bookstore and that you were in Trumbull. I'm a Jonathan Edwards '98 girl myself.

I'm still apartment hunting, but I can't wait to settle in and to do some exploring.

Priscilla. Any chance you wanna rent from me and MrsStink? We promise not to be too uppity when the Big Red destroy the Eli's. (Like today in men's lax. 16-6. ouch.) Of course, I gotta admit I do have a softspot for East Rock pizza and Archie Moore's wings....

ObProvContent: Any more feedback on living in Federal Hill or the Armory with a new baby?

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

So today, my wife gets this email from the real estate agent she's contacted:

I would suggest that the Armory and Federal Hill are not great places for you to go, especially with a child - those areas are still a little bit sketchy. (That is why they are less expensive.) East Side is great but perhaps too high in price. But there is also the Edgewood section of Cranston, the Oakhill section of Pawtucket, and the Elmhurst section of Providence to consider.

What I can't tell is:

a) whether she's right in suggesting that Federal Hill and the Armory are still a little rough, considering our new child (<6m)

b) whether she's wrong and doesn't understand that we're actually looking for a more urban experience

c) whether she doesn't know that part of town, and is more comfortable steering us toward properties in other parts of town she knows better.

Based on stuff I've read here, and stuff I've noticed with the mapper at provplan, it seems like Federal Hill is really patchy with good blocks and bad blocks. Given that, I'm not willing to write it off just yet.

Any input?

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

Members need to have 10 or more posts to use the PM and/or email systems. This prevents people from signing up and using our email and PM systems to spam other users.

Ah. Thought that might be the case. Not a bad policy. But thanks for the head's up.

You can check my 1100+ posting history at tdiclub or I can just wait patiently and try to contribute here and there where I can.

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

Congrats! What field did she match in? I'm in an internal medicine subspecialty fellowship, and would be happy to answer any questions about the hospital...

I tried to do this via PM, but the forum software said I didn't have permission to do so.

Anyway, she matched in Internal Medicine/PC. In an odd twist of fate, my sister and her husband are also moving to Providence so he can start a fellowship.

So yes, we'd love to pick your brain. Email to my username at gmail.com should work and we can go from there. Thanks!

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

My wife and I find out on Thursday afternoon (Match Day) if we're moving to Providence in July. Very exciting. She got a great vibe at her residency interviews and I've found a great lead on a postdoc. I can hardly wait.

Well, it's official. Ready or not, we're coming to the Providence.

Now I just hope it's half as cool as you people make it sound.

[Thinking about moving to Providence?]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. Anyway...

My wife and I find out on Thursday afternoon (Match Day) if we're moving to Providence in July. Very exciting. She got a great vibe at her residency interviews and I've found a great lead on a postdoc. I can hardly wait.

A couple weeks back we drove up from our house in CT to visit and I just fell in love with Federal Hill. Wasn't planning on being a landlord before that, but I've realized that if we want to live there, we pretty much have to buy a multifamily. Is this indeed the case?