Oak Hill neighborhood, just over the Prov/Pawtucket line beyond Hope / Blackstone Blvd -- that's a wonderful, cozy, quiet neighborhood. Have friends who are longtime residents there and they love it.

Also consider Riverside, just across the Seekonk River from the East Side, in East Providence. Friends who live there all love it.

I lived for 8 years in Silver Lake. At the end of Plainfield St, its crown jewel (and it really is one) is Neutecon(+ several more syllables) Hill which is absolutely fantastic for hiking and being instantly boom! into the woods -- remarkable for a city dweller.

And Silver Lake has some of the best hidden-gem tiny Central American restaurants.

There were a few murders while I lived there (one directly opposite us) but otherwise crime wasn't so bad. And no loud rowdy student parties.

What was bad, and it ended up really affecting me, was the lack of trees and green. If in spring summer fall, you walked around the East Side, then did the same length walk in Silver Lake, you'd notice it. I walk a lot and did not enjoy it there at all -- but having that Hill helps!