Submitted by hjude_design t3_10fmut4 in providence
Mountain_Bill5743 t1_j4xtpfm wrote
OP, Providence is just flat out expensive. Like, have a 6 figure household income or it wouldn't be financially prudent to relocate. Many units are dealing with 300-400+ gas/electric combos. This has to do with geopolitics, but also the really limited infrastructure and dependence New England has on natural gas due to its geography. You can read more about those complexities here: https://www.iso-ne.com/about/what-we-do/in-depth/natural-gas-infrastructure-constraints
That being said, the silent income killer here is a car. I have an old car and my insurance is insane. I know people paying $300 a month. The insurance isn't even as bad as the cost of replacing my car every few years due to people smashing into me and this was before car prices shot up (not looking forward to my next totaled out car).
tibbon t1_j51fl7m wrote
Whoa. I have three cars on my insurance, including a Porsche with full coverage, and it is under $900 per six months for me in Providence city limits.
Wtf are folks driving that it is so much?
kermitdafrog21 t1_j51o057 wrote
Who do you use for insurance? I drive a 10 year old Chrysler 200 with no comprehensive or collision and a clean driving record and pay about $1100 for my 6 month premium
tibbon t1_j52bemt wrote
Progressive. 25 years clean driving record maybe helps? I’ve been with them over a decade too which gets me a few discounts
kermitdafrog21 t1_j52e6as wrote
Darn, I was really hoping your answer would be somewhere I hadn’t checked yet 😂 I use USAA, but Progressive gave me a quote that was basically exactly the same as what I pay last time I looked
Stillnotdonte t1_j59wffe wrote
USAA is expensive. The customer service is amazing though. I'd definitely shop around. When I changed my insurance, I actually went through a broker, and it got cut in half.
Mountain_Bill5743 t1_j52bccc wrote
Seriously want to know the answer to this. A clean driving record and old car will still get you $500/6 mo. premiums in the wealthy zip codes. I've seen a lot of insurance posts and quotes on here and I don't think anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard would get you a rate that low with accident rates this high.
SparkyJackson t1_j521bkp wrote
More an issue of zip code than what people are driving.
tibbon t1_j52bbrl wrote
Hmm. My zip code I would assume to have high rates- as I’m off Branch Ave.
I also have a perfectly clear driving record. Zero tickets ever. Zero wrecks with 25 years on the road
Mountain_Bill5743 t1_j52duco wrote
Woah how have you avoided wrecks here for 25 years?! I had someone total my first car when they blew a red light and the second car was nearly destroyed when someone plowed into me at a yield. Other friends have had drivers get arrested for DUIs or smash into a row or parked cars at full speed.
Like... seriously, how?! Did you just move here and do all the other years in a low risk state?
tibbon t1_j5371ye wrote
Most of the time in Boston. Defensive driving with the assumption people are trying to kill me. Motorcycling for about half that time with zero wrecks or drops either. Even at lights I’m checking my assumptions about other cars movement
degggendorf t1_j50ylll wrote
> I have an old car and my insurance is insane. I know people paying $300 a month.
Holy cow! Rates must be way higher in city limits, which I guess makes sense.
I have a new car and it's $300 for six months, full comprehensive.
Shitty situation being in a place where it's so dense that having a car is annoying, but without enough infrastructure that not having a car is impossible.
Mountain_Bill5743 t1_j52cr9x wrote
Who is your insurance provider? I've never seen anyone get rates lower than 500/6 months because accident rates are astronomical out here.
degggendorf t1_j52dzo6 wrote
Geico, which was marginally cheaper than USAA previously
hjude_design OP t1_j4xxxam wrote
Ahhh i see. I think I'm the problem then here. Moving from NYC with my partner, so looking around there prices seem relatively cheap and our income could support us well there. 🙃. What's it they say about dying a hero or living long enough to become the problem rip
Mountain_Bill5743 t1_j4y279l wrote
Nah I understand and I am fortunate on income. I love this state, but if I'm being honest even many of us with good incomes would tell you that things are starting to spiral out of control here for what you get. So it's cheaper, but disproportionately so for the scale, economy, and social life. Like, the same old city, none of the value that used to be a selling point.
Like, I think we lost our way sometime when gainfully employed people started turning off their heat and calling this living.
Custard1753 t1_j4yqlqp wrote
The economy and social life are good. That’s why people are moving here
Mountain_Bill5743 t1_j4z3p46 wrote
Low pay, few companies, big issue with brain drain after graduation (being a young professional was crazy isolating). We even topped the lists of worst cities to date (citing, notably, the poor job prospects for college educated men). Is some of this changing post covid? I assume very slowly.
I'm not sure if you've been here for a while, but going from 1200 2 bedrooms pre-covid to $2500 2 bedrooms with zero quality of life improvements is embarrassing to admit to friends in other states-- it's Providence, not Berlin.
Proof-Variation7005 t1_j50d7wx wrote
Without knowing anything about your field or anything, I will say that the economy is absolutely doing well. If it weren't the housing market demand wouldn't be as bad as it is.
degggendorf t1_j515hhi wrote
> I will say that the economy is absolutely doing well. If it weren't the housing market demand wouldn't be as bad as it is.
Well, not necessarily. As we've seen, people who are employed in Boston or NYC on paper are coming here to live as remote work becomes more feasible. I would be logically possible for RI to be a completely residential state, with no economy of our own outside of the service industry.
However, that's not what indicators would, well, indicate. to wit:
> The department said six employment sectors – construction, finance and insurance, information, manufacturing, professional and technical services, and wholesale trade – reported more jobs in December than they had in the month prior to the pandemic shutdown.
The full article speaks more of the good and bad signs of our economy. The bottom line is that RI economy is doing well, but its rate of improvement is slowing.
https://pbn.com/r-i-unemployment-rate-dips-to-3-5-in-december/
Proof-Variation7005 t1_j5190s6 wrote
Oh, remote work is definitely a factor since there's definitely people priced out of other markets. But, there's plenty of other indicators that show an overall health.
That certainly doesn't mean everyone is doing great or anything close to it, but compared to a decade ago or even longer, it's basically a renaissance period for the city/state economically after having a slower than normal recovery from 2008.
Mountain_Bill5743 t1_j527r2k wrote
Thanks, this was more what I was hoping to find and you described the remote economy well. The state still seems to be stuck with salary bands from a decade ago and job openings are only half the story if every employer is lowballing salaries. I would be interested in seeing more salary data overlays, but that can get hard to find.
bungocheese t1_j4y8hp1 wrote
Please don't come. I'm sure you're nice but we don't need more new yorkers
hjude_design OP t1_j4y8v4s wrote
Would it be better if i just went to school here and am originally from chronically impoverished Philadelphia
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