I feel the same. I don’t think driving or traffic are bad here at all. The streets that my RI neighbors complain as having huge amounts of traffic are just typical of all primary roads in my prior states.

I’ve lived in, and spent time in, quite a few states. RI is pretty great compared to other places. Bad driving? Happening all over, and I don’t see a difference between RI and other places I’ve lived. In fact, I see much fewer issues here. Rude people? RI people are WAY nicer than the last two states where I lived, which shall remain nameless. Expensive housing? Yeah, pretty much happening all over, and RI housing costs are, unfortunately, pretty similar to what many other states are experiencing. Everything being said here about affordable housing is the same conversation I’ve heard in other states. Boring? Nope. SO much to do here within an hour radius. When I lived in larger, more populated areas, I had to drive long distances because of urban sprawl. Just getting from one side of a city to another can easily take an hour because of how spread out everything was. Traffic was much, much worse in other places than anything I’ve seen in RI. The states in the US where housing is less expensive are primarily rural areas. There are no jobs and nothing to do in those places. Been there, done that too, and hated living in a small, rural place. The most rural area of RI is still within easy driving distance of Providence. I’d take RI over any of the places I’ve lived.

It’s in a weird location. In parking garage across from airport. I think on the second level. Drop off point is at the entrance of the parking garage. Then it’s about a 3-4 minute walk.

Lots to do here. It’s a great place- you will love it.

If you don’t need all the plumbing to the water line and septic redone behind the walls and into the basement, and can just attach the vanity and shower/bath to the existing plumbing it will be much, much cheaper. And if you can buy a prefab glass shower door it would be cheaper. A custom glass shower door is almost $2,000.

$30k a few months ago for something basic in a small bathroom with all new plumbing, drywall, and new wiring/lights. No frills. Nothing custom. No designer or architect used. Everything costs twice as much as it used to. Probably could have done it 5 years ago for $15k. Much of the cost was correcting work by a prior contractor who did shoddy work not up to code. So we had to spend extra on plumbing and electrical. $$$.

My answer is a non answer, because It really depends on what you are having done, the experience of the contractors, the selections you make, and what they find as they tear everything apart. It is almost impossible to compare without every detail listed and knowing everything about your bathroom. For example, you can go to Lowe’s or Home Depot to choose your toilet, vanity, tub, get vinyl flooring, have a shower curtain instead of a glass shower, get a premade tub/shower insert, and use existing plumbing and electrical. Or you can go to a high end kitchen bath store, have custom tile, new lighting, glass shower- the sky’s the limit. A simple shower head can be $40 or a fancy rain shower with controls can be $1500( yes there are some that expensive). I just want to note that cheapest isn’t always the best when it comes to the trades. Having tradesmen who know what they are doing can make the difference between a bathroom you are happy with, or a bathroom that will fall apart in a few years because it wasn’t done correctly.

This would open up alot of job possibilities in Boston.

Parts of Pawtucket aren’t very nice, but there are also some nicer areas such as closer to Hope.

I lived in Somerville years ago when it was called “Slumerville”. It was considered one of the dumpiest towns around Boston at the time. High crime in some areas. Now I could never afford to live there. Welcome to gentrification. The Somerville that I lived in was very comparable to some areas around Providence but it has changed so much.

RI is a very small state. One can drive across the state in a hour. So most of the surrounding towns are very close to downtown Providence. Most are within 15-20 minutes. None of them are as large as Providence, or offer quite what Providence does, but several are densely populated, or have neighborhoods that are densely populated, so they feel more urban than suburban. However, within each town or city there are areas that aren’t as safe. You can go through prior posts to read about these areas.

Why price are you looking at? What size?

I’ve done a search of apartment complexes I’m aware of in North Providence, Pawtucket and Smithfield that are nice, but according to the websites, 1 bedrooms and studios are 1800 and up. As others have noted, I think you will need to look further away from Providence or get a roommate. Sorry!

There are other differences too. Where I moved from, the rules were strict and followed to the letter. In RI it is definitely not that way.

We had contracts on a few houses before we were finally able to purchase. In my experience, this is pretty common in RI. The real estate market is quite a bit more loose here. Very different here than many other states Many of the homes here are older and the sellers really don’t know the info. Even if your purchase isn’t contingent on an inspection, you can still have an inspection done and that should answer most of your questions.

We mostly looked through Zillow or realtor.com, because when I called property management companies and realtors, this is what several recommended to find legit landlords. We discovered that we needed to be here in person to look at rentals, because the houses are, more often than not, rented same day or next day. And since rental houses aren’t that available, expect to make more than one trip and to only find 1-2 houses to look at during each trip. Be prepared for sticker shock. We were looking for a small 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a yard that would take one dog, and the prices were at least double what you listed in safe areas. Most of the potential landlords required us to send a photo of our dog, cause they screen out rentals to families with certain breeds. You have a small dog so that should not be a problem for you. Rentals in Rhode Island are seasonal. Most around Providence coincide with university schedules in the fall but landlords rent them early. At one point I was very excited because I started to see some great rental houses in Portsmouth and Newport with leases starting in June and rent that wasn’t too high. But when I called the landlords, it turns out they only rent to military families and the landlords set the rents to match military housing stipends. Check prior posts on Reddit to research neighborhoods. Providence is a city where one block may be safe but another one isn’t. Sorry to not be more encouraging, but the market here is very difficult.

I previously lived in a city in another state with a school district that was highly coveted. People did all kinds of things to enroll their kids in said school system. A co-worker rented a small apartment in coveted school district to send their kids to school there. He said it was cheaper than private school tuition. The family used the apartment sometimes as a get away. Extreme and expensive. Another rented a room in a grandparents home who lived in the district. One person went to work for the school in the office because the school allowed employees children to attend if they paid a small amount of tuition. The funny thing was, my kids went to the coveted school district and I didn’t find it that much different. Some teachers were great and some sucked. Some staff were exceptionally kind, and some were rude. I found that the principal makes the most difference in school quality. If the principal is good, the teachers are happy and good teachers want to work at that school. If the principal is mean or incompetent, the good teachers leave quickly.

News report said it started in the area where they stored solvents and chemicals for refinishing. They are still investigating.

You don’t say what type of community you are looking for. City or suburban? Walkable or car? Apartment or House?

How far in advance do you recommend ordering? Can I do it same day?

I’ve driven by this one- I will definitely try it

Thanks- this location works really well for me.