3 replies to this topic

[Cotuit]

I’m not moving, but others are
By Michael Pare
June 14, 2004

So I’m on a plane a couple weeks ago heading to Austin, Texas. I strike up a conversation with a young guy seated next to me. Turns out he works at Raytheon in Portsmouth. He lives in Rhode Island now, but has lived in several states.

“Do you like Rhode Island?” I ask.

Now, when most of us ask someone that question we expect to hear the standard: ‘Oh, I love it.’ We expect them to ramble on about the beaches and restaurants – about how Providence has turned itself around.

But this guy surprised me.

“Not really,” he said.

I asked him why not, and he said it wasn’t the people or even the cold winters. It’s just that Rhode Island is such a terribly expensive place to live, he said.

It got me thinking about why I like Rhode Island so much.

For example:

I like that Super Stop & Shop is a two-minute drive from my house. And that it’s open all night.

I like that my commute to the office is roughly six minutes – maybe 10 if traffic backs up on Smith Hill.

I like that my parents still live in the house that I grew up in so I get to go back to my old neighborhood all the time.

I like that when you read the morning paper, watch the local news or listen to talk radio, you’re likely to read about, see or hear someone you know.

I like that I could call just about any mayor in the state, the governor or a member of our congressional delegation and they’ll call back.

I like that we all sort of agree that 30 minutes is a long ride.

I like that we can get clam cakes here – even if you feel awful just minutes after eating them.

I like that people around here get truly incensed when things aren’t going well for the Red Sox.

I like that we have public libraries all over the place.

I like that you simply can’t find a better collection of restaurants than we have here.

I like that you can go to McCoy Stadium with the whole family and not have to take out a second mortgage.

I like that there are so many colleges and universities around here.

I like that we have such a network of people who dedicate themselves to working for nonprofits, serving as a voice for people who don’t always command the attention they deserve.

I like Sand Hill Cove.

But I’m easy. And sure there are lots of folks like me out there. We’re not going anywhere. We’re content. We like to visit other places, but best of all we like coming home.

But what about that guy I met on the plane? Maybe there’s more of him than we think. Maybe he doesn’t especially like clam cakes or taking in a Pawtucket Red Sox game. Maybe most of his family members are spread around the country. Maybe the easy commute isn’t such a big deal.

Maybe, like many young professionals, he’s looking to settle somewhere where he can buy a nice house with a decent yard – room enough for kids to grow up.

When I got to Texas, that conversation I had with the guy made a lot more sense. I wasn’t so surprised by what he said.

I visited Central Texas and stayed with a relative in a house that recently sold for $250,000. It has five bedrooms, three full baths and it sits on just under an acre of land. The neighborhood is lined with trees. There’s even a well-maintained community pool within walking distance. The public schools have a good reputation.

Drop that house and the land on which it sits in Rhode Island and it would cost $600,000 – easy.

Now I am not moving to Texas – or Arizona or Florida or any of those places. Ten minutes is too far for me to drive for a gallon of milk. And besides, this is where family is – my wife’s family and mine. We like that we don’t have to drive far to get anywhere. And we actually like how the weather changes so dramatically with each season.

But there are so many other folks – younger people – who are making plans elsewhere. They see job opportunities down South or out West. Then they go to the Internet and look around at apartments and houses.

And they’re surprised. Because they didn’t think they could afford a nice house. But they can – just not around here. And so maybe they go on that interview and it all goes well. And they get a job offer. And they suddenly realize that it makes more sense to take the job than turn it down.

They’d rather have the big house with the big yard – and the small mortgage. Even if it isn’t anywhere near Rhode Island.

Now something needs to be done about that.

From Providence Business News

[PghUSA]

Doesn't Austin have a higher cost of living then Providence? How is cheaper housing there? If more and more people are LEAVING Rhode Island, and they are from census numbers, not too much but its losing population overall, then supply should increase and demand should decrease driving down housing costs, shouldnt it?  Or is the tax structure so bloated there that true market forces are slanted because of high millage(sp).  Doesn't all add up, I know they have a population loss problem but then they should have the benefits of that side of the economic equation shouldn't they?

[Allan]

The thing is that Austin, and the other southern and western cities are WAY cheaper than Providence.  Even if people are leaving Rhode Island and the property values are going down, that is still not enough to make the property values in Providence cheaper than in Austin.  We were looking at houses in Texas and New Mexico because of a possible job transfer, and houses down there are dirt cheap.  I could be living in a house three times the size of the one I'm living in now for the same price as the one I'm living in now if my family had made the move.

[Cotuit]

Actually, Rhode Island's population rose 2% between 2000 and 2002, and 4.5% between the 1990 and 2000 census'. The electoral map is shifting, not because the Northeast is losing population, but because the south and west is growing faster.

Providence is the second fastest growing city in New England, growing by 8% between 1990 and 2000.

Rhode Island has a severe housing shortage, and housing prices have been soaring in just the last several years.

There a many factors driving the shortage, along with the population rise, increases in property taxes have made some owners take rental properties off the year round market to rent seasonally, owners can make more money with less hassle renting by the week in the summer. Providence has lost a number of low income housing units through the demolition of a number of housing projects, those have not been replaced one-to-one. Many condo convertions consolidate multiple apartments into single condo units reducing the number of units on the market. Mid century immigrants often lived in single units with extended families, as the economy of the state has improved, these extended families have dispersed into their own units. Many recent immigrants are now doing the same. Also the areas Universities have been growing, and dorm construction is not keeping up, students are taking many units off the market. All of this leads to a shortage, and to higher prices.

New housing starts are also not as high here. Zoning regulation, environmental controls, and labour are all tougher/more expensive here than in other areas of the country. This also contributes to higher prices. The winter months also put a damper on new home construction.

All that said, for southern New England, Providence is still a bargain. I moved here rather than Boston for that reason.