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Thinking about moving to Providence?


Cotuit

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Hi all,

It's so nice to be in this wonderful place!

My family is planning to move to Providence in August, and I have a 6-year-old kid who will be in the first grade in the fall. Since almost everyone here says that the public school systems in Providence is not good, I am considering nearby cities (maybe within 20-30 minutes drive). Barrington and East Greenwich have excellent schools, but the housing price there seems unaffordable (I am looking for a single family in the range of 200-300k). I found that Cranston has decent schools, and the housing price there looks reasonable. Are there anyone here familiar with the city Cranston? Can hou recommend some communities which is safe and quiet and also has good schools? Thanks in advance!

David

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Hi all,

It's so nice to be in this wonderful place!

My family is planning to move to Providence in August, and I have a 6-year-old kid who will be in the first grade in the fall. Since almost everyone here says that the public school systems in Providence is not good, I am considering nearby cities (maybe within 20-30 minutes drive). Barrington and East Greenwich have excellent schools, but the housing price there seems unaffordable (I am looking for a single family in the range of 200-300k). I found that Cranston has decent schools, and the housing price there looks reasonable. Are there anyone here familiar with the city Cranston? Can hou recommend some communities which is safe and quiet and also has good schools? Thanks in advance!

David

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Hi all,

It's so nice to be in this wonderful place!

My family is planning to move to Providence in August, and I have a 6-year-old kid who will be in the first grade in the fall. Since almost everyone here says that the public school systems in Providence is not good, I am considering nearby cities (maybe within 20-30 minutes drive). Barrington and East Greenwich have excellent schools, but the housing price there seems unaffordable (I am looking for a single family in the range of 200-300k). I found that Cranston has decent schools, and the housing price there looks reasonable. Are there anyone here familiar with the city Cranston? Can hou recommend some communities which is safe and quiet and also has good schools? Thanks in advance!

David

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I would recommend looking in Edgewood or Pontiac areas of Cranston. East Providence is nice with good schools and quality of life.

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Haha, Cotuit. You nailed it right on the head. I'm one of the 40,000 French Canadians living in Woonsocket.  :D Speaking of condos and Woonsocket, there have been A TON of new condo developments going up around the Blackstone River up here. They're a little cheaper than Providence and the restaurant scene is getting increasingly better. If you don't mind commuting its actually a pretty good deal.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Woonsocket seems to be catching the eye of some from Boston. But ya can't fool me. I know the real Woonsocket :whistling:

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David- you might wanna check out Warwick. In the northern end, towards Cranston, there are some houses on small lots that are pretty cheap. And the schools (especially elementary level) are overall very good. The taxes are much lower than Cranston too, not that Cranston would be bad either, but I think certian sections of Warwick are more affordable (Lakewood, Norwood, Hoxsie, Conimicut).

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Hum, if schools are the big concern, from what I've heard, I'd choose East Providence over Cranston. Also, don't rule out Barrington. Its schools are considered a level above either of the above towns and you can still find small (emphasis on small) fixer upper starter homes for under 300K. A co-worker of mine just sold his house for slightly under that, and I looked at a fixer-upper there 2 years ago that was going for 250K within walking distance of main commercial strip and the water. Check out http://www.riliving.com and browse. Look at East Greenwich as well (the only school system in RI to crack the Newsweek top 1000 high schools in the nation, at number 670 or something like that), but it'll be tougher to find houses in your range there.

- Garris

<This thread should be moved to "Considering moving to Providence," BTW>

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Woonsocket seems to be catching the eye of some from Boston. But ya can't fool me. I know the real Woonsocket  :whistling:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

After growing up in Woonsocket I never want to go back. Its like a time warp to 1985. I do however try and stop in a couple times a year for some Ye Olde English.

Liam

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Thanks, Garris. If I choose to live in East Providence, will the traffic in rush hours be a big problem because of the bridge?

BTW, You are right that this thread should be in "Considering miving to Providence". In fact I have posted again in that forum. I clicked the "new topic" button when I posted, so it went here.

Thanks.

David

Hum, if schools are the big concern, from what I've heard, I'd choose East Providence over Cranston.  Also, don't rule out Barrington.  Its schools are considered a level above either of the above towns and you can still find small (emphasis on small) fixer upper starter homes for under 300K.  A co-worker of mine just sold his house for slightly under that, and I looked at a fixer-upper there 2 years ago that was going for 250K within walking distance of main commercial strip and the water.  Check out http://www.riliving.com and browse.  Look at East Greenwich as well (the only school system in RI to crack the Newsweek top 1000 high schools in the nation, at number 670 or something like that), but it'll be tougher to find houses in your range there.

- Garris

<This thread should be moved to "Considering moving to Providence," BTW>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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Frankie811--Thanks. Do you have any ideas about Ridgewood, Oaklawn, and the Western area? I'll look into East Providence, hopefully the traffic on the bridge will not be that bad. Thanks.

David

I would recommend looking in Edgewood or Pontiac areas of Cranston. East Providence is nice with good schools and quality of life.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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Thanks a lot, Recchia.

David- you might wanna check out Warwick.  In the northern end, towards Cranston, there are some houses on small lots that are pretty cheap.  And the schools (especially elementary level) are overall very good.  The taxes are much lower than Cranston too, not that Cranston would be bad either, but I think certian sections of Warwick are more affordable (Lakewood, Norwood, Hoxsie, Conimicut).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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Hello all,

I just read through through all the comments here and I felt I had to come in as the lone voice from Elmwood. I moved over here from the East Side a few months ago and I must say that I'm so much happier here.

We were kind of rushed into buying on the East Side when my girlfriend got a job offer from Brown about six months before we were planning to move (from New York) and we didn't know any neighborhoods beforehand. Basically, it was too expensive and too boring for us. Without dogs or kids we felt out-of-place, and NOBODY works on their own cars or house - ahem.

So after a couple of years figuring out the city (yeah, we take our time) we sold and found a beautiful plaqued victorian in historic Elmwood and I couldn't be happier. We met almost every neighbor within a few days. The street is the second nicest in Providence (after Benefit, of course). This is a lively, interesting neighborhood where we can sit on the porch every afternoon with beer/wine/daiquiri and chat with everyone who passes by. I don't know why people are so scared of Elmwood. I saw more crime and graffiti on the East Side.

And the best part? My mortgage is less than a third of what I was paying on the East Side!

So that's all for now, but if anyone has questions about Elmwood feel free to ask away.

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Hello all,

I just read through through all the comments here and I felt I had to come in as the lone voice from Elmwood.  I moved over here from the East Side a few months ago and I must say that I'm so much happier here.

We were kind of rushed into buying on the East Side when my girlfriend got a job offer from Brown about six months before we were planning to move (from New York) and we didn't know any neighborhoods beforehand.  Basically, it was too expensive and too boring for us.  Without dogs or kids we felt out-of-place, and NOBODY works on their own cars or house - ahem.

So after a couple of years figuring out the city (yeah, we take our time) we sold and found a beautiful plaqued victorian in historic Elmwood and I couldn't be happier.  We met almost every neighbor within a few days.  The street is the second nicest in Providence (after Benefit, of course).  This is a lively, interesting neighborhood where we can sit on the porch every afternoon with beer/wine/daiquiri and chat with everyone who passes by.  I don't know why people are so scared of Elmwood.  I saw more crime and graffiti on the East Side.

And the best part?  My mortgage is less than a third of what I was paying on the East Side!

So that's all for now, but if anyone has questions about Elmwood feel free to ask away.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Glad to hear that! My office is at the southern most end of Elmwood in PVD, and we're always a little unsure if its a happy place... There is a ton of potential down here.

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I would add my 2 cents to what Cheesebot said and say don't give up on living in Providence. Providence has great neighborhoods where you can still buy a beautiful old house particularly if it's an emerging neighborhood like Elmwood or the Armory. Cheesebot's right that the East Side has gotten way expensive but you might still find some good deals in Mount Hope or Fox Point.

As far as the schools go, yes there are problems. But I have my kids in public school in Providence and have been happy for the most part. Plenty of other parents who are educated (including some Brown professors) have their kids in the Providence public schools from K-12. Plenty of kids go through the Nathanael Greene Gifted Program and Classical High and then on to Ivy League colleges.

So when you hear from snotty realtors that the schools are "no good," that's a code for the schools being heavily lower income and minority, IMHO. There are problems but it's far from hopeless.

There are also other options in PVD besides the public and the expensive private schools. There are some very good charter schools (Cuffee, International, Highlander, Times 2) and some private ones (Community Prep) that have most of their students on financial aid. There are also plenty of good parochial schools (LaSalle, Bay View) that are a fraction of the cost of the independents (i.e. Moses Brown, Wheeler, Lincoln).

So when you hear that you must move out to the suburbs to find decent housing at an affordable price and decent schools for your kids, keep in mind that many people feel that you don't need to make that choice.

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Thanks for your input on the school situation, Gregg. My wife and I have lived in Providence for almost two years now, and except for the poor upkeep of roads (both in terms of not paving enough and simply not cleaning up the trash that collects on bridges, etc.) we love Providence. However, we might have kids in the next couple years and have been thinking that we will unfortunately have to move to the burbs or even back to Massachusetts. Still not convinced I would actually send me kids to the Providence school system at the moment, but you have at leased given me pause to consider.

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But I have my kids in public school in Providence and have been happy for the most part.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

gregw, can I ask what public schools you think are best? And what kind of choice of public schools do parents in Prov. have? Do kids go to their neighborhood school, or can parents send them to the school of their choice?

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After growing up in Woonsocket I never want to go back. Its like a time warp to 1985. I do however try and stop in a couple times a year for some Ye Olde English.

Liam

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm actually attending college in Philadelphia and said the same thing as you before I left. However it just has that homegrown quality for me and it certainly doesn't hurt that the city, and all of the Blackstone Valley, is beginning to improve.

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gregw, can I ask what public schools you think are best?  And what kind of choice of public schools do parents in Prov. have?  Do kids go to their neighborhood school, or can parents send them to the school of their choice?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My kids go to Martin Luther King on Camp St. Arguably the best elementary is Vartan Gregorian on Wickenden and then King and Kennedy, which is near PC. Parents do have a fair amount of leeway in choosing the school but preference is generally given to kids in the neighborhood. Hopefully my kids will attend Nathanael Greene for middle school and then Classical.

As far as my own experience goes, MLK has been quite good although the budget cuts are definitely starting to degrade the quality of the education particularly as art and music have both been cut to half an hour each week. It's not an easy decision where to send your kids and I would never send mine to most of the public schools in PVD because they're just too tough. I would stress however that the point that the public schools in the city are lousy and the only option is the elite private schools or suburbia is simplistic. You have also good charters, more affordable privates, parochials, and a few still decent public schools all in Providence.

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This thread has been very helpful to read as I am planning my move back to New England after 10 years of living on the west and midwest. I am really hoping that you folks can help me- I am a poor graduate student starting a position at Brown (Hasbro hospital) in September and am hoping to find a one-bedroom apt. in a location that is a bit off the beaten path. I am kind of burnt out on city living, yet don't know where around Providence might be somewhat rural yet interesting (NOT suburban). Please set me straight if this is not possible but I do have visions of a cottage-like place on the water or in a rural area- would anything like that exist that is not extremely expensive or an extremely long commute? My goal is to spend around $6-700/month. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Leafer, I may have found you a place. See your personal message.

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Hi CtownMikey,

Nice to know you living in Cranston. What do you think about the elementary schools there? Do you have any communities to recommend? Thanks for your input!

David

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm soo sorry.. I never came back to this thread and did not see your question :(

I love cranston and the school system. As far as I know.. all levels of Cranston schools have been improving in the past 4 or 5 years, and I have been with the cranston school system since day one.

As far as neighborhoods go...Egdewood is a beautiful but pricey area. I live in the Stadium area and wouldn't trade my childhood for any other.

No matter where you go in Rhode island, the prices may seem a little bit ridiculous. In the past 4 years, house prices have gone up 95% in the state (Newsweek magazine)

Overall, I can't compare the elementary level schools to other cities, but for high schools. Cranston East won the state title in 3 different sports... 2 years in a row. Men's Basketball, hockey, and girl's basketball. The choir and band are growing into regional and nationally known groups. When the choir goes to europe or canada, they always bring home at least one 1st place award. When I went with the band to Virginia 02' and Florida 04', we swept every single award both times, as well as best overall band.

The community is great too! The mayor and school committee tried cutting all extra-curricular funding (sports, music, arts) in all school levels.

WELL WELL.. we didn't stand for it. The two rival high schools got together and had a walk out during school and went to city hall to protest. We also had a silent walk in at the town meeting.. wearing our band/football/cheerleading uniforms. And we won..

so the community is pretty tight.. and the city gov't has gotten its act together in the past few years and is making tremendous strides financially. :) (about 4 years ago, cranston had the 2nd lowest bond rating in the country)

Edited by CtownMikey
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