I feel your pain. I did this off and on for a few years. Two hours door to door. It sucks.

To mix things up you can drive to Braintree or Quincy and take the red line in from there.

Learn to sleep on the train in those uncomfortable seats. The single seats at the ends of each car are the best. Board in Providence for the best selection! You can get free parking a few blocks away if needed.

In off seasons I used to occasionally stay overnight in Boston. Winter is best. Four star hotels for $80 on Priceline. Saved $20+ on train fares though. It added up, but helped to save my sanity.

Acela: morning schedule sucks!! Wtf.

Can you really drive any faster tho?
Place is curvy as hell even on the highway.

For normal streets where people should be walking great. Because people aren't doing a 45+ like crazy people where people are crossing.

Honestly for what you're probably paying to rent or own on the East Side you're better off just living in or around Boston.

Anything between downtown and Valley st. Once you cross Valley the dynamic changes significantly. Not really violent, just a lot of drugs. If you are looking for a family friendly neighborhood I would pick Mt. hope/east side. If you want something hipper then I would look at Wayland sq/College Hill/Fox point area. There are some cool condos downtown, but parking is a bitch

Honestly. I don't read the projo regularly. Mostly" NYT" then some local news on Google. Via a local patch article. Honestly I only read what piques my interest.

That being said. I would think and hope that most publications would provide coverage based on facts. I know there's always a slant. But hopefully I haven't been so aloof that I'm missing something big.

But then again. It took me a long time to figure out Hannah Montana had a double life. Lol

Moved here from Texas a few months and....

Yeah I've never felt I was gonna die here while driving. In Texas? Idiots and drunks and drunk idiots all driving 75 on a stroad is fucking terrifying

If you're looking for an affordable rental with a pet, you're going to struggle mightily in Providence. Look to Cranston, Pawtucket... East Providence and Attleboro (MA) aren't actually that bad, and you'll secure something fairly easily.

The point does have a fire pit!

Federal Hill crushes east side - culturally, but east side is probably what you are looking for if you’re looking to exchange lots of money to mitigate risk.

Camilles if you’re going to be on the Hill

Would you like to name a few? We miss you btw.

Thanks for all this, your personal descriptions of the individual neighborhoods was exactly what I was looking for. I’m definitely most interested in the Mount Hope/eastern areas where it’s a bit more subdued. I’ve been keeping an eye out on Zillow in those areas, and most of 1bd/1ba are so pricey (2k-ish) even for older multi-family units, and less than half of what I see take pets! But hopefully we find something reasonable. Thank you again!

Hope Street is a great area. The stretch from Lippitt Park, which has a farmers market every Saturday May-Oct, to Little Sister is just over half a mile. There are some really good restaurants and cafes along that stretch. If you have a car getting to all the other neighborhoods is very easy.

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Weird, I also take that train (daily), but I’m always at work almost exactly at 9. Last week was weird because there was an issue with the train for several days; those getting on at Wickford had to be bussed to T.F. Green. This week there was one delay, but it wasn’t for long.

Edit: my commute on the 810 is an hour and 15 mins

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Lived at the intersection of Fox Point, College Hill and Wayland Square for 6 years and I loved it. I decided to leave Providence 2 years ago and moved to Oak Hill aka Providence without the cost. I cut my tax bill in half and the street parking is unregulated.

Renting/buying? Requirements: floor space? outside space? house vs condo? kids? pets? long vs short-term? Lively v quiet? Are you dead-set on Providence proper or would consider a nearby burb? Are you bringing a car? Two cars? Do you like the outdoors? Are you commuting north, south or Downtown?

Look, in the absolute, all the neighborhoods you've listed are mostly good and have a little bit of bad. Everything here is mostly safe.

Downtown/Jewelry: Fun, lively, no houses and expensive apts/condos. Parking is tough. If I was in my 20s and had money or cared about status or the Theater, I would live here.

Mount Hope/Fox Point/Wayland: Kind of similar, both have a mix of single and multi-fam houses and some proximity businesses nearby. Prices are probably comparable too. If I were middle/upper-middle class and dead-set on Providence, I'd live here.

College Hill: If I were rich or a Brown student ok with 400 sqf or roommates, I'd live here.

Federal Hill: Lots of entertainment, a zoo on the weekend. If I still partied a lot and was addicted to Italian food and late night pizza, I'd live here.

Before making a decision, figure out your budget and take a look at Zillow. That's going to beat any information you get from Reddit.

I really appreciate your thorough response, this was so helpful. I asked this to a commenter above, but which parts of Federal Hill would you say are most safe?

Federal Hill seems like a cool spot, though I’ve read that the level of safety/seediness can vary block by block? Have you observed this, and if so, do you know which areas land on the safest side? Thank you so much!

Oh crap! You’re right. Ha. That was a good podcast.

Thank you! Would you mind sharing why you wouldn’t live there?

It’s a quote from crimetown.

Buddy is dead too, but 33 Power St is still a good house when money is no object

A lot of lessons learned there!

Go to South Florida and the RI drivers will look like saints

Patriarca’s dead