>According to a report from Zumper,

ok

Yeah I often peruse zillow. Typically I find studio apartments under 2k downtown. I'm sure though your absolutely right comparable to size and amenities you get for the money

How did you survive for 3 years with no job/income?

I actually go to school in Philly and am surprised at how cheap it was compared to Boston where I lived between undergrad and post grad.

I found Philly to have a lot of similarities to PVD - both cities on the river, close to but not on the ocean, great schools/food/arts scene with a working class vibe and overshadowed by bigger cities somewhat close by

I mean, have you actually looked in Boston?

You can rent a new construction one bedroom smack dab downtown Providence for $2000/month. That’d be $3500-4000 in downtown Boston.

A lot of it is the makeup. Philly is one big land mass. Boston has the ocean on one side meaning it cuts in half the land around it.

New York is similar, plus you have natural barriers the rivers/Manhattan being an island, etc.

It’s looking at city limits. So only Providence zip codes. Providence city is very small.

Dallas is 380 sq miles. Providence is 20.

It’s not misleading to say rents have gone up, it’s misleading because Providence is so small as a land area, it’s basically like taking only the inner 25% of DC and calculating housing prices. For a city like Dc or Oakland, if you did a similar land area for Providence you’d be including East Providence, Pawtucket, etc.

You can live within 5 minutes of downtown Providence and not actually live in PVD.

Rents have gone up most places, yes, but to use this ranking is a bit misleading because it’s looking at such a sliver of this area (the Providence metro is considered to be most of the state). Usually housing so close to the downtown area of a city is more pricey, so this kinda makes sense that looking at only 20 sq miles will lead to a pretty high price.

I think it's the local values of the people combined with having DC to the south and NY to the north an hour by train for people with extreme ambitions?

Whatever voodoo is going on there has me considering moving there at some point.

My partner's best friend bought a house in a nice working class neighborhood in Philly for like $200k last year, and that was in the midst of a record surge in real estate valuation nationwide. I don't get it! It's a great city and it's right in the most expensive corridor of the country, and yet it has small market or large midwest/southern city prices.

I might be moving there in a month or so, if this is still happening can I hop in 👀

Omg I (23F) might be moving to providence in the next month or so for a job too, if you’re still looking for a gym buddy I’d be down!!

Agreed on the Philadelphia front. It somehow evaded all the cost increases the other northeastern cities experienced. Even the cost of going out to eat and drink there is cheaper than Providence.

That’s right

I second Wigs for Kids! I've actually helped sort hair there when I lived in Ohio and they're a great organization!

I'm another 27F new to Prov! Would love to make something like this happen.

Totally agree with you but "cheaper than Boston" doesn't really say much these days either.

Boston fellow! I’ll dm you if I get to actually make plans to have off-line meetup.

That sounds wonderful! I’ll be happy to coordinate you. Although I’m very much new to reddit so i don’t know the norms of dming ppl or creating sub reddit. Please dm me to discuss the plan!

I live around jewelery district - spotted a few interesting bars. Will check out those bars as well, thanks!

Wow, thanks for your advice and recommendation! I should definitely put myself out and attend different events to have more organic interactions with people.

It feels like the most expensive city if you’ve never lived in any other city. I agree that Providence in 2022 feels a lot more expensive than Providence in 2019 (or certainly compared to much longer ago), but it’s by no means the most expensive in the country.

I moved here about a year ago and have met some great people so far through specific exercise or art-based activities. In particular, going climbing at Rock Spot or Central Rock, participating in the monthly PVD Bike Jam rides through the city, and doing improv (Improv pig has beginner classes that are great) helped me meet the most people, compared to just going to a bar and hoping to meet someone there.

Also, the Providence pedestrian bridge is a great place to strike up conversations when there are art markets or other events happening there. It’s free, there’s nice views and seating areas, and it’s a highly visible public place. At the very least by hanging out there you’ll see some cute dogs :)

Also also, I heard there’s a free art tour every third Thursday that leaves from the graduate hotel downtown. That could be a fun way to travel around the city and meet new people, not sure what the age range would be though

I've seen a few of these posts recently and as a fellow new-ish, 28 year old female transplant working from home, I keep wondering if we should all just... mutually meet at Seven Stars sometime? Would anyone be down for real? I'm happy to plan and pull people into a dm!

As others have noted, confirmed no vaccine check and no mask requirement now