I'm out all the time, I walk and bike all over providence, esp the west end and downtown. It's not ghetto. The surrounding suburbs are suburb-y just like everywhere else but Providence proper is actually very pretty. It's architecturally unique, the bike paths that run through the city and outside the city are beautiful, the bay is beautiful, there are lots of murals downtown, lots of greenery. The river is really nice during the summer, especially when there are food trucks out and food festivals. Atwells is nice also during the summer when they block off the streets and have music playing outside. It just sounds like you have only driven around and need to get out of your car more often.

I've lived a lot of places. The absolute worst parts of Providence are urban heaven compared with, say, East Colfax in Denver or south Fort Worth (both places I've briefly lived). Providence is a really nice city, but people from here often don't realize that for whatever reasons.