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D-camchow t1_iuhmbr0 wrote

Reply to comment by LlewfromHammerfell in Providence 14th most expensive city by Ciabattabunns

Boston is right there my dude

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kbd77 t1_iuhv5e8 wrote

Not to mention New York is a few hours in the opposite direction. The northeast in general is just wicked expensive – with the possible exception of Philly, which somehow has Providence or lesser prices in many neighborhoods/suburbs despite being a major metro area situated directly between NY and DC.

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Juicy_J22 t1_iujdu8o wrote

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

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damnvanc t1_iuj5o0e wrote

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.

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kbd77 t1_iuj9xzb wrote

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.

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damnvanc t1_iujar8g wrote

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.

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FunLife64 t1_iujd15j wrote

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.

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jdille100 t1_iuk1jrj wrote

Philly is a county! We all call it a city but I reality it’s a county. It massive 143 square miles. For perspective RI is 1214 square miles. And there are blocks upon blocks in the north, west and south west that most people would never go to or drive through. It has also been losing population since the beginning of the 20th century. You just can’t compare it to anything on the east coast besides Baltimore.

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FunLife64 t1_iuhr32r wrote

Right there? Providence is cheap compared to Boston.

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D-camchow t1_iuhrfj9 wrote

Exactly

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Thac0 t1_iui182e wrote

Providence is extremely affordable compared to both Boston and NYC which it’s in the middle of. Just saying something is expensive with little context like this article seems misleading

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Mountain_Bill5743 t1_iuk2vc5 wrote

Yes, but the salaries, amenities, and public transit pale in comparison. Providence is a very different type of city: medium, town and gown.

Work in a specialized in person field? Maybe one employer in the state or you commute an hour each way. Good luck if you want to switch jobs (but this problem doesn't exist in NYC or LA).

If my car gets totaled in yet another accident, I'm stuck navigating an inflated car market and inflated insurance just to get by (especially if you have that far away job).

I love it here and I relocated here a long time ago, but my friends in NYC, Boston, and LA have much higher salaries and career advancement is seamless.Providence feels like a choice you make over your career, at times. It used to be in part because it was an affordable place to settle down.

Providence is similar to a lot of small cities outside of the East Coast, but at 4x the cost. Many couples suffer the two body problem here, especially if both want to work locally and aren't in ed/law/medicine/academia.

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