Submitted by Training-Seat- t3_1090ols in providence
Hi!
Midwest newbie here who will be moving to the New England area in a few weeks for my job which is in Needham. Boston is quite expensive and I see Needham is about 40 miles away from Providence.
Is this in any way an attainable daily commute? Is there a subway system or train that I could take to save on gas? Thank you in advance, as I’m unfamiliar with the area and am evaluating all of my possibilities for what I need to do
I’d be working 2-11p shifts so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting caught up in rush hour - does this make any difference?
This is actually a lot better. The 95/93 (128) split can still back up at this hour but it should be pretty smooth otherwise. In the evening you would be fine. With this commute you could plan on it being about an hour in and 45 minutes home plus whatever distance from the highway you are.
That said, you also will need to be mindful of overnight work which will significantly increase your commute time at night. From Needham you can divert to Rt. 1 easily enough etc. but you'll want to be in the habit of checking.
That’s a huge difference. You’ll run into the occasional lane closure for road work or accident on the way home. Traffic might have heavy pockets on the way in but I’d guesstimate 1.5-2 hours roundtrip on a typical day, mostly on the lower end of that.
It’s a lot of gas and vehicle wear and tear but that’s way better.
Forgot to add that Summer, school vacation weeks, and things like that will make the overall traffic much more tolerable. The downside of this is you will never be closer to committing murder than on the day after Labor Day when traffic is a billion times worse.
I did this commute for a few years. About 1-1.5 hours everyday each way, 2 hours on a bad day. The commute home is the worst, massive traffic at the start and end of the trip. I got a new job....
I like Providence, but I would not personally make that commute every day. It's not the gas, it's the time and traffic.
If you're generally game for it, make sure when you're comparing prices that you're generally on the northern and eastern sides of the city, to avoid driving all the way through PVD as well.
Instead of going south, try going west of Needham or northwest. Check out the MBTA website for train schedules (purple line/real trains). Depending on the towns, there could be other public options.
The MBTA line that goes through Needham ends in Needham so that might not really work too well. It's quicker than walking, but I think those 3 stops are maybe a cumulative 2 miles long.
There is a way to take the train but it would take a long time . Unless your home and or office is convenient to a station it would unlikely be viable.
I went over the scenario anyways...
To be in Needham by say 9 am, you would need to catch the 6:35 am train from Providence. To get to Needham you would need to get off at ruggles, back bay or south station and wait about 20 mins for the Needham line, (7:50 from south station)
Depending on how far your home or office is from the station, your looking at about 2 - 3 hours, one way, to get to work this way. Could be a good idea say you didn't have to be in the office for a full day and can get work done while in transit.
Depending on where in needham you can take 95 and then get on rt 1 / providence highway. Alas the commuter rail “can’t get there from here” because it’s a separate train line from this direction but you’re not wrong about it being cheaper here! Basically everything between bos and Pvd is solid suburbia which if that’s the vibe you want go for it. But for perspective extended fam that lives in Mansfield / Sharon drives to PVD to go out / farmers market etc. so good schools but it’s def geared towards non-urban living and not cheap.
The earlier you can leave, the shorter the ride. Maybe you can arrange a work schedule that runs earlier in the day.
I’ll be working 2-11p shifts
That schedule is going to preclude commuter rail (nothing leaves Needham after 850 PM), but it will make a car commute a lot easier.
It's doable in that you can do it.
Your tolerance for sitting in a car is going to be the question. There is no public transportation or even a good option. I guess if you didn't need a car in Providence you could take on the expense of leaving a car at the 128 station in Westwood take the train there then drive the last 10 miles but that seems...well silly.
I would personally not do it but I get not wanting to live in the burbs and also not paying for Boston prices. But if you think the commute isn't doable from here after all, one area you might want to look is the area of Newton north of I-90 or even in Watertown.
I’ve actually thought about Watertown. I just haven’t really looked at much rental listings in the area yet. Thank you so much for the recommendations though from a local perspective.
I had a friend who lived off of Pearl St. in Newton for a reasonable price. Of course that reason came with he needed to take the bus or drive into town, compared to being close to a light rail line (which is great but pricey)
Good bless you for asking the most vexing question known to man kind. Will I save money by living out of the expensive zone? No! Boston traffic is brutal and we have yet to get into snow season. Go north or west. Housing may be more reasonable. Transit system is reliably unreliable … more of an inconvenience in cold temps or rainy weather.
I did it for a couple years you’ll definitely need a car. I think the closest train is the green line in newton and it’s a several mile walk to needham. But if you don’t mind sitting in traffic for 45-60 mins it’s a pretty easy trip up 95. Similar commute to if you were along the 495 belt in mass but I think providence is the only place you’ll find a good city atmosphere
I wouldn't trust the train to do this 10x a week as you're looking into. A car and off-peak driving make it possible and less tiring than the MBTA's speed and delays.
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kinda weird to comment this and ignore that a dozen people with firsthand experience gave some fair and accurate assessment of the commute. You steamrolled past a bunch of people giving honest, informed answers just to insult everyone and claim that only you would do that.
Proof-Variation7005 t1_j3vyx4j wrote
Driving in is a crapshoot, but on weekdays, you’d be looking at about a little over hour if everything goes perfectly without accidents, weather, and you’re close to the highway on both ends. I’d assume any job worth moving for is closer to Highland/Kinsley Ave on the edge of Newton, so you’d at least be close to the highway on that end, hopefully.
In reality, it’s closer to two hours going there and it can and will be worse than that.
Coming home isn’t as bad unless you’re leaving in that 4:30-5:30 sweet spot. It’ll usually be pretty heavy traffic but chokepoints like the 95/93 split aren’t nearly as slow. Outside of weather slowdowns and accidents, the worst part of going home is either going to be events at Gillette Stadium, the Great Woods ampitheatre (not as much of an impact on where you’d be going but it’s still thousands of extra cars), and the last 25 or so minutes when you get into Rhode Island. I think that part is overhyped in terms of how bad it is, but it’s more frustrating at the end of a long day or week when you’ve already spent a ton of windshield time.