NY has been on a similar trajectory with actual fuel prices though I think New York State does a better job of tamping down the utility delivery costs.

I was going to post on here earlier today and decided not to, but once in a while (say every six weeks) a recruiter will contact me about jobs in other areas of the country. And then I look, and to get the same level of say walkability and pleasure (this is to say, going too far from the ocean you better give me some good alternative things to do, and straying too far from places that don't get touring bands coming through is also bad) the prices are basically the same or worse every place I've been tempted to look. Yes, it's easy to so "ok sure Providence is cheaper than California or Chicago or whatever" but it's also cheaper than Charleston or Raleigh or New Orleans or Bend, OR or Lafayette, CO (etc. etc.) these days. Sure, if you want to move to the sticks you can get cheaper cost of living, and yes there are still some midwest cities (mostly in Ohio, even Detroit is expensive these days if you want to live in the "cool" area) where you can live cheaply and have some cool stuff (like Buffalo, but fuuuuuuuuck no on the snow sorry).

If you like, you can be like the r/wallstreetbets folks and just blame Jerome Powell for it all, but it is certainly not unique to Providence. And at least Providence has things going for it like a supply of water that they don't have to fight 7 other states for (hello Arizona what the hell is up with that housing market)