I moved away from New England and one thing I learned is that the only places where it really doesn't get cold and depressing East of the Mississippi are the Gulf Coast and Florida in general. Everywhere else is gonna have some degree of winter. I live in Nashville and I would categorize the weather as you need a jacket and it looks sad outside as being about four months of the year. Atlanta and Charlotte are pretty similar. If the only weather you like in CT is June-August, Florida, southern MS, AL and LA and Texas are your only options where you will like the weather all year. If you include the west coast you get more options (most of California, southern Nevada, Arizona and southern New Mexico)

I learned how to make them. If you ever have made focaccia is basically just doing that but adding a strongly seasoned tomato sauce over the top before you bake it. I won't give away my sauce secrets though.

One of the finest there is. Deliciously oily and little bit spicy.

It's what people from Southern Italy and Sicily were making at home for decades before they moved to the US: https://www.seriouseats.com/sfincione-sicilian-new-years-pizza-with-bread.

In places like Philly and Utica and Montreal they call it tomato pie and celebrate it as part of a rich culinary history and get all proud of it.

In Rhode Island, like with everything else, people just hear outsiders complain about ti and assume they're right, that it must be the worst thing possible. I once saw a survey that Rhode Islanders had the least state pride: https://time.com/76744/us-states-best-places-to-live-poll/

This all checks.

Compared to most cities in the US Providence feels super urban. I lived in Providence for decades and currently live in Nashville and most of Nashville (within the city limits) feels like North Providence or Warwick, but with less sidewalks. This is the norm for cities in the South (Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville), Texas and a lot of the West. If OP is moving from the South, which they said they were, Providence will be far more urban and walkable.

As an addendum....public transit within Providence is kinda bad....you can take public transit (train or bus) easily to Boston or NY, which is a big plus compared to some other cities.

Important thing to point out based on your desires.

Compared to places in the South like Austin, "newer" doesn't really exist in Providence. I can think of maybe at the most 20 buildings/complexes within the city limits finished in the past ten years off the top of my head. There might be more newer (less than 30 years old) builds in suburbs like Cranston, Warwick or North Providence.

Most housing in Providence city limits is two-three bedroom apartment in hundred-year old triple deckers (wooden tenement buildings). I am not kidding about this. When I think back on where I lived and most of my friends lived when I lived in Providence I can think of maybe four people whose place didn't match that description, and only one was in a new building.

One of the reasons Providence is always so high in national rent rankings is that there aren't many one bedrooms compared to most other cities in the US, and those rankings are usually between one bedrooms. If you compare two bedrooms, Providence goes down a bit (though it's still not cheap).

For a divey old school tiki bar experience there's the Mon Kou on Rte. 1 in South Attleboro just across the state line in MA.

There's a chain called Marylou's that's a bit more mom n pop feeling than Dunkin. Some of the Italian and Portuguese bakeries also have donuts on weekends...but you're right, PVD area is not major donut country.

This response makes a lot of sense to me. Back when I lived in Providence I had some friends from Texas and Colorado and they would complain about there being no Mexican food. I also had some Mexican friends who would take us all out to IMO great taquerias and restaurants all over the PVD area and the Texans and Coloradoans would still complain. Fast forward to my first trip to Texas and I get it. There's a very specific type of Tex-Mex restaurant that all have a very similar menu and make up 1/3-1/2 of restaurants out there. Its not Mexican food from Mexico, which does exist in Providence, its a whole other category, and one that is as omnipresent as pizza or grinders in Providence.

Correct. Weekends at Mexico....menudo and pozole. (I call this place Mexico Garibaldi but I think the sign just says Mexico)

Haven't been in years but back when I lived in Providence my friend from Mexico City loved the Pozole they had on weekends at Restaurant Mexico Garibaldi on Atwells. If you don't like it then Chilangos is just down the hill. I remember Lupita on Dexter St. in Central Falls being great too.

Providence area does fairly well with Mexican food from Mexico, but it does not do Tex Mex, just to adjust your expectations.

There's a huge Latino population (mostly Caribbean and Central American) and lots of clubs on the South Side and in Central Falls where you can dance salsa, merengue and bachata. As for more formal dance studio type stuff I don't know anymore (haven't lived in PVD for awhile)