If you are already local, it may be worth it to take a walk around neighborhoods you're interested in and look for "For Rent" signs. There's such high demand that some property owners won't even bother listing on websites.

oh interesting thanks, I didn't know that!

yea anything that isn't factory sealed is an open container. There's an exception for bringing home an open bottle from a BYOB restaurant if you didn't drink it all but it has to be in the trunk and in a bag.

Yea we desperately need more and/or articulated buses for the R line. I was waiting the other day with 5 other people and the bus was so full the driver could only let one of us on and the rest had to wait for the next one.

Tell that to the $8,000 I've saved in the past year by getting rid of my car

The R-Line should be an electric tram and there should be a matching east-west R-Line that goes from the Hartford section of Providence through Olneyville, down Broadway, through downtown, then using the transit tunnel and continuing through Wayland Square over the Henderson Bridge to East Providence. In real dollars it would be really expensive but the benefits would be huge.

Something that wouldn't be nearly as ambitious or expensive would be bus lanes, especially for the R Line on North Main Street. I hate that a bus full of people is subject to traffic delays from congestion caused mostly by single occupancy vehicles. We also need bus lanes on Charles Street at least from Orms Street to Silver Spring.

same with the bank next door that has an unnecessarily huge parking lot

Grow Native Mass has a good list here:

https://grownativemass.org/Great-Resources/nurseries-seed

It's only every hour instead of every 20 minutes, but the 66 goes directly to downtown Providence via I-95 from the airport and will cut your travel time in half for the first leg of your trip.

As far as safety and reliability, RIPTA is very good for an American transit agency in a city the size of Providence. You might encounter some characters on the bus but there are security cameras on all the buses and the drivers don't tolerate bullshit.

Might be worth a call to the Providence Municipal Court:

401-243-6414

Flipp on Transit Street is great. They're expensive but you get what you pay for.

They put in a new bar top but other than that it is probably exactly like you remember.

It's somewhere close to that but it's expensive and only runs a handful of times per day. It only stops at 128 between Providence and Boston. EMUs on the commuter rail would stop at all the other stations in between and still make it to Boston in 45 minutes. The electrification plan also includes increased frequencies of at least every 30 minutes all day

It's currently about an hour and 15 minutes from Providence to South Station so it's closer to a 30 minute difference, which is big (https://www.mbta.com/schedules/CR-Providence/timetable?schedule_direction[direction_id]=1#direction-filter). In addition to the time savings, Electric Multiple Units are also much quieter and don't belch diesel exhaust into the communities they pass through. They're cheaper to maintain and far lighter than diesel electric locomotives too which puts a lot less stress on the rails and ballast.

It's great! $10 for admission to the museum and unlimited pinball play

https://www.electromagneticpinballmuseum.com/

> don't tell the tourists

I don't understand this mindset. Tourism is a billion dollar industry in RI. I want their money.

Amtrak is great if it lines up with your schedule, but I'd rather to be able to hop on a train that comes every half hour without having to plan in advance. Part of the MBTA electrification plan is increasing frequency to 15 minutes peak and 30 minutes off peak which would be huge.

if you get a paywall: https://www-providencejournal-com.translate.goog/story/news/politics/state/2023/03/13/ridot-studying-electric-trains-for-providence-commuter-rail-mbta/69981296007/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

I did, thanks!

I don't, but I'm also curious about the removal of the third story faux balcony

The federal building on the opposite side of this plaza is named for him!

https://www.gsa.gov/historic-buildings/john-o-pastore-federal-building-providence-ri

The original is from the city archive's Flickr page which is a goldmine of old Providence photos.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/cityarchives/

I really like Tacontento in Pawtucket