Read on to find out what makes Providence, Rhode Island such a fantastic city!

Affordability

Providence is much more affordable than any other nearby city because of it’s size, the size of the state that it’s in and the low rate of businesses looking for employees in the concentrated area. The average home price in Providence is $256,000. Compare that to $657,000 in New York City and $660,000 in Boston! You cannot beat it!

A Variety of Spaces for Different Lifestyles

Providence offers, one, a luxury high rise style of living which you can find downtown. Two, there are plenty of single-family houses all throughout the city, where you can be on your own private plot of land with parking and yard space. Three, you have multi-family property living where you own a property with 2-4 units, living in one of them and rent out the others to pay your mortgage and build equity. When you own a multi-family property you can still have access to a backyard and parking!

If you prefer a neighborhood with all single-family homes, a little further away from the shops and restaurants, you can find it. If you need less space and want to build more equity with a multi-family property, whether in the middle of the action or away from it, Providence definitely has it. If you want to live in a luxury high rise with a view, head Downtown! Providence may be small, but it is has plenty of variety to please different preferences!

Prime Location

Providence is perfectly located (especially so for commuters). The city is about 50 minutes from Downtown Boston, 40 minutes from Newport, an hour from Connecticut and less than 3 hours from New York City, making it possible to live affordably and also reasonably close to anywhere in the area that you may want to visit!

Providence itself enjoys beautiful waterfront views in certain neighborhoods, like Fox Point and Downtown. The city is very car friendly, which makes it easy to visit all of these nearby places. It's also pretty spread out, and there are a lot more homes than there are high rises, so getting around and outside the city in your own car is convenient and easy. For those who don’t have access to a car, you can take the bus anywhere around the city or state, the train to anywhere out of state and, during the warmer months, there is a ferry that makes regular trips to and from Providence and Newport! It's also a very biker friendly place - it is common to see residents biking to and from where they're going during the warmer months.

Small City, Strong Community

Providence is a small city in the smallest state in the country, but smaller absolutely does not mean lesser! The city features a number of local shops, small restaurants, locally grown food, raised animals, and crafted produce from local farms, locally made products by local artisans. Catch my drift? There is a HUGE emphasis on locality here, and it works because the city and state are so small! Providence's size and location make it easy to keep things local. The city is also constantly expanding and evolving. We're home to some of the most creative individuals in the country (think JWU and RISD), as well as prestigious Brown University - these are great perks for our residents! Lastly, there are so many entrepreneurial types here so there is no shortage of businesses to support. The Hope Artiste Village just bordering the city, in Pawtucket, RI, is a testament to that. A huge amount of the creatives in Providence set up shop in this complex to showcase their products and be in a workspace surrounded by other artisans.

As a result of all of this, Providence (and Rhode Island in general) has an incredibly supportive community that is enthusiastic about buying local. We encourage the creative minds and the active people in this city to continue growing, showcasing their individuality and bringing more spirit to our beautiful city!

Award Winning Restaurants

Providence was rated the best food city in the United States by Travel & Leisure for a reason. There are several James Beard Nominated chefs in the area, like James Mark of North, Derek Wagner of Nicks on Broadway, and Benjamin Sukle of Oberlin, and there are many, many more amazing chefs and restaurants scattered throughout the city. Aleppo Sweets was rated one of the Best New Restaurants of 2019 by Bon Appetit Magazine. James Mark’s new restaurant Big King was rated a Best New Restaurant the year before.

Aside from the big names of Providence, there are many fantastic, diverse restaurants that focus on creating unique experiences for customers. Los Andes, Al Forno, and Café Nuovo are residential favorites! There are amazing brunch spots like Nick’s On Broadway, Julian’s, and Rogue Island (get the bottomless mimosas!). Try the Tan Tan Men ramen at Wara Wara, or my favorite Beet Salad at The East End! Find fresh, creative donuts at PVD Donuts and your new favorite tacos at Tallulah’s Taqueria. There are fantastic vegetarian and vegan options like The Grange, Garden Grille and Plant City; and there are so, so many more small, craft restaurants to discover.

The city has an incredibly diverse amount of options - you can find pretty much any type of cuisine you’re looking for here. We can thank the diverse population of people living in Providence, Johnson & Whales culinary program for all of the chefs who travel here to study, as well as our beautiful city for encouraging so many of them to take root here!

A Lively Bar Scene

Providence is a quiet city, but if nightlife is something you seek you can very easily find it! From craft cocktail bars like The Eddy or The Dean Bar to dive bars like Nick-A-Nees, and rooftop bars like Maré to beer halls, wine bars, and hidden speak easies, Providence has something for everyone to enjoy!

There are also a ton of fantastic breweries nearby: Revival Brewing, Long Live Beer Works and Providence Brewing Co. are located directly in Providence. Other noteworthy breweries in RI are Whaler’s in South Kingston, Proclamation Ale, Newport Craft Brewing, and Foolproof in nearby Pawtucket. It would be easy to plan an entire weekend of brewery hopping around Rhode Island!

There is no doubt a lot of fun to be had here, and what you can’t find (which would be any type of club scene) you can get to in 45 minutes by taking the train to Boston.

Impressive Architecture & History

Providence was founded in 1636, and still features some of the most beautiful and oldest architecture in the country. A National Historic Landmark built in 1865 and located on the East Side of Providence is the Governor Henry Lippitt House. It is an Italianate mansion and is one of the most well preserved Victorian era homes in America. There are also many 18th and 19th century built properties lining the streets of College Hill. The historic John Brown House, built in 1786, is one of these beautiful homes. Locals and visitors alike can actually take a tour through the home and see all of the antique décor that belonged to the Brown family and is still displayed inside.

Providence is also home to the Arcade which, built in 1828, is America’s oldest mall! The Arcade was restored about 7 years ago, each side worked on by a different architect, which gives the building an incredibly unique look. Today it is an artisanal mall, home to a few local retailers and restaurants, as well as a loft complex on the second and third floors. Another example of exceptional architecture Downtown is the historic bank building that was built in 1901. It's stained glass windows and 30 foot high ceilings are regal. The building is now home to The Dorrance, a self-described “elegant eatery” featuring European-influenced fare and craft cocktails.

Old and modern architecture can be seen all throughout the city, and they mix beautifully to showcase the creative spirit of Providence.

An Array of Experiences

As you’ve seen so far, Providence’s size is anything but limiting. There are a countless amount of experiences to be had in the area! There’s beautiful Roger Williams Park which is home to the Museum of Natural History and the Roger Williams Zoo. The Museum of Natural History is the perfect place to learn about the history of Providence, and it is also home to Rhode Island’s only planetarium! The zoo is one of the oldest in the country, and at 40 acres large is home to many animals from all over the world.

There’s the RISD Museum of Art, host to a wide variety of global art from different periods of history. The Providence Children’s Museum offers creative, engaging experiences to help kids learn through play.

In the warmer months, Providence hosts WaterFire nights every other weekend, where there are torches lit along the Providence River. Locals and people from around the area gather Downtown to walk around and enjoy all of the shops and food/drink stalls that have been set up!

Federal Hill is Providence’s “Little Italy”, featuring a number of Italian restaurants and shops, such as the famous Venda Ravioli Italian Grocery & Restaurant, Caserta’s Pizza, and Pastiche, a small, amazingly delicious pastry café. It has expanded in recent years to become home to many other global restaurants and a few hookah bars, so it’s also a great spot for nightlife in Providence!

The Providence Flea and Farmer’s Markets happen every weekend, and in the summer they are a great reason to get outside: the market is located on beautiful Blackstone Boulevard on Saturdays, and the Flea is on South Water Street with plenty of food trucks parked around and local singers/bands performing live music on Sundays!

An Active City

There is so much in Providence to encourage residents to get outside and get active! The East Bay Bike Path is a 14.5 mile paved trail that starts in Providence and continues all the way along the Narragansett Bay to Bristol. It’s perfect for long distance runners, avid bikers and walkers alike. Some of the most scenic views in the area can be found down this trail. India Point Park, where the bike path begins, is one of Providence’s most beautiful parks and is right on the water!

There are outdoor markets and events every weekend in the summer. Every year the city hosts PVD Fest in the streets of Downtown Providence for locals to come and enjoy food, drinks and fun together. You can take a gondola through Downtown on the Providence river any time in the summer. We even have city running tours, perfect for getting to know your new home!

The city is also extremely biker friendly, with bike lanes everywhere. During the warmer months you will see a lot of residents biking from their homes to wherever they’re going that day!

An Exciting Art Scene

Creativity in this city certainly goes beyond food and cocktails. The art scene in PVD is real! The huge, beautiful murals that can be seen around Downtown are a small testament to that. As a result of being home to the Rhode Island School of Design, we have many local artists here in Providence. You’ll find art exhibits happening around the College Hill and Downtown area of the city and we of course have RISD’s Museum of Arts, but there are really great performance arts hubs here as well.

The Trinity Rep Theater and the Providence Performing Arts Center are the most well-known. Trinity Rep is one of the most well-respected regional theaters in the country, and PPAC is a multi-use theatre that hosts Broadway level theatre performances, concerts, plays and films. The Strand (once called Lupo’s), which is also Downtown, is a small concert venue that has been around for decades and has hosted the likes of James Brown and Stevie Ray Vaughn to Post Malone.

What Are You Waiting For?

Providence is an exceptional city, bursting with art and culture. It’s size has kept the city from becoming well-known and being celebrated for all of the attributes that its residents know are so special! However, Providence has started to garner attention and people who want to be surrounded by community are going to take notice of this small but mighty city!

Additionally, as big cities become less attractive to people who learn that they can work for corporations remotely, or would rather begin their own business and be in a more community centered environment, places like Providence will become more and more appealing! Now is definitely the time to get into this bustling small city.

If you're thinking of moving to Rhode Island or nearby Southern MA, reach out to us anytime.

You can reach us at (508)-851-5888 or email inquiries@thehajdarajgroup.com