I love it here, but if you've been here for a few years before covid you really feel the value difference to a few years ago. I suppose if I just got here today I wouldn't have that comparison.

It's like if your favorite sandwich place doubled the costs due to inflation or cut portions in half. You probably will still say it's your favorite sandwich place, "but it's really gotten more expensive/portions really got smaller lately." It doesn't mean you won't go there or that you can't afford a sandwich now, it's just that every time you go you remember that you used to get a lot more value and it impacts that experience just a bit. Providence is in that stage for me. Comparison is the thief of joy and all that.

My family income is a lot, but the goal posts keep changing here. I actually avoided HCOL areas my whole life because I grew up financially insecure and now I've found myself in one by chance (been here a long time). So I still love it here, but I've had to work through new worries about stability personally.

This is exactly the place that came to mind when I saw this thread. The tip jar totally threw me as the only place I've seen here outside of a food/drink establishment lately.

I've heard a rumor that at other stadiums people have asked if the tip actually goes to the workers and some outright say skip it, it doesn't. So worth asking the staff if you're gonna tip at a massive stadium anyways.

Horrifying. Also disease vectors so cleanup is always a hassle.

May I ask what neighborhood this was in? Oof.

Hope you're in a better spot these days.

It's wild. Also there's no telling if you buy adjacent that you won't get rezoned in a few years-- I know people in another state forced to get it nearly 30 years later when the last thing you'd expect is a cost of living hike at that age.

Flood insurance is not something you want to deal with. Also, is this a long term move? All the more reason to anticipate long term costs of insurance and stress. Shorter term you're going to have a better idea of how bad your insurance rates and flood/hurricane risk will be.

If OP doesn't have the cash flow for a SFH, then they're unlikely to be able to afford the going rate for a multi-family. Rental income will only help with cash flow later on after initial investment/income assessment.

My friend just mentioned that they were reading "Bowling Alone" By Robert Putnam and that seems like something that might be up your alley if you are interested in this kind of thing. It sounds like it might have some answers to your questions here (though, its from 1995 so not ultra modern).

You just describe perfectly the phenomenon of what's known by academics as the "third place." Historically, this used to be social clubs that no longer exist in recent decades. I forget the exact list of attributes, but the third place involves consistent, low stakes interactions over a defined period of time (just like you described).

I think bumble BFF suffers in that friend dates don't have a lot of forward momentum with a platonic stranger unless you have a non awkward routine established like going to the dog park every sunday.

To OP's credit, $15k is low for any wedding and basically pennies on the dollar for 250 people. A cute venue that holds 50 - maybe 70 people in a number of US cities -- cute and cozy, not lavish, is like $7k. Then there's still food, flowers, the dress which is like $500 on the lowest end or used, and alcohol. $15k means OP is probably thrifty (see: weddings under 10k subreddit).

But I agree, the wedding industry is out of control and many people here have large families which is so hard to financially accommodate.

Woah how have you avoided wrecks here for 25 years?! I had someone total my first car when they blew a red light and the second car was nearly destroyed when someone plowed into me at a yield. Other friends have had drivers get arrested for DUIs or smash into a row or parked cars at full speed.

Like... seriously, how?! Did you just move here and do all the other years in a low risk state?

Who is your insurance provider? I've never seen anyone get rates lower than 500/6 months because accident rates are astronomical out here.

Seriously want to know the answer to this. A clean driving record and old car will still get you $500/6 mo. premiums in the wealthy zip codes. I've seen a lot of insurance posts and quotes on here and I don't think anywhere on the Eastern Seaboard would get you a rate that low with accident rates this high.

Thanks, this was more what I was hoping to find and you described the remote economy well. The state still seems to be stuck with salary bands from a decade ago and job openings are only half the story if every employer is lowballing salaries. I would be interested in seeing more salary data overlays, but that can get hard to find.

I mean...OP used the word eggs 4 times in the post.

There are regularly posts on here from people who are miserable in neighborhoods where they feel like it's loud, dangerous, or just a poor fit. Buying in a city you don't know that varies street-by-street is a massive gamble. The landlord thing seems completely unfounded as you can see what the rent is upon viewing and none of my transplant friends has ever had this amount renegotiated before signing.

Low pay, few companies, big issue with brain drain after graduation (being a young professional was crazy isolating). We even topped the lists of worst cities to date (citing, notably, the poor job prospects for college educated men). Is some of this changing post covid? I assume very slowly.

I'm not sure if you've been here for a while, but going from 1200 2 bedrooms pre-covid to $2500 2 bedrooms with zero quality of life improvements is embarrassing to admit to friends in other states-- it's Providence, not Berlin.

Thanks, pal. The post was marked "discussion" and thematically about analogies with eggs, so I stuck to that. OP seems to have good intentions, but the tone of this post just felt more divisive than constructive.

https://www.barringtonschools.org/page/ell-english-language-learners

Its the law.

It didn't happen back then....which is why they were sued by the Federal Government.

Is Barrington part of the Federal Government? Then its also the law there.

All I said was that this was based on a model and that all models have some flaws. Why can't we entertain some nuance about where these concerns come from? I say this as someone who isn't opposed to luxury housing but pro empathy.

The way to move this city forward is to build bridges with the people who live here, especially on the fringe, not dismiss them with contemptuous tweets suggesting they're simpletons--these are our neighbors. It's honestly appalling to me to see something so dismissive as this post adjacent to posts about turning your heat off in January to stay afloat.

Nah I understand and I am fortunate on income. I love this state, but if I'm being honest even many of us with good incomes would tell you that things are starting to spiral out of control here for what you get. So it's cheaper, but disproportionately so for the scale, economy, and social life. Like, the same old city, none of the value that used to be a selling point.

Like, I think we lost our way sometime when gainfully employed people started turning off their heat and calling this living.

If you prefer, we can mix it up with some more posts about mortgage/rental hikes to give you some variety in existential dread. /s

But joking aside, I miss it when the bulk of posts here were all about funny local words, restaurant suggestions, and other lighter fare on occasion.

Homeostasis is a luxury these days between food costs and heating.

OP, Providence is just flat out expensive. Like, have a 6 figure household income or it wouldn't be financially prudent to relocate. Many units are dealing with 300-400+ gas/electric combos. This has to do with geopolitics, but also the really limited infrastructure and dependence New England has on natural gas due to its geography. You can read more about those complexities here: https://www.iso-ne.com/about/what-we-do/in-depth/natural-gas-infrastructure-constraints

That being said, the silent income killer here is a car. I have an old car and my insurance is insane. I know people paying $300 a month. The insurance isn't even as bad as the cost of replacing my car every few years due to people smashing into me and this was before car prices shot up (not looking forward to my next totaled out car).