Not sure if this is helpful, but have you considered buying? If your budget is up to $3500, I'm thinking you could buy a nice little ranch house in North Providence with a yard and a driveway. I'd look in the area bounded by Smith Street, Woonasquatucket Ave, and Fruit Hill Ave. There are probably some options north of Smith in that general vicinity as well.

Good luck with your search!

Not black or ethnic, so I'll let others speak instead, but what you experience may depend on where you might go to school.

For example, there were racist incidents at Providence College against one of the members of campus security: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/04/26/metro/providence-college-coalition-rallies-support-black-public-safety-officer/

There have also been stories about profiling of students and other workers of color at the school.

That said, most of my interactions with Providence Police have been with people of color.

Good luck finding a place that is a good fit for you, and best of luck in college!

This happened last summer. The footage is heartbreaking.

https://www.abc6.com/officers-use-of-force-in-weekend-arrest-in-providence-under-investigation/

Funny, AS220 offers spaces below market rate to artists.

For an example, see https://as220.org/live-work-vacancy-at-empire-street-2/

Other landlords aren't interested in the cultural life of the city. But AS220 bought and rehabbed a bunch of buildings long before anyone else was interested.

Do what you can to be visible, wearing bright colors and using bright bike lights. Assume most drivers are not paying attention, and expect that 20% of cars have tinted windows that will interfere with their ability to see at dusk and night.

I'm mostly a walker, but I get treated very differently (better!) when I have a bright vest on. Drivers are more likely to stop for me when I'm trying to cross the street than when I'm in my regular outerwear. I assume it's because I stick out in the streetscape.

Where are you moving from? I ask because most 2 bedrooms here have one bathroom unless it's a newly built building.

Maybe if you look further outside of the city where there might be a new development, or if you've got the cash for a luxury apartment, you'll find something different

Good luck with your search!

It's bikeable, with a few tips in mind:

• Going up College Hill (heading east on Waterman, for example, or any of the east-west streets between Olney and Wickenden) is steep. Some people can do it, but I end up walking my bike up or by riding along the river on South Water Street to Wickenden and then taking Benefit, Hope, or Brook north if I have the time.
• Drivers will not look out their side view mirror before they open their doors, so be alert if you see someone in a car. You run the risk of getting doored.

Since you mention a scooter, I'll also note that some of our sidewalks are made of brick (around our beautiful statehouse, and along Benefit Street, for example). They are not fun on a scooter. The Benefit Street sidewalks are also quite bumpy due to tree roots and missing some bricks, so proceed with caution. That said, you can ride on the street there fairly comfortably.

Finally, GF: Some have mentioned Indian restaurants. I also recommend Wildflour and the Garden Grille, but next door to them is Rasoi, which is very GF-friendly. Their sibling restaurant, Kabob and Curry, is on Thayer Street, so if you want to shake things up location-wise, that's a good rec.

To be honest, though, Providence is pretty small, so walking actually works even better, with the exception of heading to Garden Grille, which is further from downtown. (RIPTA services the area fairly frequently, and is another option.) For example, walking from Providence Public Library (the western edge of downtown) to Thayer Street takes about 23 minutes. Starting from Federal Hill adds another 10 minutes.

Happy travels!

There's a little yellow strip on the metal stand that holds the scanner. Line your phone up with the yellow strip and that should do the trick. See it in action at 0:59 on their promo video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ow80C_-wbcI

Luckily there's a sidewalk on the right. You have to maneuver around the barriers to get there, though.

There's no walk sign on this side of the intersection, though, so it's a bit like Frogger.

The last time I bought some, it was at Market Basket.

This is fantastic! Thanks for sharing!

Welcome! There's lots of nice hiking around there if you're into it, including walks around Barden Reservoir, Border Farm Preserve, and the North-South Trail. There are a couple of hiking groups on Meetup that hike the area as well.

I recommend exploring the rest of the state, too. It's super tiny and you're never far from anything... Unless you're a native RIer - for them, anything more than 20 minutes away is "too fah." ☺️

You're not alone. The forecast said a coating to an inch. We've got at least two where we are.

Sure is pretty, though!

A guy just got on the bus smelling like he'd smoked a whole store's worth, so, yeah.

Breaking a glass is a tradition at Jewish weddings, so there's a very positive connotation as well

What time of day are you thinking? I'm assuming that since you mentioned bars, you might walk home late at night.

As a 51yo woman, I might not walk it alone between 10pm and 4am, but maybe I would. If I were a man, I'd probably have no qualms doing so.

Too fah by RI standards, but I'm a fan of New Harvest and Borealis. Bolt is very good, too.

Some of the local emergency management agencies offer this training to their volunteers. Scituate, Glocester, Westerly and Providence are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Check to see if your town has an EMA and consider volunteering, as well?

I grew up in IL, not far from the IN border, and this sums it up.

I would add that the drivers here are horrifying, so that will take some adjustment.

There are many varieties of Buddhism, and you might want to think about what appeals to you. This is not a complete list, but there's Tibetan Buddhism, Japanese and Korean Zen, Vipassana, and so on. Some of the options in RI/MA don't actually have temples, but meet in community gathering spaces and churches.

r/Buddhism has quite a lot of resources to help you get oriented.

Because we're not in a big city, a good way to search for local options is to look for a "sangha" (community) in your area.

I hope this helps! Please feel free to DM me if you have any other questions.

This is exactly it. Thanks for summarizing the area (and the city) so well!

You'll likely hear more from your neighbors than from Conley Stadium. Ortoleva is a little bit of a cut-through street, but it's not high speed from what I can tell. It's not fancy, but it's a fine neighborhood.

This is great news! I missed the space!

Are you willing to share the names of nearby streets? I ask because I live about a half mile away, and we hear more from RIC and LaSalle than Mount Pleasant.

In most cases, any sporting event noise is over fairly early and it's mostly announcements and cheering.

If you like Indian, the folks at Rasoi and Kebab and Curry are super helpful when it comes to accommodating food allergies. By extension, I'd assume the same of their other restaurant, Rasa.

I had written off ever being able to eat Indian food again. My friend with celiac disease told me about Rasoi, and I was thrilled.

So check with one of their restaurants before you go, but they might be a good option!