KQI

So I was wondering, what's life like at Providence?

I looked it up and Providence has roughly 170,000 people, and coming from the outside, I don't know what's life like in a small city. Are there lots of entertainment places, movies, bars, clubs, malls? Or is it basically a small town full of residential places?

What about accessibility to NYC and other big cities around? How long does it take and are there trains or other massive transportation methods to get there?

Thanks.

modestmelody

There are a fair amount of entertainment places, a huge 6 floor mall which has a 20 screen theater (plus two other more local theaters), tons of clubs and bars (considering that there is Providence College, Brown, and Johnson and Wales all very much in Providence). There are also more residential parts of the city.

NYC is about a 3.5 hour train ride away. You could take the bus for less but it'll take longer.

Boston is about an hour train ride away, also buses available.

wolfmanjack

Once you include the suburbs the metro area is around 500-600,000 people.

matthewyy

What about crime and safety? I have read couple of stuff about it..Kids were saying that the campus is fine but neighbourhoods are just so daunting. Plus some claimed that even campus is quite risky in the night. Are these right? Also is that the reason for arming the college security? Thanks

KQI

I am very much interested in matthewyy's question as well.

dcircle

crime is a reality in all cities so you have to use common sense (don't walk alone at night in sketchy areas). the area immediately around brown (college hill on the east side) is the wealthiest/most upscale part of providence and is generally safe (but the common sense rule still applies).

providence has great concert venues (almost anyone you would want to see that is on tour will stop in town), tony-award winning theater, a gigantic mall, and great restaurants--all within easy walking distance of campus.

boston is an easy, cheap train ride away (50 minutes), and nyc is best accessed by bus (can take 4 hours with traffic)

wolfmanjack

I really like Providence but there are plenty of musical groups I'd love to see who haven't been here, so I'm going to disagree with that statement.

Here's this: http://www.brown.edu/Administration/...er%20page2.pdf

Crime isn't too bad but a few people ( I think thee incidences?) walking alone early in the morning were robbed or beaten then robbed just east/southeast of campus last fall. So Brown stepped up SafeRide which gives you a ride around the area so you don't have to walk if you don't want. Also, there is safewalk which is an escort service - if you want it. The East side is the nicest but some people seem to come here and see good targets at times.

This semester:

I remember reading about a RISD student who had his phone stolen right by the mall. The other was a guy who stole a cashbox from Faunce and ran away down the street with it only to be tackled by a RISD student. Then somebody threw molotov cocktails at a guy's house who works at the Brown Hillel so we had police out front for a while.

Sounds pretty bad now that I read it but it's really not a problem for most people.

modestmelody

There's almost no crime in the campus area (i.e. about 2mile radius from campus), especially compared to most cities.

There are bad areas of Providence, but few that you would actually have a cause to go to, definitely no cause to go at night, and mostly not in normal walking distance.

Concerts are pretty good-- Lupos draws a fairly good amount of folks, though sometimes Boston is the only option, not that that's a difficult thing to do.

franglish

As far as getting to NYC-- there is Amtrak and there are buses, both Bonanza bus and Greyhound.

GroovyGeek

If big-city atmosphere is important to you, it is imperative that you visit before making a decision. Having lived in cities ranging from Raleigh, NC to NYC and Chicago, I can tell you that if you need/crave the city atmosphere, Providence well feel about the same as a one-stoplight town in the middle of Kansas. Sure, there is A mall with a movieplex, and A street down the hill with some bars, but if you [think] you need the equivalent of Soho or Rush street you will be sorely disappointed.

Not that you will have a whole lot of time to go there if you attend Brown, but a 7-hr round trip is a lot, even the 3 hrs it takes to get to/from Boston can get old pretty fast.

jerzgrlmom

Peter Pan Bus also goes to NYC. It costs $50 ($52 maybe) roundtrip for students.

franglish

Peter Pan and Bonanza are the same company, and Bonanza has the Providence route. It is more expensive than Greyhound, believe it or not! If you make a 7-day advance purchase (don't need student id for this particular fare) it costs $37, with a $4 service fee-- online. Less than the competition!

jerzgrlmom

Thanks franglish. I'll pass that info along to my son. Love CC. Always learning something.

franglish

Any time!! Also, FYI, here's a little story. My D had a ticket on Greyhound for coming home Spring Break, and when she got to the Bus Station, she was told that the Greyhound bus would be an hour late. A Bonanza bus pulled up and they told her that they would honor the Greyhound ticket with no extra charge. I called Bonanza and they said that although they are in competition, they were happy to help out since there was room on the bus. Cool, right?!