<p>New Haven beats Providence any day. New Haven at its center has the city government/civic downtown, nightlife center for 10s of thousands of area college students, as well as Yale, whereas in Providence, Brown sits up on a hill away from downtown. As a result, Yale has much more to do in the immediate area and the area stays open much later. </p>
<p>Also, New Haven is within the New York City metro area, connected by about 50 commuter trains per day, making it easily accessible via daytrip (and Boston is also very close). Providence doesn’t have any significant distance advantage relative to Boston, but is much, much, much farther from New York.</p>