Driving a car is extremely dangerous and it puts everyone at risk. Try riding a bike in traffic sometime. It's not a risk for some people, it's their primary mode of transportation. Advocate for infrastructure that makes everyone safe or deal with bikes on the sidewalk sometimes. Maybe try to imagine how others live their lives not beholden to the automobile

Thanks OP, I will set as aside some time to write the mayor’s office as well!

Literally moved to Rhode Island last year after living in the Baltimore area my entire life (30+ years). I work in the city and live south in Warwick. Traffic is much easier than dealing with the Beltway everyday. My same distance commute that I had in Baltimore is cut in half living here and that includes a 10 minute walk from where I park in Providence. But if you are north, west or east traffic in the mornings/evenings can be a bit heavy if heading towards Providence. The only bad thing is the roads are absolute pot hole filled everywhere up here.

As for crime, it’s a city so there is crime but mainly property crime. Violent crime I’d compare it more to like Dundalk, Middle River or Essex if that helps with a comparison to Baltimore. There are people from here who might make it seem like it’s hell with crime, but living in Baltimore and traveling to other cities I’ve seen what crime really can be.

Food scene is pretty dang good up here. I spent my first 2 months living downtown and there were plenty of options and still didn’t even try half the things I wanted to try from peoples recommendations. For a small city the food scene is more like a bigger city.

Climate i can’t say much but this winter has been abnormal and closer to a winter in Baltimore, minus an insane cold snap 2 weekends ago.

Overall it’s nothing like I expected and really love the state and the city of Providence. When it gets warmer I can’t wait to try quite a few new things outdoors and get out to a bunch of places to eat that I haven’t tried yet.

Not from PA/MD but I hope I can give some perspective. As far as job, it depends on your industry. If you are in healthcare, tech, finance, engineering etc there's work, but not much general industry. People aren't overly friendly but when you find friends they're usually very loyal in new England. Crime isn't that bad, random crime is very low, especially if you're in your 30s and mind your business. Weather is similar to PA maybe slightly less snow. Our housing is very stretched and expensive right now though.

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Kinda expensive but Clementine had 3 on the menu when I went. The cocktails were really tasty so I imagine the non alcoholic ones would be as well.

why is this a “providence problem” — don’t buy tickets

They have speed cameras but why not safety cameras? Should be an automatic ticket for something like that

Yes, it definitely helps! Thank you for responding :) . I think we are ready for a smaller city as long as the food is still great and there are some fun things to do, which seems to definitely be the case! I think this is maybe our lead option. I love hearing about people really enjoying where they live.

Not gonna lie I accidentally did that the first time I drove down broad. That bike lane is horribly designed.

Thank you for writing this, OP!

You aren’t supposed to ride on the sidewalk period. You are supposed to use the traffic lanes like a motor vehicle . If you aren’t confident enough to ride a bicycle in traffic and take the risk then you shouldn’t be biking as a transportation tool. Riding on a sidewalk is extremely dangerous and puts everyone at risk.

glou and 345 are my go-tos. I’ll be checking out Marcelino’s!! and i’m with you - it’s nice when they’re just on the menu instead of asking the bartender to make something up and having no idea what you’re gonna get. i’ve had some very weird fruit punches that way.

Speaking to Rhode Island in general, and especially Providence, food is amazing. Crime rates are higher in Providence but as someone who is in Providence all of the time I have never seen anything with my own eyes, and I've been fortunate enough nothing has happened to me. No car break-ins or anything like that. Food and music scene is phenomenal, great arts scene, Providence is a very creative city. It's smaller than either Pittsburgh or Baltimore though so I think you will be missing home a bit. I am not from Pittsburgh or Baltimore but I hope this helps anyway

Great reminder. Let's flood his inbox!

Absolutely insane hearing that. There needs to be better enforcement of bike lane safety

There are people who deliberately drive their cars straight down the bikeway on Broad. This is SUPER dangerous not just for bikers, but pedestrians as well since these people don't pay attention to crosswalks or the widely-used RIPTA stops either. I've almost been hit THREE TIMES.

Sure, bud. 👍

Yes, corner of Power & Benefit 👍

It's on Power St: http://providenceonline.com/stories/buddys-palace-on-power-street,26704

Something about sport coats and round wire rimmed glasses makes me uneasy about that fella and seeing that he’s pushing the efforts to make the city more bike and pedestrian friendly we’ll…

This one is from Purdy Hill Bakery in Monroe, CT. Lots of Hungarians in the area. Also popular in Jewish bakeries.

Love it, what I’ve come to realize is local politics is a lot easier to sway than state or federal politics. Most people don’t realize the power of a single letter or speech at a community meeting. It may be a shitty undemocratic system, but it’s surprisingly easy to change things

Yes, study after study. The quickest of google searches will show you that around the world protected bike lanes keep people safer and encourage more people to use their bicycles. It’s not a secret at this point.

My name is Jonas-Weezer