I moved to Providence and love it! The cost of housing in Providence is on average 1/2 of the cost of the Boston area. Surprisingly, the cost for goods and services are only slightly lower. My wife and I where able to buy a nice house in Providence that we could never afford in our lifetime in Camberville. It's refreshing to live in a neighborhood/city that is more down to earth in affordability.
Providence is highly walkable, public transportation is pretty good, you can take a RIPTA bus for $2 from one end of the state to the other! The art/music scene is very healthy for a city of it's size with many yearly festivals downtown, and "Waterfire" on many Saturday summer nights. The city has 2 cute independent movie theaters and a megaplex in the mall downtown. The restaurant scene is also very good. I find Providence a lot less crowded and more laid back, making it easier to do things. If you want to do something in Boston, it's just an hour down the road.
The drawback to Providence is it doesn't have anywhere near the job market that Boston has and it's much smaller in every regard. That may or may not be a problem for you.
Providence!
Providence is highly walkable, public transportation is pretty good, you can take a RIPTA bus for $2 from one end of the state to the other! The art/music scene is very healthy for a city of it's size with many yearly festivals downtown, and "Waterfire" on many Saturday summer nights. The city has 2 cute independent movie theaters and a megaplex in the mall downtown. The restaurant scene is also very good. I find Providence a lot less crowded and more laid back, making it easier to do things. If you want to do something in Boston, it's just an hour down the road.
The drawback to Providence is it doesn't have anywhere near the job market that Boston has and it's much smaller in every regard. That may or may not be a problem for you.