This was my Providence weekend:

Saturday morning: went to the Hope Street farmer's market and then hung out at the adjacent playground-ran into a ton of people. In the afternoon took my daughter to a pumpkin patch-pumpkin patches always seem to attract a very diverse cross section of the local population. Had a friend coming in Sat night-if her flight had been earlier, I would have taken her to the restaurant North on the west side of Providence-tiny and excellent.

On Sunday we walked down Benefit street, which is especially lovely in the fall and had a snack at the Benefit street juice bar. Then we went to the RISD Museum then ate Korean food at a cafe, and at night we went for pastries at Pastiche in Federal Hill in Providence.

Thanks again to all of you who are replying! Time will tell what we end up doing. If we do move I'll let you know, and I'll be sure to have more questions!

If you are looking for a small town vibe and a slower pace of life, check out Jamestown. I spent my childhood summers there, and return now each summer with my own family. I have family who live there year round, and they have a fantastic quality of life. I love it there.

RI is awesome. Very diverse, lots of arty-types and foodies, generally pretty inexpensive. You're never more than an hour from the beach. The East Side of Providence looks and feels like upper NW. It is dense with Ivy Leaguers, doctors, lawyers, and academics from Brown and RISD. A house on the East Side is about half the price of an equivalent house in Cleveland Park/Chevy Chase. There are 2 Whole Foods and a great bakery. Moses Brown (not Moseley) is a fine private school, as is Wheeler - a favorite among Brown faculty. Catholic kids mostly go to LaSalle. A lot of people congregate to the wealthy towns for stronger publics, though Providence has a pretty good test-in high school (Classical). The two best school districts are probably Barrington (because it is expensive) and South Kingston (because it has all the URI faculty children). South Kingston is definitely much more inexpensive and close to the beach. Barrington is way up the Bay, not the ocean. it is very sleepy and often referred to as "Boring-ton."

Anonymous wrote:Glad to hear barrington is nothing like Bethesda! If we were to get this opportunity to move we are looking for a change of pace and a more down to earth place to live.
Since I've only lived in DC with kids and I have no real experience to compare it aganist(aside from seeing what family out if the area seem to do) would you all say that the east side of providence or a town in the barrington area would be a drastically different place to raise kids? For instance Moses Brown looks great, as does another private school we would look into, however I see this possible move as an opportunity to escape to rat race and have a much more relaxed life. Would the culture at the top private schools in providence compare to the culture at sidwell,etc? Are most of the kids still stressed out and super scheduled? (Sorry for typos, on my phone.)

I think both Providence and the suburban towns will be much more relaxed. None of the parents of teens I know in RI are worried about things like the shame of having a child who only gets into one of the lesser Ivies. I'm only working with a small sample size, but my friends in Barrington complain more about their kids getting into low-level trouble: stealing at school, underage drinking, damaging neighbors property (all recent examples). I'm assuming that's a suburban boredom. Providence has a lot of great programs for youth-and my friends' kids here seem busy, but not in an "if I don't get into one of these 10 colleges, I'll be a failure" kind of way.

The beach life there is incredible. My family has had a place for generations in Little Compton and we visit there from April-Oct. Wonderful lifestyle.

Ha no the culture at any RI private school does not even come close to the culture at schools around here. Moses Brown is great, as are Lincoln, PCD, etc. The pace is drastically different.

Glad to hear barrington is nothing like Bethesda! If we were to get this opportunity to move we are looking for a change of pace and a more down to earth place to live.
Since I've only lived in DC with kids and I have no real experience to compare it aganist(aside from seeing what family out if the area seem to do) would you all say that the east side of providence or a town in the barrington area would be a drastically different place to raise kids? For instance Moses Brown looks great, as does another private school we would look into, however I see this possible move as an opportunity to escape to rat race and have a much more relaxed life. Would the culture at the top private schools in providence compare to the culture at sidwell,etc? Are most of the kids still stressed out and super scheduled? (Sorry for typos, on my phone.)

Barrington and Bethesda are definitely not comparable. Barrington has a small town and is mainly residential. They are similar I guess in that they are both places where people with $ in these two locations live. But that's about it.

Holy cow, Barrington is nothing like Bethesda.

Anonymous wrote:Would barrington be comparable to Bethesda, only smaller?

I don't know if Barrington is like Bethesda, but I think you could say that Barrington is the Bethesda of Rhode Island.

Anonymous wrote:Would barrington be comparable to Bethesda, only smaller?

Can't really compare. Much more real-feeling. Cute town center, beach down the street.

Would barrington be comparable to Bethesda, only smaller?

My brother and his family live in Barrington. Beautiful town, excellent schools.

I would move there in a heartbeat.

I am from RI. I think it could be a great place to raise a family although it has some drawbacks like anywhere else. Pros for me for an non-native would be a slower pace and proximity to the ocean.


Barrington is a great town and has excellent schools. I have friends raising families there and they are very happy. It is also on the water which is great. From my experience, there is virtually no diversity in RI suburbs. Providence would be your best bet for that but I don't think the East Side as someone mentioned would have that either (at least it didn't when I lived there 10 years ago). The economy in RI is currently also pretty abysmal but if you can do your current job from there that may not be as much of a factor.