<p>I’m wondering, as an avid cyclist and admitted urban thrill seeker, is Providence an urban city? I know the outskirts are pretty suburban, but around the Brown area, is it really dense and the street scenes are full of people and traffic?</p>
<p>I know it’s not New York, but I’m wondering if it’s somewhere where you can call a few friends, ride Downtown, and just stop at some random local mom-and-pop shop and get a quick bite to eat.</p>
<p>Most definitely. Brown is in the best part of the city. College Street is the upper-scale area which is host to Thayer Street, a great restaurant/nightlife street. Thayer Street just so happens to cut right through Brown's campus. Just a half mile down hill walk and you are at the Providence Place Mall, a HUGE mall. Providence most certainly is very accessible from Brown and yes, there are people and there is traffic, just like every other city. It is in no means the suburbs. Go visit and see for yourself; you won't be disappointed.</p>
<p>keep in mind that Brown is on a big hill about 150 ft above downtown and the streets leading downtown are on the steep side of the hill</p>
<p>no me gusta providence at all...what did i miss when i visited?</p>
<p>I really don't think there is much to do in Providence during the day time...the providence place mall is certainly nice. It has plenty of good restaurants (cheesecake factory anyone?), IMAX, and departments like Macys and Nordstrom where you can find all the essentials you need. At nights during the summer (not sure about other times of the year), we have waterfire, boat rides on the river, rock climbing (RI rock climbing gym came with their equipments for an outdoor climb), etc. It's nice to take a scroll along the river after a movie or dinner....pretty sweet.</p>