<p>So you think a couple homeless people mean an area is automatically not "high-class"? If so, I suggest you take a look at Harvard Square, where homes (just like homes in New Haven) sell for millions of dollars. Or look at Times Square in NYC or the Champs-Elysees, where a million dollars will barely buy you a studio apartment. All of these places have large numbers of homeless people asking for money. </p>
<p>In fact, homeless people tend to congregate in places with a lot of activity and that are safe (they want to be safe just like you). Once you live in a city for a while and understand what makes an area safe, you will realize this. Homeless people go to the nicest parts of town and stay away from the dangerous parts. </p>
<p>In the case of Harvard Square, downtown New Haven, Times Square, Champs-Elysees in Paris, you have great areas with tons of activity, safety, restaurants, etc. Not the case with Providence. It's certainly marketed as a nice place, but is not. The fact that there are relatively fewer homeless people asking for money in the urban area around Brown actually sets off a warning bell for me - that the area is not safe to be in, whether you are homeless or not. Nobody is out on the streets. The homeless in Providence migrate to areas dominated by corporations, like the area around the mall or Bank of America building. Or they take a train up to Boston to protect themselves.</p>
<p>How are these homeless people getting money for the train to Boston? I know that Providence is less than an hour and $7 away. But, still. </p>
<p>When are you going to elevate the area around your house into the high-class realm and invite 1,000 homeless people to the area surrounding your private residence? I'm sure you'd like to elevate the value of your residence into the million-dollar realm.</p>
<p>Huh? We're not talking about country estates here, Fred. We're talking about major cities. Often, the most desirable areas of a metropolitan area (outside the gated areas in the hills, rural villas, beach houses) also attract homeless people who may ask for change. My point is, the homeless want to be safe just like you and me, and they always concentrate in the safest parts of town. There have been many studies on this issue. </p>
<p>If you want to separate yourself from the homeless, go ahead, but statistically it is going to make you less safe. Either you'll be in a worse part of town or you'll be out in the country/suburbs, and the fact that you have to drive in a car just to get a toothbrush will make your likelihood of surviving to the age of 50 much lower than it would be if you just picked up and moved to the worst ghetto in Newark or Detroit.</p>
<p>"and the fact that you have to drive in a car just to get a toothbrush will make your likelihood of surviving to the age of 50 much lower than it would be if you just picked up and moved to the worst ghetto in Newark or Detroit."</p>
<p>Okay, I couldn't remain quiet here... Did you actually just say that?</p>
<p>posterX, I think that's a little extreme. Come on, the worst ghetto in Detroit is better than suburbia? The homeless rate in my town, Temecula, CA, is almost nonexistent, and we have almost no crime whatever besides some vandelism and petty theft. And you really don't want to go to Downtown San Diego, where the homeless sleep on sidewalk curbs and grab at you as you pass. When I was twelve, I was waiting at a corner for my parents and this dirty man came up to me saying, "Hey, pretty girly" and reached out to touch me, and I had to run for my life. Does that sound safe to you? No, thank you, I'll take my boondocks ranch anytime.</p>
<p>Statistically, it is actually true. That is, unless you're involved in the drug trade or gangs, of course. </p>
<p>People have unreasonable fears. One incident having to do with a poor person is used over and over as an example (while people ignore the real threats, like car accidents), and suddenly people are going into a dangerous isolation from the rest of the world.</p>
<p>San Diego is sort of a special situation because of the number of gated communities in the area. The homeless have been forcibly expelled from other parts of the area and have nowhere else to go. Also, San Diego is not really urban - it's more like one giant suburb. You can't really compare San Diego to Paris, London, New York, Boston, New Haven, Philadelphia, Charleston, Providence, etc. But even so, I doubt that the situation is much different in most of San Diego. Aren't people building luxury lofts and fancy restaurants downtown by the gaslamp district and promenades?</p>
<p>But anyway....providence is cool. The music scene is nice, if that's your cup of tea. Plus, Waterfire, the Newport Folk Festival, and the Newport Jazz Festival (even though in the summer) are amazing shows. What I like about Providence is that you can be on a semi-quiet, quaint college area and have Providence (and the Providence Place, the big mall, if you're into shopping) in walking distance...</p>
<p>I like providence....given it's a city, and cities have crime...deal with it...work around it...be safe.</p>
<p>Oh btw I was told Providence is the Heroin importing capitol of the US.</p>
<p>posterX, you are just spouting speculation. Realize it, and stop. I hate people who sit around on forums asking people for references for their statistics, but you've crossed a line and I'm going to challenge you. Show me a document from some kind of marginally legitimate source that claims this higher standard of living and life expectancy that you seem to associate with the inner city.</p>
<p>Face it, you're much more likely to die or be paralyzed in a fiery car wreck than die or be paralyzed by a mugger -- ESPECIALLY if you live in the suburbs. And that's even true if you're a crack dealer. If you aren't part of the Crips, your chances of dying in an inner city area are extremely low.</p>
<p>"This statistic matches with the work of William Lucy, a professor of urban planning at the University of Virginia, who made headlines consistently in the 1990s with his studies showing one was more at risk living in a traffic ridden suburb than a crime ridden inner city. Several of his studies showed that a prosperous Northern Virginian or Richmond suburb was less safe to live in than Washington DC or Richmond, which then vied for the highest murder rates in the land. The reason was surprising but obvious from the data."</p>
<p>Moat to Moat, where do Brown students usually go for grocery/produce shopping? And is there a Target/Walmart/BBB/Home Depot in Providence or nearby town?</p>
<p>There's a few grocery stores within walking distance of campus, and a student shuttle that goes to farther ones if you want.</p>
<p>posterX I have no clue what the heck you're talking about with the suburban heart disease comment, but I assure you it doesn't effect Brown students, or really most people in Providence. Parking is so insane that people have to walk MORE!</p>
<p>OK. PosterX is absurd. First s/he starts off saying how great New Haven is and how dangerous Providence is, and then s/he proceeds to say how the high numbers of homeless people in New Haven indicate that it is SAFER than Providence. What I loved about Brown on my visit was that you could be on the hill and be just moments away from the city but that you'd never know it from your surroundings. You'd think you were in a nice, cool, suburban town. And then you walk down and get all the advantages of a medium-sized city. I didn't feel unsafe AT ALL in the area near Brown, and anyone who does is simply absurd. The area on the Hill has, as I've said, lots of great shops and restaurants (Starbucks, Ben and Jerry's, Tealuxe, Cold Stone Creamery, Urban Outfitters, and lots of great non-chain places).</p>
<p>PosterX used downtown New Haven and THE CHAMPS-ELYSEES in the same sentence. And Times Square.</p>
<p>I</p>
<p>cannot</p>
<p>believe</p>
<p>this.</p>
<p>Please, leave your hyperbole and trolling elsewhere. We are trying to have an honest, positive discussion, and you are getting in the way. No one had said anything negative about any other city until you arrived. Goodbye.</p>
<p>Here's how Providence College kids describe Providence (courtesy of the Princeton Review)</p>
<p>Most students, "whether of age or not, go to local bars to hang out any given night of the week or clubbing, [so] a fake ID is as necessary as oxygen." Second on students' extracurricular to-do list is hanging out in downtown Providence, which is "fantastic. The downtown area of Providence is a good time with a large selection of excellent restaurants, good shopping, and fun bars and clubs. We often go to Providence Place Mall or the ever popular Thayer Street to mix with the Brown and RISD crowd on weekends." Undergraduates also love that Providence is "an hour from the beach, Boston is an hour and NYC is only three hours away, so if for some reason you need to get away, it is possible."</p>
<p>Live in New Haven, went to college in Northampton, and travel to Providence monthly.</p>
<p>Providence is a great mid size city. It has its own quirky New England identity going. Friendly, easy-going, easy plave to live.</p>
<p>New Haven has more of an urban edge, and though not as pretty as Providence, it has much less a small town feel. Outside investment in bio tech, urban development, ethnic restaurants are poring in. You may think Yale dominates New Haven, but, without NYC, New Haven would be too New England. There is a great infusion of NYC culture here. When you want to go to the city, Boston is a far far second. People in New Haven accomplish things on the world stage. A nobel laureate, senator, and two McArthur Genius winners, live in my mundane middle class New Haven neighborhood. If you are ambitious, want a bigger stage to make your mark go to New Haven.</p>
<p>Northampton/Amherst: a little city life in a beautiful countryside setting. These were the utopian minded New Englanders who couldn't take Puritanical Boston. They settled in western Mass. Some of this feel lives on here. Great place for the very liberal. This place will keep your mind going without bearing down on you, I loved Northampton many moons ago. </p>
<p>You're taking my opinions on homelessness, car accident death rates, and other things completely out of context. I was having a conversation with another poster which is probably why they don't make sense to you.</p>
<p>The facts are, students and non-students are regularly mugged and assaulted on the East Side of Providence. You would absolutely "have a right" to feel unsafe there -- if you're smart, you'll take the typical precautions you would take in any urban neighborhood. If you take the precautions, you'll probably be fine - most students who are attacked are walking alone.</p>
<p>Thayer Street is fine, but there are many streets with very few pedestrians and poor lighting (although commendably speaking, lighting has been improved recently in response to the rash of attacks on local residents). This is not a good combination when you're right up against some utterly poor urban neighborhoods. Living there, that's just my opinion and it's shared by everyone I know who lives in that area, including a lot of people at Brown:</p>
<p>Police step up on-campus presence in response to crime wave</p>
<p>debbynewhaven, good post. I think you captured the areas perfectly. I would say that Northampton is underrated as a college town, though, because of the college culture with the 5c consortium.</p>
<p>One of the great things of living in the Northeast, is that you can get to anywhere you want to really easily. No matter where you are, it's incredibly easy to drive to any other city in the area.</p>
<p>I'm actually trying to decide between Brown and NYU and my main concern is that coming from New York, Providence will be kind of small and boring for me. Did other people go in with this concern? If so, how did they find it?</p>
<p>"[so] a fake ID is as necessary as oxygen."</p>
<p>Just so people know, this is not at all the case at Brown, at least so far as I've seen. My friends and I manage to drink all the time with no fake ID's.</p>