Rhode Island - need help

[Boo Mc]

Not sure if this is the place to post but here goes: Our best friends are moving to Providence RI area and need some housing/school info. They are considering Barrington and Scituate and East Greenwich (I think). Their first priority is great schools and would also love it if they were close to some water. Anyone know which community has good schools and would in general be good for a family with small kids. Thanks so much!!

 

[jamsmom]

All I know about RI is it gets cold up there

 

[Breezy_Carol]

paras4ri (Gail) lives in Rhode Island so if she doesn't see this, send her a PM.

 

[Jenzebelle]

Does one of them have a job in the area? If so, which town?

All of the choices are good ones, and unfortunately pretty pricey.
I live in Northern Rhode Island (2 towns away from Scituate and Barrington), and am from Southern MA, so I can't necessarily comment on the schools. Rhode Island public schools are pretty excellent, with few exceptions, and there are many wonderful private schools as well.

I would have to say Barrington is the best choice. It's on the water, close to Providence, and is just a cool town - lots of artsy little shops and just has a great feel to it.
Here's the link to their town site
http://www.ci.barrington.ri.us/

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

I live in RI. But I only know a very little about any of those particular towns. (It's a RI thing...we spend a lot of time in our own little section of the state.)

Barrington and East Greenwich are both pretty well-to-do towns...LOTS of Drs live in Barrington, and also in East Greenwich...and both have school systems with good reputations. Both are on Narragansett Bay. I never go to East Greenwich, and I only really go to Barrington to the Stock Exchange, a consignment furniture shop. But I have seen some of the ritzier houses, and boy, are they incredible. According to this website http://www.relocate-america.com/states/RI/cities/barrington.htm the average home price is $675,000. Here's the East Greenwich info: http://www.relocate-america.com/states/RI/cities/east_green.htm

I live near Scituate, and if I had to choose, I'd probably want to live there. It's a lovely rural historic town, and I think that the Scituate Middle School was rated the best, or close to it, in the state recently; it also is the home of the Scituate Art Festival Columbus Day weekend and has a great cemetary with Civil War soldiers buried there. And it's affordable.

 

[Jenzebelle]

Yes, Scituate is also a great town. It's got a very typical New England town feel to it.

Another thing for them to think about is that no matter where you are in RI, you are only about an hour from the beach at the most. Living on the water is very expensive and very hard to obtain houses, because of it being such desireable property.
And I don't think it's necessary to be on the water, because no matter where you live, you are so close to great beaches here and in MA.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

I am bumping this up for Gail to see this morning.

 

[Kevin&Becky]

I also live in RI with my wife and 2 Ds's. We actually live in Johnston or son is 5 and attends a private school (St. Rocco's in Johnston and we are very happy with that school). I would say that any of those 3 towns all have good school sytems and are nice communities to live. All of these towns are on the pricey side in terms of housing...

Barrington is a smallish town with a lot of little shops and what not in the down town area. Housing is expensive in all of these towns....if you are looking for a lot of property or land this is not the town for you.

Scitiuate is a bit further from the coast, in the Western part of the state (next town over from where I live). It is a quaint New England type of a town. You get more land depending on where the houses are located. Schools here rate very good as well.

East Greenwich is in the Southern part of the state and I believe has some access to the ocean. Rates out very well with regards to school systems. This is probally the most commercial of the three towns and probally the biggest of the three in terms of popluation.

Good luck with your friends decision...If you have any other questions give me a holler.


Kevin

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Scituate is by far the least expensive of the three, with Barrington being the most expensive. And yes, you can definitely get property with more land in Situate. The Scituate Reservoir area is gorgeous in the Fall.

 

[JESW]

Sorry, no help on the housing, but just wanted to say that our family LOVES RI. We live in SE Massachusetts so RI is not too far away. We love going to Westerly and the beaches are great! You don't have to drive too far to get to water. My niece and her DH just bought a house in W. Warwick near the water and they love it. The prices are lower there, but most of the houses are fixer-uppers.

Jill

 

[DISNEYFANRI]

I live in the northwest corner of the state - so I can't really comment on teh towns in question but wanted to note that there are also some very nice areas in Lincoln and Cumberland. We lived in Lincoln for 9 yrs before moving here (Burrillville).

Paula

 

[Boo Mc]

Hi all - thanks for all the input, I'll pass it along to our friends. They don't know anyone in RI so every little bit of info helps. They're wondering if Scituate is an "up and coming" area. That is maybe it's not quite as pricey as the others but still has good schools and may be comparable to the other two areas in a few years. Any opinions on that? They know these areas are all pretty expensive and are prepared for that but they also want an area with a nice community feeling to it and possibly a nice downtown area since that's the type of city they live in now. Thanks again!!