Discovering the city next door.
Home buyers find Providence offers more for the money
By Teri Borseti, Boston Globe Correspondent

PROVIDENCE - Carole Landisman has lived in cities across the country. Without a doubt, she says, Providence is her favorite.

Landisman and her husband, Reid, moved from Brookline Village, just outside of Boston, to the East Side of Providence three years ago, and they have been pleasantly surprised by the lifestyle the city has to offer.

''This is a friendly, interesting city with beautiful architecture and cultural diversity, yet it manages to have a small-town feel,'' Carole Landisman said.

''The main thing I noticed right off the bat is how much friendlier this area is. It's the first time in my adult life that I actually know my neighbors and socialize with them. ... I hope to stay here forever,'' Landisman said.

They are academic researchers - he at Harvard University, and she at Brown University. They represent a growing number of Boston-area transplants who, especially in the last five years, have chosen to make Providence and Rhode Island their home.

The strong economy, Providence's city-wide renaissance. a world-class orchestra, five-star restaurants, and the presence of an Ivy League university all have contributed to the city's growing popularity.

However, Sharon Steele, past president of the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, and owner of the Sharon Steele Group, suggested that buyers have come to realize they can get a lot more for their money in Providence.

''There are many parallels between Boston and Providence, but Providence is a much more manageable city.

''Like Boston, Providence is built on several hills. Boston has the Charles [River]; Providence has Providence River. And we also have a college district and the world-renowned Hasbro Children's Hospital,'' Steele said.

John Day, public relations director for the Rhode Island Association of Realtors, said the state's real estate boom started in the third quarter of 1996. At that time, more than 7,000 single-family homes were listed for sale. This year, due to increased demand and dwindling supply of homes for sale, that will probably plunge to 2,375 single-family homes for sale, statewide.

''You still get a lot more for your money here than in Boston,'' he said.

Steele said Providence and Rhode Island have benefited from some Greater Boston commuters' weariness of the traffic congestion caused by the Big Dig and other highway construction.

''I deal with a lot of people who are sick of the commute and the high price of real estate in Boston and its surrounding suburbs,'' she said. ''By moving here, they get more house for their money and can use the time they spend commuting by train productively, instead of just sitting in traffic.''

The Landismans are a case in point.

They traded what Carole Landisman calls ''a postage [stamp]- size condo in Brookline Village'' for a five-bedroom ''palace'' on College Hill in Providence.

''If you're lucky, you can find a studio apartment in Boston for about $250,000, and here you can get a freestanding house for that price,'' Steele said.

With average home sales prices in Boston's priciest neighborhoods, such as the Back Bay and Beacon Hill, shooting into the millions, Steele said that as of June, the most common selling price range she deals with on the East Side (the city's toniest neighborhood), is $429,000.

''Last year, at the same time, that figure was $331,000. That's a 30 percent increase that followed a 20 percent increase the year before, and a 10 percent rise the year before that. I've been selling real estate for 21 years, and things have never been better in Providence and Rhode Island in general,'' she said.

In the area around Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, Steele has 23 condominium listings, she said, ranging in price from $129,000 to $539,000. The average time they'll be on the market is 46 days, she added.

Steele said there has been an unprecedented amount of attention from out of state, particularly Massachusetts and Connecticut.

She points to the rebirth of urban living as a reason for the boom taking place in Providence.

''There's a sense of community there that people look for, and real estate is not just about buying a house,'' she said.

This story ran on page 1 of the Boston Globe on 9/1/2001. ©Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.

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