Pros and Cons of Providence, RI

Pro: Easily accessible from Boston by MBTA, as there is direct service. Secret: save yourself the $15.50 round trip ($18 via Amtrak) and take the Orange Line to Forest Hills, then either Route 32 or Route 50 to Hyde Park Station and pay $4.50 - savings a whopping $3.25. Going back, get off at Hyde Park and reverse route. Bonanza bus lines also offer fares for $14.95 round trip.

Con: Train often packed; sometimes trains make all stops between South Station and Providence; at night and on the weekends, you're at the mercy of
the vending machines, which feature 500ml of Poland Spring water at $2 a whack and stale packs of Doritos. (During the week, there's a nice souvenir shop selling Rhode Island-themed gifts and The Lot. More about that later.)

Pro: RIPTA is head and shoulders above the MBTA. The fare is the same ($1.50) but you can purchase an all-day ticket for the RIPTA trolley (covers the entire city, more or less) for $3.00. Buses are clean and drivers are polite and well-mannered. Passengers we met were not the ones staring us directly in the face with an invitation to fight.

Con: Kennedy Plaza. Ever want to experience what Times Square (or the South End during the Elevated era) was before Michael Eisner decided to gentrify it? Even though the entire plaza has been rebuilt - sort of like an open Harvard Square - and you can find the buses a lot more easily than the MBTA, it is an eye-opener for the dark side of Providence. Sleaze is one of the kinder words we could use, and a few years ago we went there and watched a full-blown brawl bust out, and 30-40 Providence Police vehicles arrived in less time that it takes to sneeze. The interior is...well, after three minutes of waiting for a donut while one of its "customers" described something in sickening detail, we left feeling super dirty. As long as you wait outside, Kennedy Plaza is OK. Otherwise, South Station Bus Terminal is the Taj Mahal. Kennedy Plaza is also an intercity bus stop for Greyhound and Bonanza/Peter Pan.

Pro: Thayer Street is a walker's dream. Brown University students, bohemians, punkers, and other residents are much friendlier and don't carry that "we're a famous Ivy League University" snitty tone. (No reference to a Cambridge-based university intended.) Brown University bookstore is neat and clean, and offers plenty for the voracious reader. CVS and Store 24 for the sundries and cheap eats, but many casual restaurants (and Starbucks, of course) and neat little shops.

Con: Thayer Street is located on College Hill, which has a hill than can be best described as one you don't dare trip on. Don't aggravate the Providence Fire Department, as they haven't had a contract after 1080 days (3 years, nearly). After the shops, Thayer Street becomes a plain vanilla residential area.

Pro: The Lot, Rhode Island's lottery. Games are much more fun to play and you don't feel as if you wait for an eternity while Fatso McScratchy orders up his fat little notebook of daily numbers and his daily ration of 60-70 instant tickets. (Disclosure: we played The Numbers and Powerball and didn't win a thing. However, we did win about $20 playing the instants, but put some of the money into other things...like lunch and fare home.) Unlike our Lottery, The Rhode Island Lottery has a $20 instant ticket you don't have to wait until the 4th of July to figure out if you've won.

Con: The Lot in Rhode Island isn't publicized as much, and the games could be a horror show for seasoned Mass Lottery fans who get the hives when they play Bingo or Cashword. Also, no trash pickers because there's no trash.