From Cleary Square to Kennedy Plaza, all in a day

I was on vacation this week and in contrast to the Route 240 trip was my trip to Providence via the Commuter Rail on Wednesday.

Every year since around 1998 or so, I make a point to go to Providence or Newport because I like Rhode Island. Ocean Staters aren't the milquetoasts and passive-aggressive fools that Bay Staters are - they have the balls to tell people they'll be glad to serve them once they complete their phone conversations - something Bay Staters fear will win them a trip to our finest emergency rooms.

If you do go, my suggestion is NOT to go through South Station OR to take the Peter Pan/Bonanza bus. The MBTA/MBCR WILL charge you $15.50 for a round trip - $7.75 each way. The Bonanza bus, even though it costs $15.95 round trip and is much quicker, has some pretty beasty traffic from Providence to Boston.

Rather, take the Orange Line to Forest Hills, and then the Route 32 bus to Cleary Square. The $9 interzone fare I paid on a round trip ticket from Hyde Park to Providence is more than worth it. I boarded the 12:28 train and got to Providence around 1:05; returning on the 5:10 train, I got back to Hyde Park around 6:04.

Rhode Islanders have their own idiosyncracies, including their own brand of lemonade ice, coffee syrup, "New York System" hot dogs, corruption (politicians and the like) and the feeling you're in the "sixth" borough of New York. But therein lies the difference; Bay Staters feel so entitled to their bounties in education and technology, you almost feel that arrogance and smug "ha ha, look what I can do and you can't!" once you step into the tourist sections of Boston. Ocean Staters will tell you what things are, what you can do with it if you don't like it, and take little guff from strangers.

Rhode Island's singleton Ivy League school, Brown University, isn't swarming with hipster doofuses, nutty conspiracy theorists, bums, and other poseurs. I walked up and down Thayer Street - Providence's equivalent of Harvard Square - without being accosted, jostled, harangued, or being passed by as if I weren't there. You felt as if you were part of the neighborhood, not as someone you though was going too freakin' slow and if you had the power, you'd lift the damn sidewalk.

If you want to ride a public transit system better than the MBTA, RIPTA is a good example on how Rhode Island legislators see the passengers who don't or can't drive - they treat them like passengers and not like revenue sources. On the two trolley rides and bus ride I took, the buses were not crowded, and the passengers got along well. Inside Kennedy Plaza, however, there were plenty of people waiting, but it was far more orderly and organized. Maybe Dan Graubauskas could take a trip down to Providence and take notes!

The kids themselves that mill around Kennedy Plaza from the various middle and high schools in Providence are the same as you would find in Boston. One huge difference: The Providence Police Department makes their presence duly known - patrol cars, horseback, bikes, foot patrols, etc. Back in 2003, I was down the Kennedy Plaza and a group of kids began fighting. As fast as you can say "Police Squad" at least 80 cops flew down there and broke up the fight. I was amazed at the quick response and the ability to get the situation under control from the Providence cops.

Finally, one thing I like about Rhode Island that it's close enough to Massachusetts without being Massachusetts. I looked forward to all the times I went to Club Baby Head over near Richmond Street with Rob and Bucky Avery, Jim Brackett, and other people from UMass Dartmouth. I was a college student back then, and getting from Dartmouth to Providence was near impossible without a car. Now, it's only a 36 mile/40 minute trip from Hyde Park. Progress!