Providence 411

Current mood: busy
Category: Travel and Places

Providence is nicknamed the Little Apple (NYC being the Big Apple). It's a very small college city (7 colleges and universities within a 10 mile radius not including the many various community colleges) that's full of young people which accounts for its many bars, lounges and night clubs. Not to exaggerate, but RI (specifically Providence) is home to many of the finest restaurants (most are located on Federal Hill, my neighborhood), many of which turn into some of the hottest nightclubs after dark and are frequented by some of the world's best DJs. The city is corrupt to the core and underage drinking is the norm. Who you know is all that matters in virtually every arena, especially when it comes to getting in, getting tables and getting VIP. Italians rule everything and after that it's the Portuguese and of course the Jews. The East side, where Brown and RISD are, is dominated by old money and bears a lot of history. The West side is mostly new money and where all the preppy college kids live. It's home to PC and RIC (my school!). Federal Hill (where I live) used to be dominated by the Italian mafia but has since limited its territory to the Atwells Ave area (where all the restaurants are) and the rest of the neighborhood turned ghetto. Downtown is beautiful. Small, but beautiful. In the summer, Waterfire makes it a very famous attraction. It's a city that never sleeps with its party life. South Providence is just downright dangerous. Shootings and stabbings happen virtually every night and you can see drug dealers and prostitutes just by driving down Broad Street during daylight hours. North Main is ghetto and pretty much everything else in between... and when I say ghetto, I mean ghetto. Capitol Hill in Seattle doesn't even come close. RI has a lot of culture. Different kinds in different places. It's very diverse, very liberal and very controversial. It's very unique in itself and very different from its surrounding cities and suburbs. What more can be said? I can talk about it forever, but I think you get the picture... I lived there for 9 years, so I'd say I still carry a lot of it in me.