Yes, but Thayer is the "Cool area around Brown" that was mentioned. Downtown Providence is better than Downtown Hartford. I prefer going to restaurants and bars in West Hartford over either place. As far as including Newport because we included West Hartford, c'mon. Lets include East Providence instead, that's a more relevant comparison. East Providence is a solid place.
True. Hartford was a jewel until they destroyed it. Reading the history of Hartford and learning how gorgeous, admired and prosperous it was is very sad. It was a wealthy city with a big art scene.