"Maybe it's just the tone of this sub, but I see a lot of self-deprecation here and I wanted to see what everyone really thought about living in Providence."

From this, I knew you weren't originally from New England, but from the way you ended your post I understand that you've been here long enough to get it. There's a lot of that self-deprecation of the city you live in and love. See also: Worcester, Fall River, Boston. Often it takes the form of "No one is allowed to complain about or make fun of our city but us."

To answer your question, I loved living in Providence for a decade before I moved last year. The good and the bad are all part of it. I lived in Worcester for 5 years and loved that too but there was also PLENTY to make fun of. Conversely, I lived in Westerly for a few years and had nothing really bad to say about it but couldn't wait to get out because it was so boring.

Your comment about how your daughter pronounces drawing warms my heart. I was told that I say it weird when I was in Alabama on business.