Loved Providence. Beautiful city, great history. Best airport on the Northeastern seaboard.
We moved to California from Providence. The * best * assortment of restaurants in the whole country, as far as I'm concerned. The Boston Globe often says that 9 out of the 10 best restaurants in Boston are in Providence. Good entertainment scene, arts scene, etc...
Downsides: The townies (locals) get a little crusty, and you have to get used to the idea of government == corrupt.
We moved to LA so my wife could try out the film scene, and because my contract work in health care was drying up fast.
The winter's do get kind of long, though. And if you hear people talking about a coming, "Noreestah" go to the store and buy all the bread and milk you can. :)
If you do move to Providence, be sure that you live on the East Side of town. It can be really hard to make friends if you're living anywhere else. The native Rhode Islandics aren't really used to people from anywhere else, and it takes a long time to make any headway in the friends department. The East Side has RISD and Brown, so people on that side of town are a lot friendlier and used to strangers and "ethnic people". (My landlord's phrase, not mine. Ironic because he was very Irish. :D ).
Heck, anywhere in New England is pretty nice, and you can drive from one state to another in less than an hour. It's all pretty close.