Teri Degnan Real Estate agent Ariana Interiano is proud to call Johnston, Rhode Island, home. “I absolutely love living in Johnston,” she says. “I feel like we are in the suburbs while only being a 12 min drive from Providence.” Buying a home in Johnston inspired Ariana’s career in real estate, and today she’s a licensed agent in Rhode Island.
History
An 18th-century farming community developed by English settlers, Johnston was incorporated in 1759, but one of its historic attractions predates the town itself. The Clemence–Irons House was built in 1691 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s best known for being a rare surviving example of a "stone ender" – a building type in which the entirety of one wall consists of a stone chimney. The style was common in colonial Rhode Island and nearby Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Types of Housing
Today, Johnston is a great place to live in Rhode Island. Considered a close knit, predominantly but not solely suburban community, you’ll find a spectrum of places to call home here in all sizes and styles — raised ranches, single levels, and loft apartments in a renovated historic mill building, luxury apartments, century-old traditional Cape Cods, and affordable multi-families. Comprising 25 square miles, the population in Johnston is nearly 30,000 and the town is part of Providence County.
The median listing home price in Johnston, Rhode Island is $375,00. The median home sold price was $390, 000 (Realtor.com). Rental rates in Johnston, Rhode Island typically range between $1700/month and $2,350.
Education
There are eight public schools – a preschool, an early childhood center, four elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school – serving more than 3,100 students In Johnston. The town is also home to St. Rocco School, a parochial elementary and middle school.
Quality of Life
Though bigger cities including Cranston and Providence are nearby, Johnston holds its own when it comes to creature comforts. Restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, family farms with hayrides and markets, a local family-owned winery, and the annual Apple Festival in September offer a slice of pure Americana in this suburban-meets-bucolic town. One of Ariana’s favorite new spots is the just-opened Market Basket, the New England supermarket chain with a cult-like following.
Health Services
When it comes to health services in Johnston, there are a number of resources. In January 2023, Lifespan Health System opened a new urgent care center, and you’ll also find a Rhode Island Medical Imaging Center here. Johnston Medical Center on Atwood Avenue is part of Ocean State Medical and offers comprehensive primary care, telehealth/telemedicine along with preventative medicine. Plus, Johnston is a short drive to the major hospitals in downtown Providence.
Recreation
Outdoor enthusiasts will love the many parks and green spaces throughout Johnston. One of Ariana’s favorite places is Snake Den State Park. It's one of the largest with 1,000 acres complete with walking trails, mature trees, and a working farm. “Snake Den has tons of trails. My fiancé and I walk there with our dogs three times a week,” says Ariana.
Johnston War Memorial Park is a town landmark well-loved for its clean appearance, athletic fields, playground, and scenic paved walking paths alongside Pocasset Pond and the Pocasset River. Here you’ll find a 1.1-mile loop trail that takes about half an hour to complete at a steady pace. Birding, fishing, and running are popular activities here.
Wood Lake Park is also a popular recreation area in Johnston with several ballfields and beautiful trails around Almy Reservoir, but it might be most popular among folks with their four-legged friends. The half-acre Johnston Dog Park here includes an off-leash dog run, clay surface, a good amount of shade, and benches for dog owners to relax.
Employment
Johnston is home to Citizens Bank headquarters, a state-of-the-art campus completed in 2018 with 424,000 square feet of office and meeting space, including a call center, with more than 3,000 employees. You’ll also find ball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, and walking trails here available for not just employees to use but the local community as well.
Johnston is also the corporate headquarters of FM Global, one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers. More than one-third of Fortune 1000 companies work with FM Global and the Johnston headquarters, with thousands of employees, is housed inside a LEED-certified building.
With an active school district, ample restaurants and coffee shops, shopping, beautiful parks, health services, and an active senior center, Johnston offers an affordable and extraordinary quality of life in Rhode Island and is a great place to call home.
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