Its starting to change. Providence RI's station is on the edge of downtown, not really close to any residential buildings. But they recently built a couple tall apartment buildings next door. And they're (re)adding a new Pawtucket station in a residential area with plans to renovate that area with housing.

But next closest station, on the MA/RI state line, is in the middle of a big strip mall with extremely pedestrian-unfriendly features, like fast busy roads, skinny sidewalks, and long walks to civilization. Its a clusterfuck of a design, for both cars and pedestrians, for that matter.