#15 Coventry: RI's Best Communities 2013

#15 Coventry: RI's Best Communities 2013

Named in 2011 as a community on the move, this town of just over 35,000 in Kent County has rural, historic roots and a legacy of its 8 once-vibrant mill villages. Interestingly, the east and west side of the town have different features. While the western half of Coventry remains mostly rural in nature, the eastern half is one of the fastest growing communities in Rhode Island.

Coventry by the numbers

Established: 1639
Population: 35,014
Median household income: $67,016
Median housing price: $169,000

2013 Best Communities rankings

Overall ranking: 15
Affordability ranking: 2
Education ranking: 20
Economic Condition ranking: 24
Safety ranking: 32
Arts & Culture ranking: 15

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Famous residents

Henry B. Anthony, notorious anti-Catholic newspaperman, later became a United States Senator and Governor of Rhode Island
Henry P. Baldwin, served as the governor of Michigan from 1869 to 1873 and as a U.S. Senator from 1879 to 1881
General Nathanael Greene, general during the American Revolutionary War (his homestead still stands on Taft Street)
Desiree Washington, Miss Black America contestant whom Heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson served prison term for raping
Mike Stefanik, NASCAR driver
HM3 Joshua T. Chiarini, awarded the Silver Star for actions in Iraq in 2006
Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Pappe, South African botanist