Down the Rabbit Hole Fire Pole?

I love my current apartment.   It's the second floor (and the lookout tower!) of an old firehouse, and it has lovely features (the first place I've live that I could imagine being photographed for a design blog...), a giant bathroom, laundry in the bathroom, a nice kitchen, open layout, sweet landlords who work in the first floor during the days, but aren't there nights/weekends (so I can sing and dance to my heart's content, and invite other people over to do the same...)

Of course, it's not perfect.  The hot water pressure is not entirely satisfactory.  And... well, basically that's my one major complaint.

But more or less, it's great, except that it only has one bedroom.  So, before I can complete my Quest of Foster Parent Licensing, I'm going to have to move.  I'm targeting August 1 or Sept 1 for the move.  No need to force it before that-- the next licensing class for my area starts in September, so it doesn't become a limiting factor until then.  June/July will be crunch time (need to give a month's notice), but until then, I can idly peruse Craigslist (dreaming of finding a little 3BR 1920's bungalow with a nice backyard and new windows, a dishwasher, and in-apartment laundry for under $1000....), trying to figure out what I want.

I'm more or less pulled towards 3 options for how to go about this.  In all cases, we're probably talking a 2-3BR double parlor flat of the sort ubiquitous around here:

Option A:  The Edge of Edgewood
Edgewood is a lovely neighborhood!  It's right near 3 things that are pretty sweet:  1)Roger Williams Park (lots of Green space!  A neo-classical Temple to Music! Carousel!  Swanboats!); 2) Work (as in, I'd be 5-10 minutes away from the office; 3) some of the better public schools in the area.

Pros:
Lots of trees!  More likely to have a backyard.
Close to work!
Pretty diverse!
More likely to be able to find something nice in my price range.

Cons:
A little further away from north-living folks
Don't know people in the neighborhood.

Option B: Summit or Oak Hill
Return to the East Side, or vaguely north of it.  It's an area with more people I know, plus cool things always going on.  However, it's more expensive, and might not be as doable.  Schools are also an issue-- I'm not thrilled at the idea of doing education advocacy in Providence, and I hear that it's not much better in Pawtucket?   Still, if I found a nice place that fit my budget around here, I'd be mighty tempted.

Pros:
Close to Providentials.
Closer to Northern folks (and everyone who's anyone knows how to get there...)
Very liveable neighborhood, easy to walk to parks.

Cons:
More expensive.
Providence side is less likely to have yards because of stupid parking regs.
School systems would likely be a pain to deal with.

Crazy Option C:
Ok, not really an option in any concrete way.  But, I wonder if my landlords might possibly offer me the house next door at a reasonable price to keep me as a tenant.  It's probably more space than I need, but it's really lovely, with a window seat on the landing, and so on.

Pros:
Big, gorgeous space
Nice landlords, who act a bit like extended family, in a non-creepy way.
Nice back yard? (I think--- haven't actually seen it.)

Cons:
Neighborhood is a little dodgy.
Ice Cream trucks rampage through the neighborhood, and I am weak to the pleas of children...
Big house might cost a fortune to heat. (also, old windows)
Could house pass lead inspection? (see above, re: old windows.)
Providence schools, as above, likely a pain to negotiate with