I took my kids to the Providence Children's Museum yesterday (they were a little too old at 9 so it wasn't too great for them), before wandering to downtown and eventually eating at Blake's Tavern. The city felt bigger than it ever had and I was personally impressed with the scale, scope, and general vitality on the streets. There was a Providence Bruins game which added to the crowds in the area.
However, my girlfriend focused on some very different aspects, and wasn't wrong either... First of all, the streets were absolutely filthy. Trash, crap, broken bollards strewn across a bike lane, etc. It was especially bad the first few blocks surrounding the Children's Museum, so hopefully those empty lots get filled in and that area improves over the years. There were also a lot of sketchy characters on the streets, especially the side streets running between Weybosset to Westminster to Washington. I think it was Matthewson Rd, where the tavern was but closer to Westminster, where my son later commented that he thought we passed gang members. Lots of people were loitering, smoking, etc which is not a terrible thing in an of itself, but my girlfriend basically felt borderline unsafe right in the middle of downtown. We actually had an argument on the way home when she was propping up Portland and I kept bringing up how crappy Portland is on the other side of Congress, or even with the tent city near the arena. Also I am often accosted in Portland whereas nobody said a word to us in Providence.
We also went to the greenhouses at Roger Williams Park and I cannot recommend that area enough. It's a beautiful (and confusing) area that includes the zoo and Natural History Museum among others. However, the random roads I took out and back showcased quite a bit of blight. It does feel like every urban neighborhood surrounding the city, outside of the stunning College Hill area and limited blocks of Federal Hill, resembles a blighted dump. I see the potential for the city to be so much better, but the city/state seems to have the most defeatist loser attitude in the country. I mean, a developer (Fane) actually wanted to make a major investment and got chased out of town. Providence's tallest building has been empty for 13 years. Pawtucket fumbled away the Pawsox. Rhode Island is fumbling away Hasbro. Add it together and it really is pathetic. Providence has some amazing bones but something seems seriously wrong with the state compared to the rest of New England. I'm still hoping they save the Superman Building because that would be the crowning achievement of localized failures if they cannot.
In short, good architecture but show a little bit of pride and clean the place up.
