Providence Construction

I agree with the statement that the skyline of the city would benefit from being elevated, but from the origin of cities, it's pretty impractical. Most cities were put where they were put for the proximity to the closest body of water, usually the lowest point (especially in coastal cities).

I always find driving in to Boston to be interesting for this very reason. I find that driving inbound from 93 North makes the city look kinda high, whereas driving from, say, Rt. 3 inbound makes the city look like it's at the bottom of a hole. But both cases make it look pretty IMO (at least with Boston).

From Providence, the only way the city looks "tall" is driving toward the city on Rt. 195. And even at that, it is an Elevated highway (which they are currently moving even further away from the skyline), so you are still looking "down" on the buildings (aka above the bases of the buildings, at least).
 
Are there plans to do more streetscape projects?

I hope! No pics, but they have been doing a lot of paving, tree planting, and "fixing up" in and around the Jewelry District. I 'spose part of the greater plan to lure development there.

City Walk will add improvements from South Providence to Downcity: http://www.providenceri.gov/planning/citywalk/ I think/ hope we will see improvements alongside the Downtown Transit Connecter as well.

We have a draft "Great Streets" plan. But I'm unsure about how you turn plans like this into reality: http://www.providenceri.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/DRAFT-Great-Streets-Plan-2019-06-12.pdf As I understand it, it's just a framework.

The biggest challenge as a pedestrian downtown, for me, is really maneuvering around the construction that's going on. But I'll take it! I'd like to see separate bike lanes in the surrounding neighborhoods. We have a huge opportunity with Broadway being as wide as it is to do so there.
 
New apartment building proposed for the Jewelry District: https://pbn.com/new-apartment-building-proposed-in-jewelry-district-of-providence/

Looks good to me! The buildings it would replace are not anything special.

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Perfect scale for Providence right now tbh. Get a bunch of low rises and a couple mid rises going to ignite a little bit of fire and maybe it will finally catch. That huge tower proposal is cool but a few of these melded into the fabric will go much further.
 
The basement's almost as tall as the building...
 
Perfect scale for Providence right now tbh.
I agree, sadly it looks like some NIMBYs don't.
The basement's almost as tall as the building...
Brown originally wanted to build this theater one street to the South, basically on top of the East Side Trolley Tunnel. This would have required 3-4 historic home demolitions and a building twice the height. This new location allowed for deeper submersion of the building and only one historic relocation, no demolishing. One wonders if the first proposal was meant only to be a worse option to soften up the Providence Preservation Society.
 
I'm just amazed they found that many neighbors to complain. The area is borderline-desolate, featuring some of Brown's laboratories, parking lots, legal offices, and the Providence Animal Rescue League kennels.

Meanwhile, a far more controversial proposal is the 6 story, 130 guestroom hotel (w/restaurant space) in the East Side, requiring home demolitions.
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RIDOT is talking about permanent closure of exit 3 on I-195 Westbound, causing some upset.

And apparently the PAC pit will soon have a 200' crane installed for 14 months.
 

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