Providence developments

"Jane's Walks" talking place in Providence this weekend.

From the Website:
Walkable neighbourhoods, urban literacy, cities planned for and by people.

Jane’s Walk celebrates the ideas and legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs by getting people out exploring their neighbourhoods and meeting their neighbours. Free walking tours held on the first weekend of May each year are led by locals who want to create a space for residents to talk about what matters to them in the places they live and work. Since its inception in Toronto in 2007, Jane’s Walk has expanded rapidly. In May of 2011, 511 walks were held in 75 cities in 15 countries worldwide..

These are free walking tours throughout the city over the weekend. Each one has a different theme and set of conversation topics. Not a bad way to see Providence if you have some free time.
 
Any recommendations for a day in Providence? Basically, want to go with my fiance to Roger Williams Zoo again at some point, and we want to see Waterfire too.

So, dinner options? Preferably nothing that's going to kill my wallet, but if I have to spend a little, I suppose I'm willing.

And... well... how do you take in the Waterfire experience? Do you stake out a spot and stay there? Or are you supposed to walk around the entire canal/waterfront from spot to spot? I presume you just take in the music and the cool sights, or is there even more to it?
 
For dinner my recs would be Local 121 or The Dorrance, located downtown or Red Stripe on the East Side.
 
BostonUrbEx said:
And... well... how do you take in the Waterfire experience? Do you stake out a spot and stay there? Or are you supposed to walk around the entire canal/waterfront from spot to spot? I presume you just take in the music and the cool sights, or is there even more to it?
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You mostly walk around, then probably sit for a bit. There's not much more to it really.
 
The Duck and Bunny on Wickenden -- every instinct you have learning about the place will be that they're trying too hard to achieve ... something or other, yet somehow it works. They have a must-see space, and Wickenden is both a highly underrated main drag for the city and easily walkable from downcity. Go hard east from the Waterfire part of the river, halfway up College Hill, and then take Benefit St. south to Wickenden so you can gawk at the colonial period homes along the way. The revitalized India Point Park across the highway with new pedestrian bridge is worthwhile for the harbor/river/general urban views.

Once you "get" Waterfire, roughly about 12 minutes in, head up to Federal Hill. Atwells is especially fun on a summer night. Plenty of gelato spots to choose from on DePasquale Square. Worth starting a North End debate for the food alone, though not for the side streets, to be sure.

Skip Thayer. Urban Outfitters was the beginning of the end blah blah blah.
 
If you go to Federal Hill (and you really should), and you go to DePasquale (and you really should), do not miss Pastiche.

http://pastichefinedesserts.com/

I cannot sing this place's praises enough. Every time I go back to visit my parents in Boston from Tokyo, I go to Providence specifically for Pastiche.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Ultimately we ended up at XO Cafe, which was fantastic, even if pricier than I had originally wanted to go for.

I'll be sure to take one of you guys' suggestions next time, though. Which will hopefully be very, very soon!


Can I just say one thing: Providence Place is a freakin' disaster. That said, I was impressed by the size and lack of vacancies. But the layout just had me going in circles, and I couldn't even find my way out.
 
BostonUrbEx said:
Can I just say one thing: Providence Place is a freakin' disaster. That said, I was impressed by the size and lack of vacancies. But the layout just had me going in circles, and I couldn't even find my way out.
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Providence Place was actually constructed with non-Euclidean geometry so that we might confuse and bamboozle tourists and suburbanites into staying just long enough to run over the amount of time needed for the price of their parking ticket to jump up to the next price tier.

Also, so that people are forced to walk in circles so that the storefronts get free advertising off of pissed people WHO ARE JUST TRYING TO GO DOWN TWO GODDAMN STORIES. IS THAT REALLY SO MUCH TO ASK, ASSHOLES? DO I REALLY HAVE TO WALK IN FRONT OF THESE DUMB STORES TO GET TO THE NEXT "DOWN" ESCALATOR?

You're only wasting everyone's time, Providence Place Mall. Nobody ever goes into any of those stores just because you forced them to walk in front of them.
 
Interesting to see so many proposals out there while the Superman building sits vacant. What's going on there? The googles tell me that there's talk of a luxury apartment conversion. But doesn't the city need that office space leased up to support the luxury units already online in the Waterplace area? Not that that wouldn't be a cool address.
 
ErnieAdams said:
Interesting to see so many proposals out there while the Superman building sits vacant. What's going on there? The googles tell me that there's talk of a luxury apartment conversion. But doesn't the city need that office space leased up to support the luxury units already online in the Waterplace area? Not that that wouldn't be a cool address.
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The so-called "Superman" building remains vacant because the developer wants public monies to go into the project which he's not going to get in light of the Curt Shilling Studio38 debacle which will eventually cost the tax payers well over $100 mil. They were also looking to get historic tax credits to help with this project. There isn't much demand for class "A" or "B" office space in the city which is why the choice was made for residential. The Waterplace condo's probably attracted college students, commuters from Boston, since it's so close to the train station, and investors. Units in both buildings are close to being sold out.

If I were the owner I would turn this incredible building into a hotel and call it The Empire Hotel.
 
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