Providence developments

I think this should be more sucessful since they are planning more buildings and the park will not cut through downtown but rather connect it to the river (which the Greenway fails to do with the harbor). That is if any buildings get built.
 
Brown plans a $ 45 mil renovation of an historic building at 222 Richmond Street for the new Alpert Medical School building. The expansion highlights Brown�s aggressive push into the downtown area.

http://www.projo.com/news/content/BROWN_MEDICAL_SCHOOL_05-23-09_FTEFNB0_v17.3dbe0b0.html

http://www.browndailyherald.com/cor...-priorities-outlook-for-tough-times-1.2026219

http://pbn.com/detail/45580.html

"Brown seeks support for medical school building in downtown Providence"

http://www.projo.com/news/content/BROWN_MEDICAL_SCHOOL_10-26-09_RKG64ST_v32.3a65d22.html
 
Interesting stuff, Frankie. I read that last article the other day. I would venture a guess to say that most cities' "booms" have gone bust at this point in time. Buildings financed before the recession got underway, but those looking for it as the recession began generally went belly up. I would expect to see more progress in a few years.

The Brown University situation is going to be an example of what's going to keep Providence afloat through rough patches. Providence, like Boston, is a college town. Even during downtimes, education and healthcare are big. They don't go away. Providence's major role in those fields always keep it relevant.

As far as the safe cities thing goes, I'm surprised... I never would have guessed that. then again, I tend to detest and "safest, best, worst, etc" list Forbes puts out due to the crazy parameters they set. One year Springfield was the best family city and the next it was one of the worst... it's all subject to whatever restriction they want to place on it.
 
Lrfox said:
Interesting stuff, Frankie. I read that last article the other day. I would venture a guess to say that most cities' "booms" have gone bust at this point in time. Buildings financed before the recession got underway, but those looking for it as the recession began generally went belly up. I would expect to see more progress in a few years.
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Exactly right. All across the world. Same thing.
 
I have a question about the Providence downtown "boom", it lasted a while, but what exactly caused it to start? Considering that Providence was in pretty poor shape for a while.
 
Good question. You could probably attribute some contextual factors, like a renewed interest in city living/life in general, but the immediate cause was probably the investment in restoring the rivers and canals and the events planned along them, like Waterfire.
 
Seemed like Buddy Cianci, whatever his flaws, had a lot to do with the city's success as well. The city has always had its urban attractions -- Benefit Street, Brown University, RISD, Thayer Street, Federal Hill -- and it is eminently walkable.
 
czsz said:
Good question. You could probably attribute some contextual factors, like a renewed interest in city living/life in general, but the immediate cause was probably the investment in restoring the rivers and canals and the events planned along them, like Waterfire.
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Good answer. In short, that is the bulk of it. The renewed interest in city living/life also helped lure corporations like G-Tech and BC/BS downtown too. The artistic culture of college life (particularly Brown, JWU and RISD) has also added some character and progressive attitude to Providence. In many ways, Providence has a similar feel to Cambridge in that regard.

I would also add that the raw materials were already in place. Providence has good access to education in the many colleges in town. It also had a pretty good urban core which was spared from a good deal of Urban Renewal (though, of course, it was hardly untouched). Providence had great architecture with which to inspire revitalization and good density downtown. The healthcare industries didn't hurt either... between the colleges and healthcare, you have two industries that really have constant demand.

In addition, Providence adapted. Providence was able to change from dominant city in a region to secondary satellite city. It did this well. The convenient rail access helped transform downtown Providence into the transit oriented commercial hub it is now.

Can't forget Providence Place. That became a major retail and dining center that lured people out of the 'burbs for activities. It helped Providence overcome the "desolate" after-hours downtown area (the college presence was a positive here too).
 
The convenient rail access helped transform downtown Providence into the transit oriented commercial hub it is now.
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Although the train station actually got moved from the heart of downtown to several blocks away, as part of the general project of moving railroad tracks and rivers.
 
It doesn't seem to have mattered; it's even fueled a boomlet of condos that are connecting downtown to the train station.
 
The schools are definitely a major player, I'm sure Providence would be a completely different place if say Brown wasn't there. Just like Yale is to New Haven. Providence Place is such a beautiful mall, and I guess they must of thought "if we build it they will come". Seems like it was a perfect choice, but I've sort of looked into it, and plans for it started coming about in the early 80's, too bad it took so long.
 
czsz said:
It doesn't seem to have mattered; it's even fueled a boomlet of condos that are connecting downtown to the train station.
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Exactly. It's close enough to the rest of downtown to still be pretty oriented to the city's core. With the exception of the Waterplace buildings, the bulk of the newer condos are unfortunately mostly "blah." The station has been the major catalyst of growth west of downtown. East of downtown (where 195 is/was) hasn't had the same type of boom (kentxie noticed this in another thread)... in larger part due to 195 bisecting it; but the absence of a transit hub right there hasn't helped either.

Providence Place is a good mall, but I've heard some rumors that it could be in trouble. I read that Nordstrom was lured there with steep discounts on a ten year lease. The lease is nearly up and it'll be interesting to see whether or not they stay. Their presence is really what keeps Providence Place an "upscale" mall. Even if they do go, Providence Place's significant role in Downtown's revitalization and continued success cannot be denied. The mall alone brought tons of traffic to the area (both vehicular and foot) that wasn't there before. It brought people to local businesses and kept people there on weekends and after 5 on the weekdays. It brought a good number of "destination" restaurants (yes, chains) to a street that wasn't particularly urban before. It brought a major movie theater downtown (as well as a separate Imax theater), nightlife entertainment (Dave and Busters) and major shopping. Obviously bringing people in from outside the city was huge, but providing lots more options for people who already live there was a major plus and a big player in making downtown Providence a good place to work AND live.

Brown's presence is obviously huge in Providence. Nearly as big as Yale in New Haven. However, other schools play a huge role in the transformation as well. RISD has done a lot in the way of giving some unique local character to the city. Not only is the creative presence felt in the vicinity of the school (take a walk down Thayer and you'll know what I mean), but it's quite obvious in the sculpture, murals, and decor in many of the local shops downtown on Westminster, Weybosset, Washington, etc. They've done a great job in counterbalancing the chain feel of Providence Place and adding some local, creative character. Johnson and Wales role in the hospitality and culinary arts has translated to some really cool boutique hotels and some excellent restaurants.

While it's easy to pinpoint some major pieces of the transformation, the whole deal can be attributed to a multitude of different things coming together at the right time.
 
Federal Hill seems to do well despite being nearly cut off by freeway overpasses from downtown.
 
Before Providence Place was built, did the city have any sort of mall that sat on the outskirts or neighboring towns, and if it did, did it close down because of Providence Place?
 
Checked it out, seems to be a decent sized place, in MA though. Its funny how it is with RI being so small that it overlaps so so much with the surrounding states. Providence doesn't really seem to be more than 30 or so minutes from most parts of the state.
 
Muns1990 said:
Before Providence Place was built, did the city have any sort of mall that sat on the outskirts or neighboring towns, and if it did, did it close down because of Providence Place?
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Also the Warwick Mall (http://www.warwickmall.com/index.php) which is struggling. The Swansea Mall ( http://www.visitswanseamall.com/ ) about 10 minutes East of Providence in Swansea is nearly dead too (dead as in when I was there about 2 months ago, nearly 25% of the stores were vacant and it was close to devoid of people). As someone who grew up in the area, I think most people won't miss Swansea... don't know much about the sentiment for Warwick.

Emerald Square seems to have escaped nearly unscathed as it does serve the suburbs pretty well. I do find it a bit difficult to understand as it's relatively close to Providence as well as Wrentham and Patriot Place. I would expect it to be struggling a bit worse.

Federal Hill is different than the club district area in that it's a very residential neighborhood. It's not a downtown area. It does have the shops and restaurants that thrive along Atwells Ave. (closest to downtown) which connects about as seamlessly as an area separated by a highway can (it's an overpass that crosses over a relatively submerged highway, similar to how Brookline Ave connects Fenway to Kenmore Square). The mix of uses keep it from falling into the trouble that the club district (really not so much diversity there) has. Furthermore, it's bounded by more residential area whereas the club district area is surrounded by 1) I-195, 2) the river, 3) the Industrial Waterfront/warehouse district 4) I-95. It's much more isolated.
 
Federal Hill also managed to brand itself as a destination neighborhood.
 
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