26 replies to this topic

[quente]

I've always thought that Cranston was a nice place - in spite of the seeming putdowns related to the ACI, "big hair", etc.

A recently published book ranks Cranston alongside Allston as being among The Absolutely Worst Places to Live in America. In response to this listing, the Boston Globe asked one of its reporters, a former Cranston resident, to fashion a response. While she ticks off a number of Cranston's finer point, she wraps up her article with the following observation: "Cranston is a place that doesn't let you leave. It's sort of like the ACI, come to think of it. But with much better food." Ouch!

Is it time for me to think about taking off the rose-colored glasses?



There's no place like home, especially Cranston, R.I.
By Tina Cassidy, Globe Correspondent  |  November 18, 2006

http://www.boston.co...ly_cranston_ri/

Edited by Cotuit, 18 November 2006 - 07:55 PM.

[runawayjim]

wasn't cranston recently listed in one of those annual lists as one of the best places to live?  i think there was a thread about that somewhere.

[dgreco]

runawayjim, on Nov 18 2006, 12:40 PM, said:

wasn't cranston recently listed in one of those annual lists as one of the best places to live?  i think there was a thread about that somewhere.

They recently came in as the 24th safest city in america, but nothing about being best place to live.

[CtownMikey]

cranston and warwick made forbes top 100 best cities to live in based on about 10 different rating i think including crime and all that. I cant find the link on forbes or the thread here but it does exist.

[Lone Ranger]

As a longtime Cranston resident, I assure you that Cranston's only saving grace is its proximity to Providence.

Edit: a story, if you'll permit me.

A few weeks ago on a day off -- gorgeous day, perfect fall weather -- I decided I was going to make the trip up to Pippin Orchards in western Cranston to buy some cider.  It's a little annual ritual of mine.  I took Park Ave crosstown.

I hadn't driven across Cranston in a long time.  I was shellshocked by what I saw.  It really troubled me.  At lunch with a friend that same day, I tried to explain to her the nagging brooding feeling I was left with.  This is what I told her:

There is no such bleeping thing as zoning in Cranston.  It's like the city planners sat around a table looking over biiiig a map of the city with a bunch of tokens representing different types of development, carefully placing the tokens where they thought them appropriate.  And at the end of that laborious process, the planners said to each other, "That's good, we'll go with that."  And they went home for the evening.  That night, somebody came along and pounded heavily on the table, scattering the tokens pellmell across the city map.  Then the city planners came in the next morning and implemented exactly what they saw.

Cranston is a nightmare.  Beyond repair.

Edited by Lone Ranger, 18 November 2006 - 07:24 PM.

[CtownMikey]

i had a great time growing up here

unless u want to live in the perfect yards that exist in desperate housewives i dont see one thing wrong with cranston.

[Cotuit]

Quote

"We don't have a mall," she gushed. "We have Garden City." Garden City, for those of you who have never been, is an outdoor mall.

To me, Cranston is the world's largest strip mall, and Garden City is the strip-mall-y center.

[runawayjim]

Cotuit, on Nov 18 2006, 09:01 PM, said:

To me, Cranston is the world's largest strip mall, and Garden City is the strip-mall-y center.

you mean bigger than warwick?

[dgreco]

runawayjim, on Nov 19 2006, 12:49 AM, said:

you mean bigger than warwick?

I fidn cranston to be fairly nice in areas and then really crapty in others, and as far as development I don't think one building catches my eye in all of cranston.  I mean the garden city scrubs is about the coolest thing I can think of, or the black glass insurance building on reservoir, i believe it is Metropolitian?

[runawayjim]

dgreco, on Nov 19 2006, 10:18 AM, said:

I fidn cranston to be fairly nice in areas and then really crapty in others, and as far as development I don't think one building catches my eye in all of cranston.  I mean the garden city scrubs is about the coolest thing I can think of, or the black glass insurance building on reservoir, i believe it is Metropolitian?

i like the galaxy tower that's right by rt 10.

[CtownMikey]

that black glass buidling is the current HQ of the TPG

[Gusterfell]

runawayjim, on Nov 19 2006, 10:42 AM, said:

i like the galaxy tower that's right by rt 10.

Is that the Art Deco tower by the Rt. 2 exit?  If so, I agree.

[runawayjim]

Gusterfell, on Nov 19 2006, 05:43 PM, said:

Is that the Art Deco tower by the Rt. 2 exit?  If so, I agree.

yes, that's the one... with the light up sign around the top.  it's such a neat little building.

[jencoleslaw]

runawayjim, on Nov 19 2006, 05:50 PM, said:

yes, that's the one... with the light up sign around the top.  it's such a neat little building.

that's the Cal-Art building. my doctor's office is there, and the closing attorney i used for the house. I've only been on the first few floors, never in the tower. The interior of the building is 110% uninspired.

oh, and the address is in Providence, not Cranston.

Edited by jencoleslaw, 19 November 2006 - 05:06 PM.

[Lone Ranger]

CtownMikey, on Nov 19 2006, 11:56 AM, said:

that black glass buidling is the current HQ of the TPG

Yes, and despite all of their efforts to build up the city, I'm still waiting for them to move to Providence themselves.  

[Jerry2]

runawayjim, on Nov 19 2006, 10:42 AM, said:

i like the galaxy tower that's right by rt 10.

The Cal-Art tower is in Providence. It is part of the Reservoir Triangle neighborhood. Most of the land east of Rt.10 is Providence except for a slice of Niantic Avenue. On Reservoir Avenue, It doesn't become Cranston until you cross over Rt. 10.

[Jerry2]

Cotuit, on Nov 18 2006, 09:01 PM, said:

To me, Cranston is the world's largest strip mall, and Garden City is the strip-mall-y center.

Eastern Cranston is an inner-ring suburb with more urban amenities than one would find in Providence. Homes are well-kept for the most part and neighborhood services are plentiful. Anything west of Phenix Avenue is a nightmare. It will also be interesting to see how Eastern Cranston deals with the influx of Hispanics from neighboring South Providence in the future. The Cranston St., Broad, Elmwood, and Reservoir areas going into Cranston are seeing minority businesses and people moving in.

[dgreco]

Lone Ranger, on Nov 19 2006, 06:33 PM, said:

Yes, and despite all of their efforts to build up the city, I'm still waiting for them to move to Providence themselves.  

I think that building is pretty cool, it would be cool if they built a tower in providence, something that sticks out but is nice... kinda like that building.

[gregw]

Jerry02908, on Nov 19 2006, 07:17 PM, said:

The Cal-Art tower is in Providence.

It was originally a factory where they made artifical flowers.

[Recchia]

Eastern Cranston is a very nice place.  It is urban and walkable and has a nice range of neighborhoods, from the classic wealthy yet still urban Edgewood area, to the working class duplex and small single family home neighborhoods around Park Ave, up Cranston Street, etc.  It also has a few nice little main streets (Broad Street in Pawtuxet Village, parts of Park Ave, Rolfe Square).  Once you get west of Pontiac Ave though, it's strip mall suburbia hell, though not as bad as Warwick by any means.