Of course there wouldn't be one the weekend of my wedding . Glad I didn't hype it beforehand...

- Garris

Here is the 2008 Waterfire schedule.

http://www.waterfire.org/season-schedule/2008-schedule

What is the best place to sit outside and have a beer in Providence?

I would actually like to see Blackstone park bulldozed to make it 3 lanes each way. With a special lane devoted to fast cars.

Maybe some surface parking.

I thought foreclosures were more urban based, just by perception, but I was wrong..

Thanks for the reply! Fox Point sounds awesome. Our budget isn't enormous, but it's not bad, either...partially because we keep other expenses down by owning only one car, which means that living in walking distance to Brown is pretty important. I'll definitely check that neighborhood out when we come visit next weekend!

If anybody knows of any specific places for sale, please let me know. We are already talking to a realtor, but I am sure that loads of architectural gems change hands in Providence's East Side without any realtor help, or even knowledge.

I have never lived outside the South before (at least, in other parts of the United States), so this will be a big change for me! I am pretty excited to experience New England...particularly the Fall seasonableness, what with the trees and Halloween and Thanksgiving in a properly brisk environment, etc.

What is De Pasquale Square like? I've seen photos, and it looks pretty. What is the best place to sit outside and have a beer in Providence?

I'd say fox point would be primo. The neighborhood bounded by Benefit, Wickenden, Hope, and Williams is packed with small 18th and early 19th century homes in pristine condition, some on streets you can hardly fit a car down, 5 or 10 minutes walk from Brown. It can be a bit pricey though, I'm not sure what your budget is. If you're looking for a little more of a bargain/fixer upper, try the west side. It might seem like a drag being across town, but this is RI, and nothing is far.


Welcome to the City-State!

Hello! I am a longtime poster here at the UP, mostly in the Nashville forum.

...but, I am moving to Providence! I will be enrolling in Brown's Ph.D. program in the History of Art and Architecture (I am an architectural historian/designer) this fall. My wife and I are looking to purchase a sweet little house in the College Hill thereabouts. I've never even set foot in Providence, so I feel a little clueless...any ideas or recommendations?

I look forward to participating in the Providence forum once I have cut my teeth on the town. It seems like a really exciting place to be! Renaissance City, etc...

The Providence-Taunton GATRA bus is $3.00 and the hours suck or else I'd take it. Driving the route will be cheaper until gas hits $5/gallon for me. GATRA is cancelling the route anyway.

(didn't Recchia mention in another thread somewhere that widening highways is a futile effort because they just get clogged again?).

PROJO: "Advocates lobby for keeping former Shooters site public"

http://www.projo.com/ri/providence/content...13.39c3acf.html

People I know take the greenline from Riverside. Sure the greenline is sardine packed, but its a more direct route from Providence, no red/green transfer. And the redline from Quincy Adams to Park is about 45 minutes isn't it?

PBN: "Blue Cross sells 2 downtown office buildings"

http://www.pbn.com/stories/31818.html

We happend upon XO Cafe, which although also a steakhouse, at this point we just wanted FOOD.. We sit down and had one of the best dining experiences in recent memory..

Frankie, I'll report back what I think on Sunday night/Monday morning.

I just knew it!

We all need to push for better urbanism guidelines when the 195 land templates get developed.

- Garris

Is there really any hope of this rendering turning into an actual building?

Let me state how I predict this will work:

- Get land for cheap by lying to state (check)
- go back on your word by allowing the building to destroy itself (check)
- get a slimy demo permit (check)
- destroy building (check)
- show pretty pictures to garner public favor (check)
- talk about difficulties of current economy
- talk about receiving some income for the investment
- pave
- petition city for "temporary" surface lot.
- become overflow lot for Providence Place at $5/car, $15 on WaterFire nights

Voila!

... streetwalls being created on Finance Way are a welcome addition, but the urbanism is lacking, the area is setting up to become rather Stamford-like.

I've made countless trips to Fenway, and I almost always rely on the same transportation method: drive to Quincy Adams, park for $5, take the Red line to Park, transfer to the Green. It's cheap, I don't have to worry about traffic and parking, and I have time to sober up before driving out of the T parking garage.

Is there really any hope of this rendering turning into an actual building?

Let me state how I predict this will work:

- Get land for cheap by lying to state (check)
- go back on your word by allowing the building to destroy itself (check)
- get a slimy demo permit (check)
- destroy building (check)
- show pretty pictures to garner public favor (check)
- talk about difficulties of current economy
- talk about receiving some income for the investment
- pave
- petition city for "temporary" surface lot.
- become overflow lot for Providence Place at $5/car, $15 on WaterFire nights

Voila!

Eh, I'm not going to make any sweeping statements, if there are stores that have things I need/want, then I'll likely shop there. Of course I can't get there from my house because I can't walk over Dean Street.

I drove to Fenway on Sunday and I got off the exit and tried to take the MBTA train from RT 128 mainly to avoid the parking rate of $25 but my wife said it was a dumb idea because we didn't know the schedule so I turned around and drove the rest of way.

The problem with the commuter trains is once one comes through there may not be another for an hour.

I don't see people renting cars to attend baseball games. Maybe taking a taxi to a game that didn't have a mass transit option might work. But that adds up pretty fast also.

We are fortunate that we have alternative forms of transportation in this area. But there could always be more.

Regardless, the point in my original post was...

I will not frequent this no matter what...

I think many of us feel, and we've discussed here, that it is not so much the demolition, but the process that needs forgiveness. And the city and state maybe should be asking more for forgiveness than the developer.

Not that I'm fixing to forgive anyone, but a couple of 8 story buildings don't sound too bad, the relationship to the street being the all important factor of course.

PROJO: "Planned West Warwick water park sinks ‘Shipwreck’ name"

http://www.projo.com/ri/westwarwick/conten...v9.373c707.html


"...The venture formerly known as Shipwreck Falls has been renamed the 7th Wave Resort..."

"Day said the company is working with a prospective lender and hopes to break ground this summer. If construction moves forward as planned, the resort will open in January 2010."

I think going forward that RIPTA will have to make a substantial investment in public outreach. Transit 2020, New Publice Transit Alliance, Sierra Club, all these initiatives are a good base to build off of. But they really need to find a way to drill down into the public consciousness and cultivate potential riders. Everybody thinks the buses don't run frequently enough. But the #99 and #11 routes runs every 5 minutes at times. They should be screaming this from the roof tops.

Also, more business outreach in educating workers what routes they can take and learning from people how they can structure the schedule to account for people's timelines would help.

Basically, they cannot rely on people picking up a timetable and realizing that the bus is an option. They have to communicate more personally and with more detail.

$ 110 r/t for 2 to the cape!? Are you kidding? Why!? On Peter Pan ?

Slightly OT, but isn't Waterplace supposed to have some ground floor retail?

I'm guessing this was a trial balloon of sorts to gauge public reaction and see if people have gotten over the demolition of the Fruit & Produce Warehouse; show'em a pretty picture and all will be forgiven.

Having not been in Providence for a few months, it is astounding to see new streetscapes that never existed before. Even if the urbanism isn't perfect (and I don't think it is there, by any stretch) it is pretty cool to see something spring up out of nowhere.

Having not been in Providence for a few months, it is astounding to see new streetscapes that never existed before. Even if the urbanism isn't perfect (and I don't think it is there, by any stretch) it is pretty cool to see something spring up out of nowhere.

“It’s really incredibly premature. They [RGB, the Providence architecture firm] put their heart into showing us an idea, but it’s nothing more than that,” he said.

As for the store names?

“It’s an artist taking a lot of liberty. We have no signed letters of intent,” Coates said.

You crazy hippies.. Half of you bike people just "drive" your bikes like cars anyway.. Bike lanes, that made my day, thanks... Its hilarious to me watching a cyclist obeying traffic lights and stuff.. This kills me for some reason..

When traversing the city jungle on my Kona, I never have any problems.. Personally, the sidewalks are more fun.. you can weave in and out of pedestrians.. What we DO need is a off road trail closer than illegal Arcadia...

Where are you, and why?

thanks Cotuit! I miss Providence already!

PBN reports that Washington Trust is opening a new branch at 156 Westminster Street to replace it's 180 Washington Street branch. 180 Washington being the drive-thru bank. Could someone then be looking to knock over the drive-thru building and build new on that and the neighboring surface lot? PLEASE!

...incredible how slow people drive on Blackstone, and the two lanes allow me to pass people.

Eh, I rented a car for Friday to go to the Cape because the bus was going to be $110 round trip for two. Really I'm one of the biggest boosters of public transit, I don't own a car, but when it costs me less to rent a car and pay gas, what should I do?

I am the guy on the bicycle cheering on the motorcycle cops that set up the speed trap at President Ave s-bound. The whole point of the intensive enforcement around the PARK is that it's a PARK. Even though it's over 1.5 miles long with no stop signs or stop lights, it's not a place to go 45 mph. The road surrounds a park.

OK, my quick glance yesterday was apparently too quick. It looks to be more like 9-11 stories tall on the mall end and 5-7 on the western end. No plans or other info available until they go to the city with their plans...

There are no plans to widen route 95 anywhere in RI that I am aware of.

The "all points lead to Kennedy Plaza" route system is the single biggest detraction from the overall network. There are many people who would use RIPTA if they could simply get to where they need to get to without having to go through KP.

I have a problem with the one state/one rate fare structure. I do agree express service should have a premium fare. Many city bus lines actually charge more during commuter hours, similar to the higher fares on MBTA commuter rail during commute hours. Local higher fared lines could go express, such as the Washington bus, and then have a fare of $2. The Woonsocket line should be express to North Providence, picking up pax only, and then continue to Woon. This line should also be $2. Other lines could be identified. At one time the 99 and 42 bus had an extra nickel fare once you went from one city to another and this is when fares were as low as 50 cents.

The real problemwith the fare increase is the transfer fee going from 10 cents to 50 cents! Newport to Providence $1.75, Hope street to Broadway $2.25. I have a problem with that. I talked to Mark Therien of RIPTA and he says they hope this entices people to buy monthly passes.

Overall I would prefer a two tiered rate system based on distance with free transfers and a simple $1 fare each time you get on a local bus within one of the zones. The cost of transfers would disappear and the lower one way fare could encourage more one way trips.

so, at 120 round-trip miles at $3.60 per gallon (assuming 20mpg), your car rental had to be less than 90 dollars then...

Eh, I rented a car for Friday to go to the Cape because the bus was going to be $110 round trip for two. Really I'm one of the biggest boosters of public transit, I don't own a car, but when it costs me less to rent a car and pay gas, what should I do?

I actually dont find the two lanes a waste...incredible how slow people drive on Blackstone, and the two lanes allow me to pass people.

Is this the same building as Phoenix Dragon? and would this be in addition to?

The work is mostly being done in front of the airport right now. The construction trailer complex has been put in place on the east side of the tracks and they just finished knocking down a building on the southern tip of the project area (formerly part of the D'Ambra construction property). The garage & station are mostly per-cast, so that will be put together towards the end of the overall project.

Wow, that is such fantastic news! Have any of you been to the Italo American Club? The interior is huge (about 10,000 square feet) and has some gorgeous details. I wrote it up in my blog here a while back... It would be the perfect venue for a unique Providence restaurant.

It would be awesome to have the left lane of the BLVD be a bike/walk/skate lane. Two lanes of traffic are a total waste.

Not on the list but badly needing a lane: North Main St. The mellow slope is every cyclists route to Pawt and point N.

In the end, though, this gets to what I was really talking about. Should RIPTA's mission include running all the way out to Westerly with a bus? Do other comparative metros do things like that? I guess that's worth some research. But for instance I don't see the MBTA serving Attleboro except by commuter rail. That would be the equivalent of RIPTA serving Westerly or Newport. In other words, I'm kind of stuck on this whole idea that the mission needs to be re-thought and then appropriate levels of spending should be used. I am a public transportation advocate but I think there are some issues.

Now, maybe RIPTA should get the money DOT wants for widening Route 95 down south and more of the road money in general now that iWay is winding down. Strengthening RIPTA is probably a more useful idea than making a new 6-10 mixing bowl, etc. But, a lot of that has to come from a higher level than the GA, it has to come from Congress.