Hartford vs Providence?

[KRC]

  why does MBTA not run into providence on the weekends?  it's the second largest city on the route.

this stuff needs to change in order to improve the city.  the parking ban would be a great start.  in fact, they could even do it the way boston has it setup with parking permits.  pay a fee per year for a permit and make certain streets resident only parking (don't do it by neighborhood though because the city is too small for that).

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Do a little research and the answer will smack you in the face. Also, you'll discover that this issue is being addressed and has been for years. Don't be so negative, my friend. If Providence is truly that disappointing to you, perhaps researching other options might help. You know, the whole "the grass in greener" argument.

[Frankie811]

Do a little research and the answer will smack you in the face.  Also, you'll discover that this issue is being addressed and has been for years.  Don't be so negative, my friend.  If Providence is truly that disappointing to you, perhaps researching other options might help.  You know, the whole "the grass in greener" argument.

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Well, this clown runawayjim works at Providence College and while I don't know what he does I would imagine that if he was really good at it he'd be working at Yale

[runawayjim]

Do a little research and the answer will smack you in the face.  Also, you'll discover that this issue is being addressed and has been for years.  Don't be so negative, my friend.  If Providence is truly that disappointing to you, perhaps researching other options might help.  You know, the whole "the grass in greener" argument.

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would you like to guide me as to where is hould start this research? let's start with the MBTA coming into providence on weekends...

now for the parking ban. if it's been addressed for years, why hasn't it changed? it's the most ridiculous law in this city.

i'm not going to research other options for 2 reasons. first is because i actually enjoy living in providence. the other is because i have a great job here and i don't plan on leaving it anytime soon. i'm not a naysayer, i just enjoy questioning things and those of you who like to say we're wrong for questioning haven't given us good reason to not.

as for the luxury apartments... i never said they wouldn't be filled (although i do think they're flooding the market with these things). i do know that the housing market in providence and much of RI is starting to get pretty tight. i don't see how adding apartments that cost twice as much as a moderately priced place improves the market for those of us who cannot afford these places. that has not been addressed except by saying "these multi-million dollar investments were well researched". that's does not address my concerns. i do not, by any means, want providence to turn into boston where it's nearly impossible to find an affordable apartment unless you move farther outside the city.

[runawayjim]

It's been parked there every night since like the 1890s. I would consider that pretty permanent.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...cial_s%26sa%3DG

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regardless of how long it's been parking there, it's still a cart. what good does that do for the city on a cold winter night? if the city is to become this place to go, it can't just be a summer city.

[runawayjim]

Well, this clown runawayjim works at Providence College and while I don't know what he does I would imagine that if he was really good at it he'd be working at Yale 

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actually yale was looking for someone with a different background than what i had. it doesn't matter what i do, and the job here at PC is what i was looking for, the job at yale was not. if this is going to turn into personal attacks then this board really isn't what i thought it was... it had a lot of intelligent discussion. i'm still fairly new to providence, but i have seen more of new haven than most of you people who say new haven is a complete dump. i've heard people come into providence from other cities and said the same thing about providence, and this was recently... not when providence actually was just a dump.

[Cotuit]

would you like to guide me as to where is hould start this research?  let's start with the MBTA coming into providence on weekends...

now for the parking ban.  if it's been addressed for years, why hasn't it changed?  it's the most ridiculous law in this city.

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As part of the deal in which Rhode Island built the layover facility on Route 95 in Pawtucket, Providence service is supposed to be increased to the levels seen at Attleboro this fall. I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere, but Attleboro has weekend service, so one would assume that we will to (notably, we already have more weekday service than Worcester). The reason we don't have weekend service now, is that Attleboro blocked it for fear that the Emerald Square mall would lose business to Providence Place if we had weekend rail service.

The city has hired a new parking czar who will be evaluating every aspect of parking in the city, including night time parking. The residents on the East Side have been the big blockers of night time parking, there is no reason we can't have a night time parking ban on the East Side, but allow night time parking in other areas of the city.

[Cotuit]

if this is going to turn into personal attacks then this board really isn't what i thought it was...

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This is not going to turn into personal attacks, everyone consider themselves warned.

[eltron]

... but i have seen more of new haven than most of you people who say new haven is a complete dump.

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Hmmm.

I don't recall anyone saying New Haven was a dump. I actually quite liked it in alot of ways from my brief and difficult stay there.

But just as Providence is not Boston, New Haven is not Providence. Many similarities, but different scales.

[Frankie811]

"i'll add to this... the providence airport can get you to a lot of cities easily... but not all (not even major ones like atlanta) without some sort of layover"

You don't obviously know about Providences airport. After Boston and Hartford, Providence is next in terms of passengers and flights. And yes you can get to most major cities from Providence, its a airline called Delta with 6-7 non stop flights to Atlanta from T.F. Green.

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Delta isn't the only airliner serving PVD. US AIR, Southwest, Continental, Northwest, American, Independence, Spirit and Air Canada fly in here as well. Also Cape Air. And there are many non-stops from PVD which I've listed below. Get your facts straight.

Albany

Continental Connection

Atlanta

Delta

Atlantic City RYAN International (charters)

Baltimore/Washington

Southwest

Charlotte

USAirways

Chicago Midway

Southwest

Chicago O'Hare

American, United

Cincinnati

Delta, Delta Connection

Cleveland

Continental

Dallas/FT. Worth American

Detroit

Northwest, Spirit

FT. Lauderdale

Spirit, USAirways, Southwest

FT. Myers Spirit

Kansas City

Southwest

Martha's Vineyard

Cape Air

Minneapolis-St. Paul

Northwest

Nantucket

Cape Air

Nashville

Southwest

Newark

Continental

New York - La Guardia

USAirways Express

Orlando

Southwest, USAirways

Philadelphia

USAirways, Southwest

Phoenix

Southwest

Pittsburgh

USAirways

Ponta Delgada, Azores SATA

(seasonal -nonstop

[gregw]

There's seating inside FYI.

regardless of how long it's been parking there, it's still a cart.  what good does that do for the city on a cold winter night?  if the city is to become this place to go, it can't just be a summer city.

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[gregw]

I like NH. Yale has got some great museums. The place has awesome pizza. Nice looking buildings. Really cool looking vertical lift bridge. Plus Ikea (a great place to eat as well as to shop).

Hmmm.

I don't recall anyone saying New Haven was a dump. I actually quite liked it in alot of ways from my brief and difficult stay there.

But just as Providence is not Boston, New Haven is not Providence. Many similarities, but different scales.

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[Mij]

There's seating inside FYI.

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This topic has gotten a little warm so let me add my two pennies.

1) While not a five star facility Haven Bro. has become part of the cultural fabric of Providence so much so that at one point it was a scratch ticket for the states lottery.

2) I

[CtownMikey]

if this is going to turn into personal attacks then this board really isn't what i thought it was...

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If you still believe that the mob was behind Providence's 'rebirth'.. then maybe you shouldn't be posting here. Did you even respond to those posts suggesting that you go read the book about providence?

[runawayjim]

If you still believe that the mob was behind Providence's 'rebirth'.. then maybe you shouldn't be posting here. Did you even respond to those posts suggesting that you go read the book about providence?

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i know the mob wasn't completely behind it, but i have been told by some people that the parks, specifically, were built using cianci's dirty money. i could be wrong. of course the rebirth is still going on and of course it's not completely funded by dirty money, but it did play a role.

do you think i've had a chance to read a book in a day? i do plan on adding those books to my reading list.

[Cotuit]

i know the mob wasn't completely behind it, but i have been told by some people that the parks, specifically, were built using cianci's dirty money.  i could be wrong.  of course the rebirth is still going on and of course it's not completely funded by dirty money, but it did play a role.

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Waterplace Park was funded by federal and state money. I don't see how you could think that it was funded by Cianci's money, dirty or otherwise. Mayor's don't bankroll projects in their cities. Cianci didn't pay for anything, the whole problem with Cianci was that he was skimming money off of everything that was taking place in the city.

[Cotuit]

Can we start a seperate thread outside of "Providence v. Hartford" to talk about the affordable housing issue?

this is getting out of control...

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There already are two:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=13393

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=9570

I merged them into one:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=13393

I've moved a bunch of the housing costs posts into the appropriate thread:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=13960

[Frankie811]

  i'm still fairly new to providence, but i have seen more of new haven than most of you people who say new haven is a complete dump. 

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Perhaps you can direct me to some of the more impressive areas and venues in New Haven. Perhaps I can make another visit there in the Fall, with an open mind. And I've always wanted to visit Toad's Place and the OTB palor on Long Whalf. I did manage to go to the El N Gee in New London, where they roll up the sidewalks at 3pm As far as Providence having an all-night diner..................After what happened at Fidas a few years ago ( off duty cop killed ) I'm not too sure we'll see one anytime soon. Isn't there a diner opened all night on Allens Ave? Sure do miss the Sliver Top Diner which was opened all night. It closed when the Jefferson Apts were being built.

[Frankie811]

http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/mayor/index.html

http://www.newhavenbiz.com/News/nytimes_article.asp

http://www.flytweed.com/flights.html

[runawayjim]

Perhaps you can direct me to some of the more impressive areas and venues in New Haven. Perhaps I can make another visit there in the Fall, with an open mind.  And I've always wanted to visit Toad's Place and the OTB palor on Long Whalf. I did manage to go to the El N Gee in New London, where they roll up the sidewalks at 3pm  As far as Providence having an all-night diner..................After what happened at Fidas a few years ago ( off duty cop killed ) I'm not too sure we'll see one anytime soon. Isn't there a diner opened all night on Allens Ave? Sure do miss the Sliver Top Diner which was opened all night. It closed when the Jefferson Apts were being built.

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toad's is definitely a cool place and i've heard they got rid of "the fence" (they used to have a big fence up int he middle of the room to divide the underage people from the over 21 drinkers during 18+ and all ages shows, but it forced the drinkers away from teh stage)

the OTB place on long wharf is supposed to be pretty cool. i'ev never been tehre myself (not into that sort of thing, but the bar is supposed to be cool). it used to have a big shark tank in the middle of a circular bar, but i'm not sure if that's still there. it broke a couple times. last i knew, it was called sports haven, but the name might've changed.

richter's, a bar downtown on chapel st i believe, supposedly has something like 100+ beers on tap. i don't know what you're into, but the playwright is a great bar with a 20-something crowd. supposedly the food is decent, but i've never eaten there. if you're into clubs, the sci-fi cafe is pretty neat looking inside.

go during the day and walk around yale. the campus is amazing. you should be able to walk into cross campus (or the old campus). it's all dorms where they put the freshman. if you can get into any of the other colleges (they call the dorms colleges there), walk around. the architecture is beautiful. if the rare book library is open, go inside. they have these thin marble or granite "windows" that allow light in. and by the library is pretty nice too with some cool sculptures and fountains. if you're into museums, the peabody is a nice natural history museum and the museum of art is pretty good too.

if you like pizza and you've never had new haven pizza, you MUST make a trip down to wooster st (as for urban living, the wooster square historic area is pretty nice too, lots of brownstones). i prefer sally's pizza, it's amazing. paper thin crust, perfect sauce, perfect amount of cheese and cooked to perfection (not too flimsy and not too crisp). pepe's is also considered the best (some say it's better than sally's, i've never had it, but i've heard they've gone downhill in recent years from lifelong fans). if either of these places is too busy (you'll have to wait in line outside), go to modern pizza on state street. their pizza is also amazing, but sally's is my personal favorite (i've taken every girl i've dated there). there's some neat shops on chapel st if you walk up beyond the green (towards yale). i am not sure if it's still there but there was this 60's shop called the group w bench that is pretty cool (not just another head shop, but more of a 60's culture shop).

yes, i will admit that most of the city is yale, but that's the way it is sometimes. one thing that i like that's sorta cool is the train station. it's not a big train station by any means, but it's beautiful inside. and the time board that tells you what train is on what track is one of the old style ones that flips down when it changes. the little things thrill me, but i think it has more character than the computerized ones seen in grand central and most other train stations.

many of the churches are beautiful as well.

if you venture east a bit, you'll be in the morris cove area, which is more suburban (similar to neighbor east haven), but there's some nice waterfront there and some amazing houses on townsend ave. there's fort nathan hale nearby, which was an old revolutionary war fort. if you head down to forbes ave, there's a diner there that's been there forever (it closed down at one point, but i think it's re-opened). if you go northwest, you'll be in the westville section which was a predominately jewish community (similar to the east side). there's some good jewish delis and bakerys on whalley ave. and the yale bowl is up there, along with the rest of the yale sports complexes.

other points of interest... east rock park (they're restoring the monument, unfortunately, but i'm sure you can still drive up there)... west rock park (in westville)... the trolley museum in east haven (new haven and the suburbs were all connected by trolleys, i grew up in branford and they tore up main street years ago and tehre were trolley lines underneath).

of course there's ikea in long wharf. the center of west haven is pretty nice looking too if you venture out that way.

that's more than a day's worth of stuff for a visitor... there's other bars and clubs... oh yeah... bar on crown st is a microbrewery and they actually hold a beer fest every year. it's an old firehouse, pretty neat looking building with decent pizza.

[runawayjim]

http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/mayor/index.html

http://www.newhavenbiz.com/News/nytimes_article.asp

http://www.flytweed.com/flights.html

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destefano is the best thing new haven has seen... and amazingly (or surprisingly) he hasn't run into any corruption (that's widely known). i also think he's gay (similar to prov).

i know tweed has very few flights... actually, i'm glad you posted that... my girlfriend's moving to philly... good to know. but tweed is growing and went from being a mostly unusable airport except for private stuff to having 1 major airline and now 2 (although us airways has got to be the worst airline i've flown).

[Frankie811]

destefano is the best thing new haven has seen... and amazingly (or surprisingly) he hasn't run into any corruption (that's widely known).

[runawayjim]

US Air use to be Allegheny Airlines years ago. Everyone refered to them as Aggeney Airlines, which is why they changed it to US Air. They were the worst.

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i think they still are... used them to get to atlanta and back... delayed then cancelled flight in prov and understaffed rebooking us all flight from DC to atlanta was on time (after being rebooked). flight back... flight was delayed because they couldn't fit a wheel chair on a plane that shouldn't hav had a wheelchair'd woman to begin with. philly to prov delayed because of a busted seat that took an hour for a mechanic to come duct tape and then they pulled the gate away and left a hose attached to the plane ripping it out. and then we sat on the runway for half an hour waiting for the airport to re-arrange flights so that the ones going away from bad weather could go first.

all flights on us air in prov on the day i flew down were delayed for various and the weather was perfect... i won't be flying with them again. even with the $75 voucher they sent me as an apology.

[Frankie811]

I was flying from Prov - Detroit on Allegheny and my flight was suppose to leave at 7pm. Well, to make a long story short we left at 1am, and landed at Kennedy Airport in NY. Since we were late the airline had to put us up in a motel. Well, they got us a ride out to a Long Island motel that was suppose to house us all untill the morning. But when we got there the motel clerk said "I told them we don't have the rooms to put all you people up in ." Oh great, another delay. It wasen't untill 3:20am untill we straightned everything out. And we had to be at the terminal at 7am

[Garris]

That's a very good rundown of the "coolest of NH!" Toads is definitely worth a visit (when did they do the fence? They didn't have it in the mid-90's...).

the OTB place on long wharf is supposed to be pretty cool...  the bar is supposed to be cool.

I was there many years ago after it opened... It didn't do it for me. The bar had a loud, Jim Rome-ish kinda crowd, know what I mean?

richter's, a bar downtown on chapel st i believe, supposedly has something like 100+ beers on tap...  bar on crown st is a microbrewery and they actually hold a beer fest every year.  it's an old firehouse, pretty neat looking building with decent pizza.

Ah, Richter's... Yup, that Crown St. converted firehouse is very cool as well...

If the rare book library is open, go inside.  they have these thin marble or granite "windows" that allow light in.  and by the library is pretty nice too with some cool sculptures and fountains.  if you're into museums, the peabody is a nice natural history museum and the museum of art is pretty good too.

All correct. The rare book library is amazing (the entire Commons setting is impressive), as are the libraries. As for the museums, you forgot my favorite. The Museum of British Art. That museum's amazing. They've got some wonderful, fanastic, and famous works, and the gallery itself is just impressive.

if you like pizza and you've never had new haven pizza, you MUST make a trip

Also agreed. If you're a pizza fan and live in New England, you have to go to NH. I agree that Sally's is better than Pepe's, but my personal favorite is Modern, the one with the least history.

one thing that i like that's sorta cool is the train station.  it's not a big train station by any means, but it's beautiful inside.  and the time board that tells you what train is on what track is one of the old style ones that flips down when it changes. 

Thanks for mentioning the train station. If you like train stations, this one is a must see. It has all the details runawayjim mentioned, and has cool retro-futuristic, chrome lined tunnels to the train platforms probably built in the 1970's that had to be inspired by the TWA terminal at Kennedy in NYC... They're a real shock after the beautiful, stoic, and classical waiting room in the train station. Too bad the train station doesn't have better access to downtown...

In addition to everything you said, I'd mention some other things to hit as well:

- Cutler's Music on Broadway: The best music store I've ever been to. For classical fans, they have a separate classical music store (at least, they once did, don't know if it's still there)!

- Two fantastic restaurants with no Providence equivalent: Cafe Adulis (Ethiopian fusion) and Claire's (gourmet organic vegeterian). Both right downtown, both worth the trip all by themselves.

- If you go, try to go on a day when Woosley Hall does an organ concert on its amazing organ or there is a carillon concert by the carillon atop Harkness Tower.

- The Yale Bookstore: Run by Barnes and Nobles, it inside screams "Yale." When the bookstore was built, it was mandated by Yale to B&N to be done up in the college theme. It's worth visiting to see how a national chain can do its own formula and still be faithful to local history, culture, and heritage if they're made to do so. It blows the (sad) Brown bookstore away.

- Garris

[runawayjim]

That's a very good rundown of the "coolest of NH!"  Toads is definitely worth a visit (when did they do the fence?  They didn't have it in the mid-90's...).

I was there many years ago after it opened...  It didn't do it for me.  The bar had a loud, Jim Rome-ish kinda crowd, know what I mean?

Ah, Richter's...  Yup, that Crown St. converted firehouse is very cool as well...

All correct.  The rare book library is amazing (the entire Commons setting is impressive), as are the libraries.  As for the museums, you forgot my favorite.  The Museum of British Art.  That museum's amazing.  They've got some wonderful, fanastic, and famous works, and the gallery itself is just impressive. 

Also agreed.  If you're a pizza fan and live in New England, you have to go to NH.  I agree that Sally's is better than Pepe's, but my personal favorite is Modern, the one with the least history.

Thanks for mentioning the train station.  If you like train stations, this one is a must see.  It has all the details runawayjim mentioned, and has cool retro-futuristic, chrome lined tunnels to the train platforms probably built in the 1970's that had to be inspired by the TWA terminal at Kennedy in NYC...  They're a real shock after the beautiful, stoic, and classical waiting room in the train station.  Too bad the train station doesn't have better access to downtown...

In addition to everything you said, I'd mention some other things to hit as well:

- Cutler's Music on Broadway: The best music store I've ever been to.  For classical fans, they have a separate classical music store (at least, they once did, don't know if it's still there)!

- Two fantastic restaurants with no Providence equivalent: Cafe Adulis (Ethiopian fusion) and Claire's (gourmet organic vegeterian).  Both right downtown, both worth the trip all by themselves.

- If you go, try to go on a day when Woosley Hall does an organ concert on its amazing organ or there is a carillon concert by the carillon atop Harkness Tower.

- The Yale Bookstore: Run by Barnes and Nobles, it inside screams "Yale."  When the bookstore was built, it was mandated by Yale to B&N to be done up in the college theme.  It's worth visiting to see how a national chain can do its own formula and still be faithful to local history, culture, and heritage if they're made to do so.  It blows the (sad) Brown bookstore away.

- Garris

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i told you i grew up around there.

it's OTB, of course it's a loud and obnoxious crowd.

i actually meant the british art museum... i knew it was an art museum... i haven't really gone by yale in a long time (relatively).

i think sally's is better than modern, but i have a soft spot in my heart for waiting outside and then getting the perfect pizza... and it's thinner than modern's.

i think i mentioned cutler's once before. the place moved when yale re-arranged that whole block, but cutler's is still jsut as good a record store and they still have the separate classical store (it's actually a huge room almost as big as the rest of the store dedicated solely to classical). i have never been to a better record store (not even tower records in new york or the virgin megastore... they've got selection but not the employees who know their stuff). the only complaint i have is that they don't have indie store prices... oh, one thing that they do well with is local bands... if you have a local band and they don't carry your album, tell them and they will.

the carillon is cool... you'll be walking and hear them playing a lot of popular music on the thing...

as for B&N... i'm not big on the corporate thing. i miss the yale co-op. but it is a nice store. i've only been in one other B&N college bookstore... GA tech. it was just as done up with the college theme.

and toad's fence... did you go to an all ages show (it might not be for 18+, might jsut be all ages), but it was there as recently as the late 90's. if you were drinking you had to be behind it (it went from the far corner of the stage to the wall where the stairs that go downstairs are). blocking out the bar areas from the rest of the room. it sucked. i've heard they got rid of it, but it did help stop underaged drinking i guess.

oh yeah!! one other thing i should've mentioned... it's not in the best neighborhood, but there's a cemetary on legion ave (the evergreen cemetary) that has a grave for "midnight mary". i'll let roadside america tell you about it.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tips/getAtt...ractionNo==9970