State of the City '06

[Cotuit]

The speech is tonight, ProJo has a preview story today:

State of the City will tout development. Mayor David N. Cicilline is expected to make an announcement on transportation during his address. [ProJo.com]

Color me extremely interested about what he has to say about transportation (especially considering the city and state are broke!).

[CtownMikey]

He didnt go into specifics, but I'm interested in the competition for the bridge design over the highway, and the new transit announcement he had. I wonder how long it will be until we hear more about these projects

[AriPVD]

I went to the speech...

He was vague regarding transit...put together a wide-reaching committee to look into it. This is certainly a good first step, as the only way to get things done around here is to get mass buy-in.

He also mentioned that Roger Mandle and RISD will be leading an "international" design competition for the bridge.

P.S. Half the council did not attend. I noticed Lombardi, Balbina Young and Luis Aponte to be conspicuously missing. Figures.

[KBagley]

Is this bridge project the redesign of the existing bridge that Duany suggested for Westminster Crossing? Or a completely new one elsewhere?

[Cotuit]

Has anyone found a link to the text of his speech? ProJo has a link to a sound file, but I don't want to sit and listen to it at work, I'd rather read it.

Speech [mp3]

Cicilline says city growing to greatness. In his annual State of the City address, the mayor touts $3 billion in economic activity and national prominence as signs of Providence's progress. [ProJo.com]

[Cotuit]

Has anyone found a link to the text of his speech?

Duh, I found it on the city's website. Link

[spanishboy]

all of you should go on Projo.com and view the survey part of his speech... its quite funny how other ppl portray providence.

[matt]

all of you should go on Projo.com and view the survey part of his speech... its quite funny how other ppl portray providence.

holy crap! you ain't kidding. I think 3 of the posts had good things to say.

I think the mayor is doing a fine job.

[CtownMikey]

I know! I posted a good one against the bashers. I even e-mailed projo.com saying the their "only in r.i." survey was practically filled with complaints about pot holes, taxes, corruption, how ugly we are compared to other states, etc. They wrote back saying that nothing was getting out of hand so it really wasn't a problem, but still.. a potential visitor, or a potential resident.. a potential anything could just read that and come here prepared to dislike it.

[Cotuit]

I've found that every newspaper feedback section is full of crazy wackos. Ever read the Boston.com message boards?

It allows people to be anonomous. Unlike a place like UP where people have at the very least a screen name attached to them and have to go through the effort of registering, these feedback forms allow people to vomit whatever gripe of the moment they have without effort or consequence.

[gregw]

Tell me about it. How bout the redneck who says he only goes to PVD armed.

Cicilline's doing an awesome job. Three billion in private investment is hard to argue with.

I've found that every newspaper feedback section is full of crazy wackos. Ever read the Boston.com message boards?

It allows people to be anonomous. Unlike a place like UP where people have at the very least a screen name attached to them and have to go through the effort of registering, these feedback forms allow people to vomit whatever gripe of the moment they have without effort or consequence.

[Cotuit]

Here's what I posted.

I can't wait until all of us who moved to Rhode Island by choice because it is a beautiful and vibrant place to live overwhelm the negative natives who do nothing but perpetuate self-hatred.

[Recchia]

People who say they will only go to Providence armed have to be the most ignorant morons I've ever heard speak. It really burns my ass when I hear people speak of any place as "ghetto", or "I better be packin if I go there." I swear some people think that the criteria for being ghetto is two doors on the front of a house instead of one. Kind of ridiculous.

[Johnzo]

Here's what I posted.

I can't wait until all of us who moved to Rhode Island by choice because it is a beautiful and vibrant place to live overwhelm the negative natives who do nothing but perpetuate self-hatred.

Nice! You tell em!

I, myself, am a native. Your reasons for living here by choice are my reasons for staying here by choice. There's just way too much potential here, potential that I haven't found in too many other mid-sized cities.

[Lone Ranger]

Indeed. I went away to school, to Arkansas of all places. Four years down in the Bible Belt taught me how much there is to love about this crazy, miniscule New England state.

I'll never look at the ocean the same way again. When you grow up next to it, you kinda take it for granted. Same goes for the Ocean State.

[Frankie811]

Here's what I posted.

I can't wait until all of us who moved to Rhode Island by choice because it is a beautiful and vibrant place to live overwhelm the negative natives who do nothing but perpetuate self-hatred.

And to think, just last month you refered to Providence as a s*#t hole!

[PVDJack]

And to think, just last month you refered to Providence as a s*#t hole!

Frankie, I don't think that's fair. Cotuit's reference was very specifically comparing Providence's sanitation to Manhattan's.

BTW, it's good to see you back--was wondering where you were --missed my Projo links.

[Jerry2]

O.K. Who's going to address this?

http://www.riedc.com/riedc/ri_databank/31/322/

Forget about competing with other states. What about competing with other cities and towns in R.I.? Look @ Providence on that list. 9k in taxes for a 300K home. It's funny that people complain about height,shade, and parking, but real issues that affect this city go under the bus. We are lucky that ANY investment comes to this city! Look @ the commercial taxes. That's pathetic....I've said this before. Non-profits, city pensions, and antiquated government are killing this city. Many people agree that cutting back entitlements is a key issue. (welfare..etc.) However, every budget necessity cutback seems to fuel the fire with every group it affects. City employees want to retire @ 50. Firefighters want free healthcare. Spouses want COLA payments from their spouse's city employment. G-Tech wants tax breaks. Fidelity wants tax breaks! WAAHHH This city is still a mess and the state isn't far behind. Everybody knows a budget has to be made and bills need to be passed, but somebody needs to get aggressive and come up with some hardcore plans that get this city on the right track.

The biggest funding goes to education and I'm sure the urban areas are getting the biggest chunk? How much of that goes to ESL related materials? Do you know that there is no cap on how long somebody participates in those programs?K-12...and the taxpayers fund it..There should be a limit like welfare.Innovation..R.I. needs to get on the innovative track here.How can 1 like myself learn another language simply by living in a non-English speaking hosehold in only 2 years? It's immersion of culture and it was necessary for me at the time. How is it that we are funding schoolchildren sometimes for 13 years in these programs? I think learning English fluently would be a mandatory requirement!

I don't expect things to change overnight here, but it really aggravates me to hear people in this city complain about everything under the sun. It's extremely annoying !!Eveybody wants something for nothing and nobody looks at the big picture!

[KRC]

O.K. Who's going to address this?

http://www.riedc.com/riedc/ri_databank/31/322/

Forget about competing with other states. What about competing with other cities and towns in R.I.? Look @ Providence on that list. 9k in taxes for a 300K home. It's funny that people complain about height,shade, and parking, but real issues that affect this city go under the bus. We are lucky that ANY investment comes to this city! Look @ the commercial taxes. That's pathetic....I've said this before. Non-profits, city pensions, and antiquated government are killing this city. Many people agree that cutting back entitlements is a key issue. (welfare..etc.) However, every budget necessity cutback seems to fuel the fire with every group it affects. City employees want to retire @ 50. Firefighters want free healthcare. Spouses want COLA payments from their spouse's city employment. G-Tech wants tax breaks. Fidelity wants tax breaks! WAAHHH This city is still a mess and the state isn't far behind. Everybody knows a budget has to be made and bills need to be passed, but somebody needs to get aggressive and come up with some hardcore plans that get this city on the right track.

The biggest funding goes to education and I'm sure the urban areas are getting the biggest chunk? How much of that goes to ESL related materials? Do you know that there is no cap on how long somebody participates in those programs?K-12...and the taxpayers fund it..There should be a limit like welfare.Innovation..R.I. needs to get on the innovative track here.How can 1 like myself learn another language simply by living in a non-English speaking hosehold in only 2 years? It's immersion of culture and it was necessary for me at the time. How is it that we are funding schoolchildren sometimes for 13 years in these programs? I think learning English fluently would be a mandatory requirement!

I don't expect things to change overnight here, but it really aggravates me to hear people in this city complain about everything under the sun. It's extremely annoying !!Eveybody wants something for nothing and nobody looks at the big picture!

Ooops! I understand what you are saying; however, you completly overlooked the fact that Providence only taxes on 50% of value. That means those number are cut in half, which means Providence is on par with the majority of other towns. I'm not sure why they do that, but many cities and towns (not just in RI) use that method.

[Jerry2]

Ooops! I understand what you are saying; however, you completly overlooked the fact that Providence only taxes on 50% of value. That means those number are cut in half, which means Providence is on par with the majority of other towns. I'm not sure why they do that, but many cities and towns (not just in RI) use that method.

It's the rate that it's taxed at that is the problem. If the city taxed people on the true appraised value of their home, people would be taxed out of house and home.It's used all over the Northeast. The point is that they are way too high. Period.

[Cotuit]

And to think, just last month you refered to Providence as a s*#t hole!

I'm sorry that you are so disappointed that I don't speak of Providence as if it is a land of milk and honey better than any other city on the face of the Earth in every way. I'll tell it like it is, but I don't cry continually like the natives who feel that everything about this city and state is wrong. When the city is sh*t hole-ish in comparison to other cities, I'm not afraid to say it. And Providence is indeed a sh*thole compared to New York in matters of sanitation.

[Jerry2]

I'm sorry that you are so disappointed that I don't speak of Providence as if it is a land of milk and honey better than any other city on the face of the Earth in every way. I'll tell it like it is, but I don't cry continually like the natives who feel that everything about this city and state is wrong. When the city is sh*t hole-ish in comparison to other cities, I'm not afraid to say it. And Providence is indeed a sh*thole compared to New York in matters of sanitation.

You like my post? Can you tell I'm a native?

[KRC]

It's the rate that it's taxed at that is the problem. If the city taxed people on the true appraised value of their home, people would be taxed out of house and home.It's used all over the Northeast. The point is that they are way too high. Period.

No one likes paying taxes, but I really don't think Providence is any worse than any other place where I've owned property.

[Garris]

No one likes paying taxes, but I really don't think Providence is any worse than any other place where I've owned property.

I'd agree with that overall. I think the problem is more return on taxes in terms of services (i.e. plowing, sanitation), education (schools), and recreation (condition of parks).

The effective use of public money appears to be something that RI isn't as good at as other places...

- Garris

[Cotuit]

I'd agree with that overall. I think the problem is more return on taxes in terms of services (i.e. plowing, sanitation), education (schools), and recreation (condition of parks).

The effective use of public money appears to be something that RI isn't as good at as other places...

Some of these are at least in part enforcement issues. Sanitation wouldn't be such a problem, if property owners were fined for improperly containing thier trash. The green bins are a good project, but until they are completely rolled out, it is property owners responsibilty to properly store their trash, if they don't have enough trashbins, and if those bins don't have lids, they should buy more. If they don't the city needs to enforce that in some way.

Plowing is obviously a city issue, but much more important to me as a pedestrian is sidewalk clearing, the city does not enforce the regulations regarding that either.

The city lags in it's responsibilities in a lot of areas, but if enforcement were stepped up, there would be a very noticable difference in the environment.

Other cities also have a lot more DID-like organizations. The Downcity Improvement District is a good step, it should be rolled out in other areas.