Jump to content

Who Actually Lives In Downcity Providence?


bod

Recommended Posts

Just out of curiousity, as so many members are interested in both the development of the retail and residential aspect within the downtown core, who actually lives here?

1. If you don't live here now, why not?

2. Are you planning on moving?

FYI: I live here so I don't need to answer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 65
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Just out of curiousity, as so many members are interested in both the development of the retail and residential aspect within the downtown core, who actually lives here?

1. If you don't live here now, why not?

2. Are you planning on moving?

FYI: I live here so I don't need to answer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just out of curiousity, as so many members are interested in both the development of the retail and residential aspect within the downtown core, who actually lives here?

1. If you don't live here now, why not?

2. Are you planning on moving?

FYI: I live here so I don't need to answer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just out of curiousity, as so many members are interested in both the development of the retail and residential aspect within the downtown core, who actually lives here?

1. If you don't live here now, why not?

2. Are you planning on moving?

FYI: I live here so I don't need to answer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with everything Griswald said about affordability and promoting the revitalization in Providence.

Would it be great to live in Downcity? Hell yeah! Is it feasible? On my budget... not even close! I bought a house in Jan 2005 so moving isn't an option for me unless I get that $100,000 job offer from 10 states away. :silly:

The civic center project will wrap up, more hotel rooms will come online, and hopefully the sales guys at the convention center can pull off a few miracles. These last few years have been exciting as we've enjoyed watching downtown change, but the news of August '07 was very bad and right now its gut-check time. We need to sustain the renaissance now, we're at a very critical stage here.

If we can get the big conventions to book here, keep the exposure up, hopefully we can get our state economy off life support. The city needs a big fish corporation to make that big announcement that they're moving in, just to establish some confidence in the minds of the people thinking about moving Downcity. :good:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

That's sad to hear that no one actually lives here. RI'ers are so used to suburban mentality and the need for a parking lot within 1 foot of every door, this being the very reason that anyone moving to College Hill or Downcity Providence are from out-of-town.

I struggle trying to understand why someone can't walk one block. A friend of mine who owns Downcity Food & Cocktails told me that people actually call to see where their new location is and when they find out it's about a 2 blocks down the street from PPAC, they decide not to go because it's "too far". Oh, come on.

People that don't actually live here don't see what goes on, on a daily basis. M-F and into the weekend restaurants are packed, venues are busy and many of the streetscapes are hopping. On a Tuesday Fleming's was packed to the ceiling, as is Ruth's Chris.

Could the convention center do even more? Maybe. For what it is, I believe they are doing great. You can go on their website and look at the schedule they are booked month after month. Many of those conventions bring in 10's of thousands of people. Hotels are packed, as well as restaurants, bars and everything else on the eco-chain because of this. PPAC does a great job packing in shows. Could The Dunk do better? Of course. But, I have to admit they did a great job since re-opening packing in a lot of big name acts.

Then there is this issue with safety. I go jogging at 6AM and then again between 9-11PM. I'm all over Downcity and I have never experienced a problem with safety or ever felt threatened in any way. Just like in any other major city, you need to watch your back. That's common sense. It doesn't mean Downcity Providence is unsafe. Would I go jogging in South Providence or Olneyville. Most likely not.

People don't understand why more hotels are being built. Well, I think it's a pretty simple answer. They are busy.

People think that big business needs to move Downcity. Believe it or not, there is a lot of "big business" here. Could there be more? Of, course. That could be said for any city. So if that happens, it moves more people into the city. But, it doesn't give people that don't live here an excuse not to.

Downcity Providence is great and it seems as if the only people investing in it as a residential stand point are people from out of town. Is this good? In a way, but locals should be doing it first.

Everyone provides a negative excuse as to why they wouldn't be here. Grocery, pharmacy, etc. It's coming! Give them more of a reason to put it somewhere! You want groceries? Go to Whole Foods or Eastside Marketplace, which are like a mile away or use peapod. I do, everyone else does and it works just fine for us. There are a ton of pharmacies on College Hill and the rest of the East Side. Everyone that is here...are quite happy! Investment starts within the existing community!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Downcity Providence is great and it seems as if the only people investing in it as a residential stand point are people from out of town. Is this good? In a way, but locals should be doing it first.

Everyone provides a negative excuse as to why they wouldn't be here. Grocery, pharmacy, etc. It's coming! Give them more of a reason to put it somewhere! You want groceries? Go to Whole Foods or Eastside Marketplace, which are like a mile away or use peapod. I do, everyone else does and it works just fine for us. There are a ton of pharmacies on College Hill and the rest of the East Side. Everyone that is here...are quite happy! Investment starts within the existing community!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think there a lot of college -young adults- my age who went to college in-state and chose to live at home due to the cost of living.. But if I were rich I'd defintely live right in the middle of Providence.. and Narragansett.. and L.A. and NYC and Sydney.. blah blah.

Anyways I think that my generation is definately more open to city living than my parents generation.. so thats something interesting to see happen when people my age start to make a living income... but right now its just not affordable when ypu have much cheaper options so close to the city.

Also, Dan makes a good point about the whole dunk/cc/hotel projects not being completed, along with WestinII and H20 place not being filled yet.. we still aren't seeing the full affects of all of this recently or almost completed development going on.. we have a lot to look foward to this year... I cant wait for sound session and pride this summer... the whole city has this weird energy to it.

P.S. I called the Walgreens Atwells store from my store yesterday and someone picked up... so they are either stocking the shevles or they have opened (I wouldn't know b/c I hung up right away) ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's sad to hear that no one actually lives here. RI'ers are so used to suburban mentality and the need for a parking lot within 1 foot of every door, this being the very reason that anyone moving to College Hill or Downcity Providence are from out-of-town.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's something about being able to rent a 1500 square foot apartment with windows on four sides of the building, a small yard and a parking space for a car for less than $800/month that is far more appealing than a 450 square foot apartment with two windows for $1500 (or more) a month. People from out of town move to College Hill and Downtown because they are RICH, not because they are staunch urbanists who want to be able to walk everywhere. Don't you think people moving downtown and on the hill have cars too?

Whine all you want, bod, but downcity isn't ready for a critical mass of people yet, not when it is neither affordable, or big enough apartments for middle class people to actually live. If i could afford the 1 million dollar condos would i feel differently? Probably because i could afford to have someone else take my cat to the vet and do my groceries etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's incredibly funny that everyone thinks everyone that can afford to live Downcity is rich. Some are, some aren't. I don't believe that living in a $500K condo or paying $3000 a month for an apartment makes you rich. There are affordable condos in the Jewelry District, College Hill and even some Downcity ($250K +) and quite a few apartment options. I have yet to see a 450 sqft apartment w/ 2 windows for $1500+ month. If that's what you found then you obviously haven't viewed everything. The $1M+ condos are not the only ones. This forum seems to create a lot of bias towards people that have more money than them. If I remember right cosmo1 was criticized, while no one really read into the point she was trying to make. It's not all about money. You have it or you don't. Don't look down on people that have earned it.

There's something about being able to rent a 1500 square foot apartment with windows on four sides of the building, a small yard and a parking space for a car for less than $800/month that is far more appealing than a 450 square foot apartment with two windows for $1500 (or more) a month. People from out of town move to College Hill and Downtown because they are RICH, not because they are staunch urbanists who want to be able to walk everywhere. Don't you think people moving downtown and on the hill have cars too?

Whine all you want, bod, but downcity isn't ready for a critical mass of people yet, not when it is neither affordable, or big enough apartments for middle class people to actually live. If i could afford the 1 million dollar condos would i feel differently? Probably because i could afford to have someone else take my cat to the vet and do my groceries etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's incredibly funny that everyone thinks everyone that can afford to live Downcity is rich. Some are, some aren't. I don't believe that living in a $500K condo or paying $3000 a month for an apartment makes you rich. There are affordable condos in the Jewelry District, College Hill and even some Downcity ($250K +) and quite a few apartment options. I have yet to see a 450 sqft apartment w/ 2 windows for $1500+ month. If that's what you found then you obviously haven't viewed everything. The $1M+ condos are not the only ones. This forum seems to create a lot of bias towards people that have more money than them. If I remember right cosmo1 was criticized, while no one really read into the point she was trying to make. It's not all about money. You have it or you don't. Don't look down on people that have earned it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Somehow it doesn't feel like the suburbs, way out here in the West End. We walk to bakeries, coffee shops, restaurants, groceries, the park, and yes, even down town. The population is a whole lot denser, i.e. "urban" here than downcity.

Also, that $250K condo you are talking about is WAY beyond our means. I'd buy a pretty nice 2-family house for that amount.

In thinking about where we might like to buy someday, my husband recently said that he likes the idea of living close to a downtown, but in reality, there's "nothing there for me" in downcity Providence. He likes to be able to walk to stuff. He likes having a lot of people of all sorts around. Believe it or not, those of us who live out here in the boonies, one mile from downtown, in the mddle of the most populated areas of the city, aren't cul-de-sac living, minivan driving, white-flight suburbanites.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Somehow it doesn't feel like the suburbs, way out here in the West End. We walk to bakeries, coffee shops, restaurants, groceries, the park, and yes, even down town. The population is a whole lot denser, i.e. "urban" here than downcity.

Also, that $250K condo you are talking about is WAY beyond our means. I'd buy a pretty nice 2-family house for that amount.

In thinking about where we might like to buy someday, my husband recently said that he likes the idea of living close to a downtown, but in reality, there's "nothing there for me" in downcity Providence. He likes to be able to walk to stuff. He likes having a lot of people of all sorts around. Believe it or not, those of us who live out here in the boonies, one mile from downtown, in the mddle of the most populated areas of the city, aren't cul-de-sac living, minivan driving, white-flight suburbanites.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whine all you want, bod, but downcity isn't ready for a critical mass of people yet, not when it is neither affordable, or big enough apartments for middle class people to actually live. If i could afford the 1 million dollar condos would i feel differently? Probably because i could afford to have someone else take my cat to the vet and do my groceries etc.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

$250k is certainly not affordable to me. Hmm why would I want to live downtown? Where I live now I have a grocery store, gym, bakeries, pharmacy, restaurants, every bank I can think of, even a Bennys within .6 miles, perfectly walkable for me. And I'm 1.4 miles fron the train station, directly on a busline, within a quarter mile of two other high frequency bus lines (99 and 42). If I want to go downtown I can walk there in about 25 mins or take one of my many transit options. And over here you can buy a 2 bed 950 sq. foot condo for $150k. Nothin against those that can afford to live downtown but my opinion is that you get more for your money in other hoods that aren't far from downtown anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

$250k is certainly not affordable to me. Hmm why would I want to live downtown? Where I live now I have a grocery store, gym, bakeries, pharmacy, restaurants, every bank I can think of, even a Bennys within .6 miles, perfectly walkable for me. And I'm 1.4 miles fron the train station, directly on a busline, within a quarter mile of two other high frequency bus lines (99 and 42). If I want to go downtown I can walk there in about 25 mins or take one of my many transit options. And over here you can buy a 2 bed 950 sq. foot condo for $150k. Nothin against those that can afford to live downtown but my opinion is that you get more for your money in other hoods that aren't far from downtown anyway.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

$250k is certainly not affordable to me. Hmm why would I want to live downtown? Where I live now I have a grocery store, gym, bakeries, pharmacy, restaurants, every bank I can think of, even a Bennys within .6 miles, perfectly walkable for me. And I'm 1.4 miles fron the train station, directly on a busline, within a quarter mile of two other high frequency bus lines (99 and 42). If I want to go downtown I can walk there in about 25 mins or take one of my many transit options. And over here you can buy a 2 bed 950 sq. foot condo for $150k. Nothin against those that can afford to live downtown but my opinion is that you get more for your money in other hoods that aren't far from downtown anyway.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frankly though, I don't even know why we're all arguing about this, or even worrying about it. This is a small, compact city. In most other cities of comparable value and cultural clout, living a 10 or 15 minute walk from downtown is quite an achievement in and of itself. To this day I fail to see exactly why we're all so bent on making downtown into this residential new urbanist utopia, when the fact of the matter is that it would probably be better suited to exactly what it used to be - a primary business center with a nightlife/retail/restaurant scene (not to mention the new urbanism is just the same thing as the old urbanism, wrapped up in a shiny sterile package that's easier for former suburbanites to digest). Why exactly do we need to make it residential when we're all so close to it to begin with, and the uses it was built around guaranteed a vibrant economy and street life 24 hours a day? Wouldn't developing it as a residential area sort of undermine its economic efficiency and therefore reduce its potential to pay a bigger share of those high taxes we're all so busy complaining about? Despite its exciting touches of big city sophistication and culture, Providence is still a small city, and it's perfectly normal and in fact healthy to set aside a little 6x6 block district to promote business rather than forcing the original infrastructure of the area through an expensive mold made by cities with very different development patterns and socioeconomic histories.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.