Providence Foundation Highlights City’s Transformation

Mill Transformation

The old Brown and Sharpe factory complex stood nearly vacant for years. The ambitious Guerra family invested everything and over nearly 50 years transformed the buildings into an epicenter of business and residential living.

The Arcade

It has been celebrated as the oldest indoor shopping mall in the United States and has been reinvented a number of times.

A shopping center -- the place that Fleet Bank workers went for lunch -- closed for years

It was dormant for a period. And now, it is reinvented as a meeting place, shopping place and sleeping place -- and a top downtown tourist destination.

Providence Bruins

We all used to love the PawSox, but the death of Ben Mondor coupled with the new ownership group's $120 million ask has tainted the love affair.

In contrast, the Baby B's just keep skating and fighting.

No drama -- just good hockey.

Arts

From Trinity Rep to AS220 to the RISD Museum there is a sweeping range of performance and visual arts. Pound for pound, Providence may have the most diversity and talent in the arts anywhere in the country.

Food

In Providence, we've got this food thing down pretty good. Whether you are a firefighter or a new mayor, there is common ground about the quality and range of great restaurants. Laurie White of the Providence Chamber says one of the things Providence does really right is "fine and eclectic dining."

Waterfire

"This is a return to pre-technology. A time when fire glow made faces wonderfully open and inviting. Soft light is beautiful light, and no technology can recreate the velvet effects of a live flame’s reflections. No technology can create this sense of unity with others when we experience art. An aura of smoke, and sound, and incense bathes thisriver and its banks. Do we yearn for a return to this shared world of shadow…a time when we didn’t need to see all…to know all…to want all," wrote Rebecca Leuchak, an Assistant Professor of Art and Architectural History at the School of Architecture, Art, and Historic Preservation at Roger Williams University.

Benefit Street

The Providence Preservation Society was founded in 1956 to respond to the proposed demolition of a number of 18th- and early 19th-century houses on College Hill. The efforts by a small group of passionate activists saved one of the greatest collections of colonial architecture -- Benefit Street.

As GoLocal reported in May: The College Hill neighborhood in Providence is the fourth most beautiful in America, according to a ranking list published by the lifestyle website Thrillest.com.

College Hill’s high ranking is credited largely to the iconic buildings that make up the neighborhood, like the Providence Art Club and the First Baptist Church in America.

Architecture

Architectual Digest calls Providence the best small city. "As the petite capital of our nation’s littlest state, Providence, Rhode Island, seldom steals the spotlight. But what the city lacks in scale and profile, it certainly makes up for in style and spirit, with rich architectural interest, top-notch restaurants, charming waterfront parks, and a creative community whose influence extends far beyond the region. Today the metropolis, its downtown revitalized, is a destination well worth exploring in depth. And what better time to do so than now, when warm-weather getaways beckon up and down this stretch of New England coast?"

Diversity

From Roger Williams through to a present-day city of immense diversity, Providence's diversity has been one of its biggets strengths. 23% of Providence school children speak a language other than English, according to Rhode Island Kids Count.

Providence has a lot of folks from around the world. 

Opportunity

Providence is a buyer's market. For developers, homeowners, entrepenuers, creatives, artists, innovators, chefs, teachers and all comers there is a tremendous opportunity to build and create in Providence.

"The I-195 Redevelopment District Commission was created in late 2011 to serve as the responsible authority for the sale, marketing and oversight of twenty acres of land freed up by the relocation of Interstate 195." 

Any takers? We would love to have you.