Category Archives: Development

Pawtucket’s stadium woes

Posted on October 29, 2017 by David Brussat

Doubts are increasing about whether new development around a proposed PawSox stadium can support its costs amid downtown Pawtucket’s longstanding failure to thrive. Today’s Providence Sunday Journal ran a package of stories highlighting those doubts, but the issue was placed … Continue reading →

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Don’t copy Boston’s tech hub

Posted on October 23, 2017 by David Brussat

Last week I attended a party on Tide Street in South Boston, part of the Hub’s Innovation District. The party was fun, but please let me convey my experience of the district’s urbanism as a warning to Providence, which seems … Continue reading →

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R.I.’s Amazon HQ2 bid

Posted on October 22, 2017 by David Brussat

Ha ha ha ha ha! Just look at that! Above is what Rhode Island’s leadership imagines Amazon wants for its proposed second headquarters. And they may be right. Amazon may indeed have that sort of thing in mind. If so, … Continue reading →

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Battle of the 195 riverfront

Posted on October 16, 2017 by David Brussat

The I-195 Redevelopment District Commission gave Level 1 approval this afternoon to a hotel proposed for the water’s edge east of the Providence River, a place from which the colonists’ assault on the British revenue cutter Gaspee was launched, drawing … Continue reading →

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Better idea for 195 riverfront

Posted on October 13, 2017 by David Brussat

It appears that the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission may vote Monday to grant initial approval to a hotel proposed for a parcel along the Providence River embankment just east of the shore. Earlier reports say that the modernist design of … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Preservation | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

C’mon baby build our brand!

Posted on September 21, 2017 by David Brussat

In 2015, seeking to demonstrate the depth of my naivete about politics in Rhode Island, I, in my role as citizen, wrote a letter to Governor Raimondo to suggest “a way to help improve the Rhode Island economy that is … Continue reading →

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More on R.I. and Amazon

Posted on September 17, 2017 by David Brussat

In my Friday post “How R.I. can get Amazon” I pretty much asserted that beauty could tip the scales for Rhode Island and its capital Providence. That seems highly unlikely. How many corporate CEOs decide such things (or anything) on … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Providence | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

How R.I. can get Amazon

Posted on September 14, 2017 by David Brussat

Amazon wants to build a second headquarters, presumably in some part of the country to balance its megapresence in Seattle, where it was founded. So, predictably, cities are lining up to bring Amazon home. Rhode Island will submit a bid. … Continue reading →

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“Shabby little old walkups”?

Posted on September 7, 2017 by David Brussat

Today at 7, Books on the Square, 471 Angell St. on Wayland Square, will host a book event for Lost Providence. But you already know that, so what about this: The landscape of New York in fact is filled with … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Development, Lost Providence, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Out with the new, in with …

Posted on August 22, 2017 by David Brussat

A new apartment building planned for Westminster Street outside of downtown, well beyond Route 95, is going through the design process. The Journal’s story, “5-story building gets go-ahead in Providence” describes tough going for the developer, Michael Lemoi, whose project … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Architecture History, Development, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments