Greater City Providence

News & Notes

Wow! Study says DC Streetcar could add $10-15 billion in value [New Urban Network]

The Washington, DC, streetcar certainly looks like a good deal. The 37-mile system, the first corridor of which is under construction and expected to be completed by 2012, will increase the value of existing properties by $5-7 billion, according to the study by Goody Clancy & Associates of Boston.


Boston’s success depends on T [The Boston Globe]

CITIES HAVE to grow, and the place for them to grow is on top of mass transit. A few decades ago, that was an academic argument. Today, it’s standard operating procedure. It’s just how neighborhoods get built.

Of course, the great assumption underpinning transit-oriented growth is that the transit will be there – to divorce construction from gridlock, to allow people to move around an ever-crowding urban environment, and to put scarce, expensive land into productive use, instead of reserving it for parking. Without mass transit, there is no urban growth.


Places that Work: Holland’s Sidewalks [Metropolis]

Now Holland has added a new amenity to its kind and gentle downtown: A gas-powered hearth rises up from the sidewalk near the corner of 8th Street. On cold days, people gather around it, just as they do around a fireplace. These al fresco get-togethers build community spirit – just as the downtown promenades have been doing for years.


How Mountain View revived its downtown [New Urban Network]

Some years ago Mountain View embarked on a major effort to revitalize its downtown and to remake its image. The effort succeeded. Mountain View’s downtown is well used and well loved, and Mountain View is now world famous as the home of Google.

Greater City Providence

Promoting the smart urban growth of the Greater Providence region.

1 comment

  • And meanwhile here in RI we’re quibbling over a 2 mile run that’s estimated now at $100 million up from $60 million just a few months ago.

    I still maintain that the line as proposed is to the exclusive benefit of Lifespan and Brown University. Makes sense as I think they’re trying to get both entities to pay for part of it. But I think we need some BOLD plans.

    How about one that runs from the north end of the city into the Manton section? Or one that runs down North Main and up to the Cranston line via Broad St?

    That north end part could run by the State Offices, the mall, downtown, past the hotels, convention center, etc. That’s quite a viable route with wide streets that would lend themselves to a streetcar lane.

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