A selection of photos readers have recently shared in our Flickr Group:
Photo © lddana51two
Photo © Armadillo Commander
Archives For State House
A selection of photos readers have recently shared in our Flickr Group:
Photo © h ssan
Photo © Armadillo Commander
Photo © rilurky
A selection of photos readers have recently shared in our Flickr Group:
Photo © Ken Zirkel
Photo © provbenson2009
Photo © lddana51two
In response to recent discussions on parking at the State House reader Nicolas R. Mariscal submits a Photoshop rendering (above) of what the State House area could look like with better land use planning. Nicholas says:
I saw your post on the parking situation at the state house, and agree that the surface parking is an eyesore, like it is almost everywhere else around Providence.
So I was bored after class today and photoshopped an aerial image of the RI State House that could get rid of the surface lots, still keeping in mind that most people commuting will drive to work.
Got rid of the surface lots, and feel a parking garage with a nice facade/metal screen, lighting and shops on the first floor could go on the fourth side(blank side) of the odd postmodern plaza in the middle of all the state offices. Creating a nice courtyard between all the buildings.
I like the idea of combining a parking structure with ground floor retail uses on the State House complex grounds. There really is no good place in the immediate area to get a bite to eat or a cup of coffee for state employees or visitors. Retail at a garage could help that, and the central plaza could become a good place for workers and visitors to enjoy thier lunch.
The State House with a lot less parking. Photo courtesy of the Providence Department of Planning & Development.
Reader James Kennedy writes about reforming parking at the State House. Follow James on Twitter: @TransportPVD.
The State House is a great place to start reforming Providence’s parking crisis. The great map that Jef put up last April shows that the State House contributes considerably to the overwhelming of our downtown space by surface parking.
From the outset, 10% of State House parking lot space should be repurposed as a vegetable and flower garden, which could be run in private-public partnership with the Southside Community Land Trust. Repurposing State House parking will highlight one of the city’s best reasons for optimism, the Land Trust’s Lots for Hope program. Produce from the raised beds could be used to fill food banks around the state, or could be sold at Rhode Island’s farmers’ markets to return a modest revenue boost to the state budget.
The remaining spaces should no longer be free. Legislators and other State House employees should receive a transportation stipend, equal to the amount of money currently being spent on paving a parking spot for them to use. Those who continue to drive to the State House would not lose money, but they will at least be aware that parking is a fiscal choice. But many others will choose to save money by carpooling, taking transit, or biking to the capital. The plan will be revenue neutral to taxpayers, in that it will simply repurpose funds already being spent.
Parking demand will decrease if this plan is put in place, and as it does, the state should gradually remove more spaces to increase the area of the garden. As in Denmark, where cities have committed to remove 2-3% of parking spaces per year to reduce their carbon footprints, the State House could set a per year goal for removal of spots, with the eventual culmination of a parking lot half the size of the current one. The gradual pace of change will allow for other transportation options to be developed.
The second part of the photos readers have been sending us over the duration of the storm. This set shows some of the day after.
Photo © provbenson2009
Photo © lddana51two
Photo © pvdEric
Photo © pvdEric
The first part of the photos readers have been sending us over the duration of the storm. This first group starts with some from Friday as the storm got started.
Photo © provbenson2009
Photo © James Hall
Photo © Armadillo Commander
A selection of photos readers have recently shared in our Flickr Group:
Photo © GoProvidenceRI
Photo © provbenson2009
Photo © Jerri Moon Cantone
These are some of the snow photos our readers shared in our Flickr Group. Add yours and we’ll post them here too.
Updated with some more photos, keep ‘em coming!
Photo © 1W57thNY
Photo © 1W57thNY
Photo (cc) mattPVD
A selection of photos readers have recently shared in our Flickr Group:
Photo © provbenson2009
Last week’s snow. Photo © Ken Zirkel
