Griswald
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Posts posted by Griswald
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So I grew up on the East Side of Providence, and after living elsewhere have been back in PVD since 2004. First, my wife and I (at the time just dating) lived in an apt. on Brook St & Wickenden. In 2006 we bought a townhouse in the Arm0ry district. We love where we live for a lot of reasons - tons of friendly neighbors our age, diversity, enough services and new businesses within walking distance, affordability, etc. But now that we have a 2 year old and a second child on the way this summer, my wife is longing for a yard and a bit of a different neighborhood. I am a city person, who appreciates the need to get out of the city on a semi-regular basis. We go to the beaches in RI, and to the local parks (Lincoln Woods, RW, etc.) My wife is not as much of a city person, now that we have a young family. Providence is a good compromise for us though, because of its proximity to other geographic areas - woods, beaches, mountains, family on Cape Cod...
My task now, is to research neighborhoods in PVD or immediately surrounding, where we could both be happy. We can't necessarily sell right now, but I just want to do some exploring. Although I know parts of the city very well, other parts I only know from passing through at best. The East Side would be ideal (for us and everyone else I'm sure), but it's too expensive. I wish I could just move into the house on Meeting St that I grew up in, but unfortunately my parents sold it almost a decade ago. Hope village would be great - walk to tons of restaurants and businesses, nice housing stock, yards, pretty safe, and easily accessed from 95 and points north. After a quick look on Zillow, I didn't see many properties for sale.
My wife likes where we live now on Sycamore St. but feels like it's better suited for us without kids, and doesn't want to buy again in this neighborhood. This would rule out Elmwood for the same reasons (even though there are some great properties in the historic section, and at great value....)
So the neighborhoods I want to know more about, are Smith Hill, Elmhurst, and maybe some of the surrounding areas - Mount Pleasant, Wanskuck, Charles, Mount Hope, etc. What do people think about the best places to find single-family homes in the low 200,000s, with a yard, walkable amenities, safe, clean, etc.? I liked Fox Point to an extent, but there isn't much for sale there. I think the far east side (Wayland) is probably too expensive. Parts of the east side near Miriam might be ok, but also expensive unless you're near some of the shadier areas around Camp St. - or maybe the reputation there is changing.
Outside of Providence, I could live in Pawtuxet (not a ton for sale, and the stuff closest to the village is a little pricier, and I will only live there if I can walk to the village); Wickford center is great, but that would be too long a commute for me; I could live in East Providence because of its proximity to PVD and there are plenty of amenities - but I don't know if there are many neighborhoods pertfectly suited for young families. I'd love to live in one of the new developments on the water where the brownfields sites are, but they're just in planning stages. Can anyone here recommend places in EP?
I always get way too long-winded, but if anyone has any insight I'd really appreciate it. These boards are LOT quieter than a few years ago, but I know you're all still out there. Thanks...
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I too am surprised that there's already a building where that Italian social club was.
This may not be of much significance, but I was driving down Bridgham from Broad St towards Cranston St last night, and noticed large piles of dirt from a recent excavation. It was across the street from Wiggins Village. Maybe I should post this in West End happenings, but does anyone know what's going on here?
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Just a quick (and overdue) note, Grant's Mill has been leasing for a couple months now, and I always see a good number of cars in the parking lot when I drive by. I'm not sure what they're occupancy is, but people are there for sure.
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I noticed this when I was perusing Brady Sullivan's site for Slater Cotton... they had a post for something called "Grant's Mill" and sure enough it is the mill on Carpenter Street on the West Side (my page about it). Not sure how long they have had this on the drawing board (judging by the site, it is barely fleshed out) but this company finished Slater Cotton in a down economy when we all thought it would stall. Who knows if they will move forward with Grant's.
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Some pictures from a bike ride through Providence on Saturday, May 30th:
Mill at Harris Ave & Eagle St:
Monohasset Mills:
State House & Promenade from bike route:
The Foundry:
Providence Place from the Woonasquatucket River:
Providence Place:
G-Tech/Westin/PPM:
State House:
Waterplace Tower:
Blue Cross/Blue Shield:
Industrial National:
Capitol Cove:
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Does anyone know if you can post pictures from Snapfish.com? My wife has an account with them and I uploaded a bunch of pictures to their site, but got an error when I tried to insert one in a post here.... can anyone recommend the easiest way to post pictures to UP, I have a bunch of construction photos and other misc. ones from this weekend? Thanks in advance.
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Just lost my entire previous post, when I went to Preview it. Awesome. Anyway.....
I don't know if this is the right forum topic for this post, but I didn't see anything under Construction or West end happenings.
Maybe someone can inform me about the following two recent developments in the West end:
I didn't realize that the Central High school buildings at the intersection of Cranston St and Fricker St were going to be demolished. They were boarded up for a few months, but now they are almost completely demo-ed. Are they planning on constructing a new school building? The whole intersection looks extremely bare right now, though offers a nice view of the buildings at the Pearl Street Lofts and the Jones Warehouse.
In other news, there has been activity at the Carpenter Mills site, on Carpenter St between Bridgham and Courtland. First I noticed newly-spread dirt on the east end of the site, as if something had been torn down (I can't remeber if anything was there, or maybe just the parking lot was torn up. I'll have to do another drive-by and then compare it to the Google Street View image. Also, the mill building itself has work being done, it looks like some of the windows were removed. Does anyone know what's going on here?
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I know the park on the corner of Camp and Cypress is supposed to be drug infested, though I've never seen anything too sketchy there yet and I've been by it many times.
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Automatic transmissions and snow just do not mix. After driving this fusion for 2 weeks it makes me question the sanity of all those who drive automatic cars on a daily basis by choice. I'm fairly certain that automatics were designed by some sort of evil force who hates both cars and people.
Liam
(Bronchial Infection Suffering shut-in who owns 3 manual transmission vehicles and rambles about ne'er do wells on message boards)
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Anyone have any thouhts about the Imperial Place Building?? My fiance may be commuting to Boston day or two per week, and I was wondering if it would be safe to walk from that neighborhood to the train station early in the am or after dark. Thanks.
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I moved to Valley Street from Boston a little less than a year ago, and just bought on Westminster Street (signed the P&S yesterday).. here is the MLS listing:
http://www.riliving.com/License/cnddetails...photopath=space
I work in Norwood, so my commute from either Providence or Boston is about the same. The difference is I can still (barely) afford Providence. Boston - not so much.
I did look at Brockton, but was not in the "pioneering" mood... those were my Lowell days...
So, to answer your question: From Olneyville (Valley) to Armory.
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Must have been L'Elizebeth's - they also do dessert, it's a nice place to go after dinner for drinks & dessert with a date or something.
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Are there any definate plans in the works for hotels and office buildings from developers?
Last week I worked on a schematic site plan for a large development parcel next to the station - it included a hotel and two office buildings, both with ground-level retail/restaurant space, connected by pedestrian spaces from the station. It also had a parking garage backed up against Jefferson Blvd. and the access road to the airport.
The point was just to look at what could be done potentially with the site, so it doesn't mean much more than that. Obviously there is interest though, to create commercial development once the station is there.
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Monthly pass from Providence, Zone 8 is $198.00.
I'm actually kindof surprised by that price. If I fill my car with gas once a week, it's probably around $40...soon it will be $50...which means that the rail pass is about the same price. If I took the train to work, I would have to get up a lot earlier, and I would need a ride from the Mansfield station to work.
I would much rather commute by train than car, I absolutely hate working in an office park in Foxboro...but given the logistics I pretty much have to drive.
Hopefully I'll switch careers soon and base my job search around a walking/biking/train commute.
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I've never commuted to Boston for work, but I take the commuter rail once in a while and it's a great way to go. Doesn't take very long, enough time to read the paper or get a little more sleep. Not sure about the prices. There was an article in the paper a few months ago about how the number of people commuting to Boston by train from RI has increased a lot in the past few years...
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I agree with some people here who say that the number of all-convenience neighborhoods is growing. I used to rent on Brook & Wickenden, and I could walk to just about everything (walked to East Side Market grocery store once, and that's the only service that isn't realistically walking distance, at least if you dont want the circulation in your fingers cut off from the grocery bags). I live in the West End now and I definitely miss the walkability of Fox Point. Although with the warmer weather, I'm sure I will be walking to Broadway and Atwells a lot more.
The Eagle square area really offers a lot, at least in terms of affordable services. I'm impressed with how much that retail area has filled out. On a side note, the Galaxie Express is a great place for eats.
On the AC topic, I used to get by on a 3rd floor apt. with a window unit in the bedroom, turned on when I got home from work. We used window fans in the living room, the kind that have exhaust & intake. They worked very well, although I spent many nights sweating bullets watching Sox games until we bought them.... Our new condo on Sycamore has central air, so that'll be a first for me.
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How do they expose the film for that long without the image coming out blurry? That shot must've been taken from a boat, so they couldn't have kept the camera that steady...?
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i'm really starting to like the looks of the gtech building...
Yea I suppose the Capital Commision's design review team decided that in order to avoid having the G-Tech bldg. detract from the surrounding architecture, it should reflect it...
although I have to say that I think the building is a welcome addition to a city with very few examples of "modern" architecture and it adds some nice contrast to the diverse and rapidly growing urban district.
It's pretty amazing that I didn't have enough time in one afternoon to make it around to every construction site in the downtown area - wouldn't have imagined that growing up here in the 80s and early 90s....
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I'm having trouble loading some pictures because my server at work blocks some of them, but here are a couple shots I took on Sunday documenting the construction downtown.
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a) whether she's right in suggesting that Federal Hill and the Armory are still a little rough, considering our new child (<6m)
I can not speak from the perspective of having kids, but I live in the West End (near Dexter Training Ground) and I would not discount living here based on what your agent told you. There are a good number of kids in my neighborhood, a huge park with playground & ballfield (Dexter), and it seems like the somewhat sketchy areas that border the area don't really cross into my neighborhood. There's probably a good chance that I'll be having a kid in the next few years, and I'm not in the least bit concerned about raising one here.
Good luck....
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I don't think their website is up yet, but there are a number of units in the Pearl St. complex listed on www.riliving.com
I'm not sure if the whole complex is condos, or if some of them are rentals. The condos are in the $300,000 range.
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there was a Play it Again Sports or whatever it's called, in the Konk, not sure if it's still there. It would be in the shopping plaza where Child World and Lechemare used to be - where Taco Bell and the Seekonk 6 theaters are now, on the left when you're heading east on rt. 6.
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Is Wickenden/Foxpoint also safe neighborhood?
Anyone living in downcity right now and have input?
I'm still interested with the idea of living in downcity tho I felt like it's cramped with construction at the moment.Thanks for all the help so far
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Wickenden/Fox Point is extremely safe, and extremely convenient for highway access. There are a lot of houses with FOR RENT signs on them right now, the best thing to do is just walk around the neighborhood and take down phone numbers. Buying here would be really expensive, unless you want to buy a 3-family and have some rental income. The rent isn't too bad, and once you realize how convenient the location is, whatever you're paying will be worth it. Like everyone has said, it's a lot easier finding a 2 bedroom to rent, at least cost-wise. Did anyone mention the listings in Coffee Exchange on Wickenden?
I wouldn't say that Downcity feels cramped with construction, maybe that will change once 110 Westminster breaks ground. Plus once the commute is over, you'd probably walk to most places. I imagine that most places in Downcity don't include parking though, so that could be an extra expense.
In my opinion, if you don't mind commuting, I would stick to the city - more to do, more people to meet, etc. Good luck......
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True, I guess you could include Fox Point... I considered the lack of some services like banks, cleaners, a market, pharmacy, etc to be limiting factors to calling it "full service." It's a strange neighborhood... I've never been sure how to classify it for folks... I've always considered it (rightly or wrongly) more of a restaurant and arts destination, like a much smaller Federal Hill, than a pure "residential" neighborhood.
- Garris
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Yeah, Fox Point defintiely lacks some of those servies. But I live on the corner of Brook & Wickenden, and there's a Portuguese market across the street, the little shopping strip a few blocks up on Brook (cleaners, laundry, mini-mart etc), liquor store & video store on my block.... but it is still predominantly restaurant and arts-oriented/dominated. Luckily I'm so close to Thayer, Wayland Square, for the stuff that's not right in my area.
I'm still interested with the idea of living in downcity tho I felt like it's cramped with construction at the moment.
Thinking about moving to Providence?
in Providence
Posted
Jim - thanks a lot for the info. It does sound like Elmhurst has a lot to offer. The only part of that area I know best is Whitford Ave, where some friends of mine lived and still own property. There are some nice neighborhood streets around there, and you attest to the walkability and amenities nearby.
Some of the negatives you mention are experienced in my neighborhood as well - horn-honking (haven't heard a 20-min long one yet), bad driving in general (speeding etc.), and litter are the things that bother me the most. People can not seem to keep trash in their bins, and some people don't care about trash on their property. The demographic is pretty similar to Elhurst it sounds. I like the diversity too, but I think some of the other cultures have different values than I do - when it comes to noise and cleanliness.
In talking to my wife, it sounds like she really wants to make our next move out of the city, unless it were the East Side proper (College Hill, Wayland), or the Hope St area near Rochambeau. So unless a recruiter calls me up and offers to double what I'm making, or we find a complete fixer-upper, things aren't looking good for me. I could do East Providence or Pawtuxet, but I don't know what 'hood in EP has everything I'm looking for, and Pawtuxet is either a bit expensive or there just aren't many great properties for sale.
Thanks for the info again - I think I need to drive wifey through Elmhurst to give her a better idea of the area - she's judging it without really knowing it... but mainly because she wants out of the city. I have to find a compromise, because I'm not ready for rural living, and I'll sooner die than live in the 'burbs. At least she knows that much... Thanks