[Providence Tomorrow]

Any update on a location for Friday?

[Providence Tomorrow]

Good luck. I've tried using that argument here on the East Side and just get this back at me . People don't see the environment beyond the green they can see from their living room windows and feel more density equals more people and more parking...

If you've got another way to spin the argument, please let me know, because the blunt approach doesn't seem to work...

- Garris

I think we have to accept that some will not be convinced of the benefits of dense urban development. The opportunities lie in the thousands of people who simply haven't reached out to. Again, these could be our friends, co-workers, small business owners, food servers, etc. This is something we can talk about in our meeting on Friday, but I feel there are a lot of Rhode Islanders out there who would support our position if we first state the issues that we stand for that would be improved with sustainable dense urban development: affordable housing, open space preservation, jobs, improved neighborhood services, transportation, and taxes. This might involve simply talking to people we might be standing in line with or who are serving our food. Residents need to see hope for the future, and if they feel involved in smart urban planning through Providence Tomorrow, they will.

[Lil' Rhody Lounge | Off-topic posting]

On a different topic, I was recently in Wickford Village for the first time (cute little Benefit Street-on-the-bay feel) and noticed that the Brooks pharmacy in the downtown there even had its beautiful old windows there covered over by boards on the bottom 3/4 of the window.

They would rather trade the aesthetics of a window for the floor space of displaying more merchandise.

[Providence Tomorrow]

Just wanted to RSVP yes for Friday's meeting.

[Providence Tomorrow]

OK is it just me??? Given all of the kick-offs and meetings that the City has had over the past 3 years about neighborhood plans and zoning that ended up going nowhere, do we really think that this is actually going to happen?

I have been to too many meetings and workshops that either evaporated or resulted in a product that people felt did not adequately reflect their hopes for a better City.

I hate to sound jaded, but I'm tired of watching hundreds of volunteer hours spent for naught.

The short answer is, we don't have a choice. One could argue that the fact that the changes to the zoning regulations were put on hold means that the public input is having an effect on the administration. From what I read in the public record and talking to neighborhood group people, the constant pressure to revise the comp plan first before the zoning revisions came from sustained public pressure.

However, we need even more people involved to really make this successful. How many people do each of us know? How many neighborhood association volunteers do we know? We need to get as many people invovled as possible and show them an alternative to the development status quo. Talk to them. Emphasize the importance of smart urban planning. We're all in favor of increases in affordable housing, more jobs, better access to transportation, better neighborhood services, and a more sustainable tax base that good urban planning provides. It's up to us to keep talking about it and organize ourselves so that views supporting good urban development are heard. Otherwise, Providence Tomorrow will be for naught.

[Providence Tomorrow]

I could do the 22nd during the late morning/early afternoon, but weeknights except next Wednesday and Thursday would probably be better for me.

[What are they building there?]

This is madening. We need to reduce the demand for surface parking in this city/state/country and consider taxing underutilized land at a higher rate to discourage this. Not an easy solution, but with the Transit 2020 Working Group currently (hopefully) working towards a plan and Providence Tomorrow, we have an opportunity to do something. The more urban minded people make this an issue (and there are dozens of posters on Rhode Island's message board), the better chance we have. I'm looking forward to the July 26th Providence Tomorrow kickoff. We can't solve it overnight, but we can create positive momentum which would be a good start.

[Lil' Rhody Lounge | Off-topic posting]

I'm disappointed that a diesel version will not be offered. They get better gas milage, plus running them on biofuel helps resolve the whole reliance on importing crude oil for gasoline.