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Cotuit

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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Speeding and poor driving is certainly an issue on College Hill (There are at least 3-4 cars a day that I see drive the wrong way down Waterman). However, this article, and the porposed solutions are a little crazy. Thankfully David Seagal is being the voice of reason.

On Dec. 15, a car speeding up South Court Street crashed into a residence at 155 Benefit St. and caused additional damage to another house at 19 South Court St. The accident has led some members of the College Hill Neighborhood Association to lobby for increased traffic control devices - specifically, speed bumps.
In this case, the driver and passenger fled the scene of the accident, RISD Public Safety captured one of the vehicle's occupants. The big story in this case, is that it took Providence Police over 40 minutes to respond after the accident while RISD Public Safety kept the suspect in custody. Something was up with these guys, I don't think speedbumps would have changed things.

"Introducing speed bumps will make (drivers) use main roads instead of little historic streets," Dwight said.

The small side streets aren't so much the problem, it's main streets like Benefit, Waterman, Angell, and Prospect. Seagal is correct in saying that there are better traffic calming measures like curb bumb outs. Signage is also an issue, I assume that everyone driving the wrong way down Waterman is not doing so simply becasue they cannot read the Do No Enter and One Way signs, they must not be seeing them (I know for a fact that the One Way sign at Waterman and Prospect has a giant sticker on it).

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Garris Town

Garris

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Daily Bread in Wayland Square has closed :o! It is soon to be replaced by a place called the Coffee Edge, and conversion of the space has already begun...

My feelings are mixed. Daily Bread filled a nice need in the square, although its legendarily slow service, limited hours, and oddly laid out space kept it from being the "neighborhood living room" it could have been.

Here's hoping the Coffee Edge does better in that regard.

- Garris

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BBascule Whistle-Stop

BBascule

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If I'm not mistaken this is the 2nd time they have folded. If memory serves they used to be on Wickenden and went under then re-emerged a few years later.

Yeah - I think they closed after that stint on the corner of Wickendon and East. I think it was less of a money issue and more to do with a personal issue between the owners. It used to be in a tiny space. Everything was super cheap - no sandwiches at that point.

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Garris Town

Garris

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Interesting post from someone on the "New England" area of Chowhound regarding Adesso possibly moving:

"I would love to know if they are moving. I bought 100s of dollars in gift certificates for this restaurant christmas eve, and they went out of buissiness 1/5/06. I found a bankrupcy filing on line...under the meeting street associats, LLC that owns adesso.. I have been eating there for 10 years. Anyone know the owners names? id love to contact them to get my money back....where on federal hill are they moving??"

- Garris

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Garris Town

Garris

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I was looking through some RILiving listings tonight and noticed some interesting things regarding the East Side. Local nay-sayers and doubters (many in my own condo development) said that a few high profile, expensive properties would never sell:

- Two 1.2-1.3 million dollar new homes in Wayland Square...

- The new townhome condos in Wayland Square at Butler and Waterman... (which I too thought were overpriced)

Well, in the dead of winter, all of the above properties are now listed as "pending." I think that's yet another ringing endorsement of the desirability and viability of Providence. I could never afford those places, but I'm glad that there are people out there with the money to spend who can live anywhere they want, but choose our little urban centers...

- Garris

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Garris Town

Garris

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Good article this month in the East Side Monthly (not yet online) about the future of Thayer street. The bottom line is as follows:

- The Thayer property owners are for the first time kinda' unified on how they want to proceed...

- A business improvement district (BID) similar to that of the successful Downcity one is being formed...

- Retailers and land owners want to see a little more retail and fewer bars. They want Thayer to remain quirky, urban, and funky, with a mix of local and chain businesses...

- NIMBY's want Thayer to turn back the clock to the 1960's when it was a nice, quiet street that served the neighborhood with flower shops, cleaners, upscale clothiers, and supermarkets (big shock here huh? Memo to NIMBY's: this didn't work).

- Thayer contributes almost 1.3 million dollars a year in taxes to the city... :o.

- As discussed here before, capital improvements to the street over the next year or so will be $750,000 worth.

The rest of the article is made up of predictable opinions from the major players (and I'm too sick from my virus to type up more). There's a great map we should scan in which has all the major buildings, their tenents, their owners, and their assessment. Good stuff...

- Garris

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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- NIMBY's want Thayer to turn back the clock to the 1960's when it was a nice, quiet street that served the neighborhood with flower shops, cleaners, upscale clothiers, and supermarkets (big shock here huh? Memo to NIMBY's: this didn't work).

I suppose they all want a personal reserved parking space within 10 feet of said flower shops and grocery stores as well. :rolleyes:

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brick Burg

brick

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- NIMBY's want Thayer to turn back the clock to the 1960's when it was a nice, quiet street that served the neighborhood with flower shops, cleaners, upscale clothiers, and supermarkets (big shock here huh? Memo to NIMBY's: this didn't work).

Not to mention that there are cleaners right down the street (on Brook St. I think) less than 1/2 mile away. Clark's closed their Thayer location but still have the big place on Hope St. all of, oh, another 1/2 mile away. And Whole Foods is a whole, what, 3/4 of a mile, although there is that big intimidating hill there. (I know the pedestrian access is, uh, less than desirable, of course) And then, since they all have cars anyway, Hope Village and Wayland Square are both less than 5 minute drives.

I think services are important but they already exist.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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Not to mention that there are cleaners right down the street (on Brook St. I think) less than 1/2 mile away.

There's a cleaners in the block that Tealuxe and Au Bon Pain is in isn't there?

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Garris Town

Garris

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There are some strange quotes in the article too. I don't have it in front of me, but I think it was Ed Bishop (who is probably the only "turn back the clock" proponent amongst the property owners) who said that in the complex he would build (the controversial hotel next to Brown) would have a supermarket and "a real drug store." Is CVS not a real drug store??

I really don't think College Hill needs its own discrete neighborhood retail services "district" for all the reasons mentioned above by others already, including the extremely close proximity of Wayland Sq, Hope Village, and the N. Main plaza. I'm hopeful that as downcity develops with markets, stores, shops, etc, that it'll become College Hill's shopping area...

- Garris

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jencoleslaw Town

jencoleslaw

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There are some strange quotes in the article too. I don't have it in front of me, but I think it was Ed Bishop (who is probably the only "turn back the clock" proponent amongst the property owners) who said that in the complex he would build (the controversial hotel next to Brown) would have a supermarket and "a real drug store." Is CVS not a real drug store??

- Garris

Thayer Street's CVS isn't a real drug store because it doesn't have a pharmacy, does it?

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tigger26 Crossroads

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i do believe all daily breads are now closed; the wayland square one is being replaced by "the edge" coffee, art and food cafe. i hope they do well, despite the odd name, because the rumor mill says they'll be using intelligentsia coffee. which is just awesome, really.

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AriPVD Hamlet

AriPVD

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From East Side Monthly. Your wish is granted, Mikey.

The Quahogs are coming; the Quahogs are coming.

Last month we reported that one of the most visible of Thayer Street's independent retailers was closing down. Faster than you can say OOP! Juice, an interesting new tenant has decided to move into their vacated space. The Only in Rhode Island store is a company that sells nothing but products (you've probably already guessed) that are made right here in Rhode Island. This will be their second location (original location in Newport). The new owners should be easy to spot too. They'll be the ones eating quahogs and coffee milk for lunch. Welcome to the neighborhood.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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I stand corrected, then. I had no idea the Thayer CVS didn't have a pharmacy. How odd... Where do Brown students without a car go to get their prescriptions filled?

There's a pharmacy (Walgreens?) in the Eastside Marketplace Plaza. , I don't know if it has pharmacy services.

Does any CVS in Providence have a pharmacy? The mall, Thayer, and Kennedy Plaza all do not. We go to the Osco in Shaws in Eagle Square, but it would be a lot more convenient to have one downtown.

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PVDJack Whistle-Stop

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There's a pharmacy (Walgreens?) in the Eastside Marketplace Plaza. , I don't know if it has pharmacy services.

Does any CVS in Providence have a pharmacy? The mall, Thayer, and Kennedy Plaza all do not. We go to the Osco in Shaws in Eagle Square, but it would be a lot more convenient to have one downtown.

Yes, the one in Hope Village has a pharmacy.

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