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Downcity/Providence Retail

AriPVD

By AriPVD
in Providence

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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I was at the movies there once when someone started a fire in the bathroom. It was total chaos, no direction from the management, and the main entrance was sealed off and everyone had to exit through one small door, Station Nightclub anyone? :rolleyes:

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Frankie811 City

Frankie811

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Station Nightclub anyone? :rolleyes:

The Station nightclub fire is nothing to joke about. This being RI, of course it would turn out that I would know someone who knew someone who perished in the fire. And a couple whom I work with was absolutely positively suppose to go there that night, but didn't.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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I'm not joking about it, I was pointing out that after the Station fire, I and hundreds (thousands?) of other people were evacuated out of the Providence Place Movie Threatre through one small door when an actual fire was buring in the theatre. The theatre owners learned nothing?

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brick Burg

brick

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I went to the movies there late last night. Someone told me it was just a pulled fire alarm, but I have no more info than that...

One time when I was having dinner at Joe's the fire alarm in the mall was pulled 7 times. It was comical (and annoying). The fire dept would show up, check it out, and as soon as they were around the corner it would get pulled again.

The problem with this is that after the 2nd one, Joe's stopped evacuating and I assume the mall did also.

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Frankie811 City

Frankie811

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One time when I was having dinner at Joe's the fire alarm in the mall was pulled 7 times. It was comical (and annoying). The fire dept would show up, check it out, and as soon as they were around the corner it would get pulled again.

The problem with this is that after the 2nd one, Joe's stopped evacuating and I assume the mall did also.

They've had a lot of problems with their fire alarm system since the mall opened. I've been in Napa Valley Grille when it went off and nobody even moved. I was in the Warwick Showcase Cinema once when the fire alarm went off and everybody left.

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matt Hamlet

matt

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The mall gets fined somewhere in the nieghbourhood of $500 everytime there is a false alarm. Businesses get a certain number of free responses, when it exceeds that, the fines start.

Are the businesses responsible for making sure everyone is evacuated? In the case of the mall, does that mean each individual store is responsible for making sure it is clear before dropping the gate? Is it the malls responsibility to evacuate? Or is it everyone for themselves?

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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Good new for Garris and others interested: I'm working with the Providence Foundation to institute a signage/banner program along Westminster St.

I know it's out of Cornish's area, but what's up with the fact that there are no street lights on Westminster between Dorrance and Memorial? I was walking down there the other afternoon (after dark) and relaized that it's like a blackout down there.

On the signage/banner front, has Cornish considered putting somesort of sign (a sandwich board sign, anything) saying something like, "check out the New Westminster Street" or "Shop Westminster!" or anything letting people that haven't been down there in a while know that it's becoming worth a trip? It's hard for anyone that doesn't make themselves aware to realize that there are any new shops down there.

And another question for ya, any word on Craftland coming back this year? Peerless maybe?

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Garris Town

Garris

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Good new for Garris and others interested: I'm working with the Providence Foundation to institute a signage/banner program along Westminster St.

(Clouds clear from the sky, birds chirp, flowers bloom...)

Excellent news! I think either vertical banners or perpendicular signage jutting over the sidewalks would be fantastic.

Gracies on Washington Street is a perfect example of how not to do signage in the bad old downtown Providence way. They've got a perpendicular wood sign (one step forward) that's waaaay too small (two steps back) for its facade and it's not lit at night (2 more steps back). The neighboring Bravo has done a better job of announcing their existence with their surrounding awning.

Again, great news!

- Garris

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Garris Town

Garris

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By the way, who's responsible for the cheesy christmas lights stringing the beginning of Westminster? Am I the only one who hates this? I think the lights:

- Look cheap...

- Make the narrow street feel even more clostraphobic...

- Make photography of the street near impossible (Ok, maybe I'm the only one who hates this part...)

- Give it a kind of seedy, red light district look from afar...

- Must annoy the people who live there at night trying to sleep...

- Distract from where the attention should be, like on future signage...

It always reminds me of the scene from Apocalypse Now of when they come up to the US base on the river with all the beads of lights strung all over the place.

If whoever maintains those wants to string them up for a street festival, then great. But otherwise, take 'em down...

- Garris

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pdxstreetcar Whistle-Stop

pdxstreetcar

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i kind of think vertical signage would be great, i love those old 1950s downtown street scenes with all the vintage signs.

i second that concern about the lack of street lights on westminster between memorial and dorrance, it is really sketchy on that street at night especially when you cant see other people

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PVDJack Whistle-Stop

PVDJack

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i second that concern about the lack of street lights on westminster between memorial and dorrance, it is really sketchy on that street at night especially when you cant see other people

Yeah, I have to "third" this. I had a minor run-in the other night there with loitering "kids". I think the lack of proper lighting contributes to a "no rules" atmosphere.

Jack

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PVDJack Whistle-Stop

PVDJack

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I like them. I think it makes the street more welcoming as you start down it.

I like them too. Garris, are you sure your loathing for the lights isn't that make photography trickier? :)

Were they 'kids' or rent boys? There's a disturbing amount of street prostitution Downcity.

Hmmm... interesting. Not sure, now that you ask, but if had to guess they were "just kids".

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markOne Whistle-Stop

markOne

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I like them too. Garris, are you sure your loathing for the lights isn't that make photography trickier? :)

I have to side with Garris on this one. The lights effectively put a roof on the street which lessens the effect of the nice buildings which make Westminster St. different from other streets in both Providence and other cities.

Those lights feel like something that would be nice in a neighborhood retail district. Downtown should be a little grander. I like the idea of using lighting to add impact and encourage people to walk down the street; I just don't like the execution.

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Garris Town

Garris

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Downtown should be a little grander.

Yes, that's exactly it... There needs to be a "grander" solution. People's attention should definitely be drawn up to the architecture, but that's not the way to do it...

Regarding safety on Weybosset... Definitely it's "better to be a guy" in that regard, but that stretch feels much, much safer since Traveler's Aid was moved... It's un-PC to say, but it's true. I was verbally harrassed and aggressively panhandled on several occasions when the TA was there (actually, I was also aggressively panhandled on Westminster and Washington on the same day about 2 weeks ago as well, so it's an ongoing problem).

Regarding the "rent boys" ( :shok: ), I guess there is still some naive, rural, small town left in me which is amazed such things exist (and probably wouldn't recognize them as such)...

- Garris

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virgo20 Whistle-Stop

virgo20

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Were they 'kids' or rent boys? There's a disturbing amount of street prostitution Downcity.

The "rent boys" hang out near the Arcade, on Washington St. @ Wheels, and on Empire Street. They are everywhere, but not nearly as abundant as a few years ago when the current Bravo restaurant was a former bookstore. Nobody was safe when they walked in front of the building from male and female prostitutes harassing them. I recently went out downcity and none were to be seen. I live in Smith Hill on the fringe of Downcity. Most of the time I prefer to walk, but occasionally take the car. If I'm on foot or en route somewhere alone to meet friends, it is almost impossible to not run into a gay hustler. Straight people may look and think that "the nod" is a friendly gesture. Gay men are a little wiser when it comes to sexual intentions...albeit for $$..That doubletake glance by us usually spells doom and harassment. Fortunately, I made my recent night out with ease and without being hustled. :lol:

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