The Organization for Urban and Regional Studies (OURS) organized an overnight trip for URS students to Providence, Rhode Island, on April 7-8, 2006, to visit practitioners and gain an understanding of the planning climate in Rhode Island. Nine students participated, in addition to Professor Ken Reardon, and had a full schedule of meetings with professionals throughout Providence.
Arnold Robinson, AICP, the former director of the Providence Preservation Society, began Friday with an overview of planning issues in the region. Later in the day, the group met with Mark Therrien and Tim McCormick from the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority and had lunch with Eric Hangen, AICP of Community Development Consulting, Inc. Friday afternoon included meetings with Amy Pettine and Jim Lucht of The Providence Plan, a non-profit that organizes youth programs in addition to providing data and GIS services; and Ari Heckman (URS '05) of Cornish Associates, a real estate development company focusing on residential and retail revitalization in downtown Providence. Ari is also helping organize the Congress for the New Urbanism, which Providence will be hosting on June 1-4, 2006. Dinner on Friday evening was hosted by Jeff and Mary Miller (Hotel School '75 and '76, respectively) after a quick tour of Newport.
On Saturday, Jay O'Grady and Frank Shea of Olneyville Housing Corporation detailed the challenges of affordable housing creation in a booming real estate market. On Saturday afternoon, the group saw the film "Some Kind of Funny 'Porto' Rican?" by Emerson College professor Dr. Claire Andrade-Watkins. The film explores the history of the Cape Verdean population in Providence's Fox Point neighborhood until its displacement by the construction of Interstate 195 in the late 1950s. After the viewing, students spoke with Dr. Andrade-Watkins about the film and the Cape Verdean community.
The trip concluded with a brief tour of the signature project of the Providence renaissance Capital Center which used federal transportation monies to uncover rivers and attract development; and College Hill, home of the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, and the origin of Providence's preservation movement. The trip was a great success and exposed students to the strong role of the planning profession in Rhode Island.
