Some Thoughts From Providence, CNU33, and Strong Towns
Why reimagining density was the theme for the week
Last week, I attended the Strong Towns and Congress for New Urbanism conferences. Both events were held in Providence, Rhode Island, a city I haven’t visited in 20 years.
As someone who has studied, written and talked about highway removal projects around the country, I was aware of how Providence removed 195 from its downtown and stitched back together neighborhoods. I even hosted Thomas Deller, Providence’s then-director of planning, to come talk in Philadelphia about taking the highway down more than a decade ago. But until now I’d never experienced the post-highway downtown.
It was really fantastic and one of the highlights of the trip for me.
Providence really embraces its riverfront through its famous Riverwalk program, but most of the crossings over the river are car-oriented. By contrast, a wooden pedestrian bridge over the river replaced 195 and is the center of downtown public life on summer nights. Long lines queue for ice cream and families hang out on the bridge or on the green spaces on either side of the river.
Throughout the trip, I reveled in Providence’s urban fabric. I have always thought that Philadelphia had the best mural program in the country; I think Providence might offer some good competition! I loved the small scale murals, which blended in so well to the neighborhoods.
What Providence does so well is mix commercial and residential areas. The corner restaurants and first-floor stores enhance neighborhoods like Fox Point. As cities like Austin embrace the idea of mixing more commercial and residential uses, I think that Providence would be a perfect model of how you can successfully mix these uses. I loved the feeling that you could be surprised by retail or a cafe or a restaurant on a block, rather than having to stroll a commercial corridor.
I did, of course, spend time in the conferences as well!
If there was one theme, for me, it was reimagining density
CNU had the theme of “coherence” for its Congress. While I loved the aspiration of trying to make order and logic out of these scattered times, I found myself attending sessions at both CNU and Strong Towns that were all about finding novel ways to increase density.
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