While walking around Providence's Capitol Center some months back, I was struck by the sharp bifurcation between the beauty of the city's old buildings clustered downtown and the prosiac qualities of the newer structures increasingly filling the vacant space between Kennedy Plaza and the State House.

UPDATE: Comment from Durkee.

Steve Durkee e-mailed me a short time ago, saying he hadn't received my e-mail until recently due to an e-mail problem. Here's what he had to say in response to my question.

I am aware of this item on the CPC agenda. We are being asked to provide the CC with an opinion as to whether the proposed TIF, which will be primarily for the ALCO site and surrounding streets, conforms to the city’s Comp Plan.

Speaking of economic development, and I'm bit late in getting to this, but Jack Templin of the Providence Geeks sees a lot of promise in the ongoing I-195 relocation project:

For those interested in urban and economic development though, the much more exciting aspect of the I-195 relocation project is not what's going up, but rather what will be coming down - the old stretch of I-195.

Jef Nickerson of Greater City: Providence reports that there will a Zoning Board of Review hearing, at 7:30 tomorrow night, on the controversial tower proposed for Federal Hill. Here are the some of Jef's thoughts on the project:

I am writing on behalf of Greater City: Providence in regards to the petition to allow for zoning variances related to the development of a residential building which would be sited at #21 and #32 Federal Street in Federal Hill.

Things are heating up for the future of the land being made available by the I-195 relocation, as we saw with the announcement this week of a related partnership between the state and the city. In related news, David P. Riley and some other advocates have long called for maximizing public access to the land that will be available for fresh uses.

Proponents of maximizing public access to the waterfront around India Point Park in Providence are concerned about a City Hall meeting tonight (6 pm, council chambers) that could result in the rezoning of a key parcel in the area.

David P. Riley writes via e-mail:

The RI Transportation Dept. (RIDOT) is planning to sell the Shooters parcel -- right next to India Point Park -- to the highest bidder with no restrictions.

Dan Barbarisi has the news today that John Kelly, whose incipient Providence mayoral campaign was first reported by Matt, is being replaced as chair of the Providence Zoning Board of Review by three-time former gubernatorial candidate Myrth York.

Kelly, who in November became the first candidate to file papers to run for mayor, is the CEO of Meeting Street School.

Mayor Cicilline last night unveiled a proposal to slow the boomlet of demolition in Providence.

From Dan Barbarisi:

Cicilline’s proposals are intended to prevent developers from forcing “demolition by neglect,” the practice of allowing a property to deteriorate so that emergency demolition is necessary. Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Jerome F.

In light of the start yesterday of the demolition of the old Providence fruit and produce warehouse, the headline on this post seems prophetic.

And Jef at Greater City: Providence had previously noted this tart observation:

J. from ArtInRuins posted this rather prescient missive on UrbanPlanet a couple days ago:

The ProJo's Dan Barbarisi does a good job today in teasing out some of the dissonance regarding the historic Providence Fruit and Produce Warehouse (1929) behind Providence Place, and Carpionato Properties' plans to raze the property.

If you're a mayor in a cash-strapped city, it's tough to not like developers, and it seems clear that David Cicilline signed off on the demo plan:

Members of the Working Waterfront Alliance and neighborhood groups around Providence have received little satisfaction on their concerns.

Here's the take from the Waterfront Alliance blog:

Sadly, at last night’s meeting, the City Ordinance Committee voted to approve a slightly amended interim Comprehensive Plan that directly threatens Providence’s working waterfront along Allens Ave.

The debate over the future of Providence's so-called Working Waterfront is due to continue Monday, when the City Council's Ordinance Committee is expected to consider the Comprehensive Plan. This area is just one of two waterfront battlegrounds, as I describe in this week's Phoenix:

Take a look at the upper mouth of Narragansett Bay from a high point on George M.

UPDATE: I meant to note that the Fox Point Neighborhood Association has also registered concerns about this, particularly how the City Council will be voting on the comp plan just slightly more than three months after it put a moratorium on any non-standard development of property along soon-to-be removed sections of I-195.

The One Ten Westminster Street luxury condo tower seems like a useful barometer for Providence's development boom.

When it was announced in early 2005, it bespoke the confidence of that time.

When it was delayed, it signaled a possible condo glut and a softening housing market.

And now, as Jessica Kerry reports in this week's Phoenix, with a big hole remaining on a spot between Westminster and Weybosset streets, some still wonder just who is going to pay $500,000 and up to live in downtown Providence.

Dan Barbarisi has the details of the City Plan Commission's approval last night of the amended Comprehensive Plan, which will guide the future of planning and zoning in Providence.

On paper, some of this sounds pretty good:

The plan will form the groundwork for creating a Providence with walkable paths and green spaces along the rivers and waterfront.