After spending a few days in big, bold Boston, Providence in Rhode Island comes as a bit of a relief.
The capital of the USA’s smallest state has a population of fewer than 200,000 souls and is pleasant and walkable, full of street art and history. It’s also an example of urban regeneration done well. A few decades ago Downtown was a mess of interstate roads and traffic, people had moved away, crime was rife and some of the city’s gems had been hidden away beneath tarmac. But the 1970s saw things swing the other way. Roads were diverted, the river revealed and parks created. Downtown became a place to live in and visit again.
We stayed in the heart of Downtown, after taking the train from Boston, and found a good-looking neighbourhood thanks in part to a collection of attractive 19th-century buildings in the Federal and Victorian styles. And while there were far too many empty store fronts during our time there, there were also plenty of interesting shops, lively bars, restaurants and trendy cafes. The street art was spectacular and not to be missed.
Just across the river is College Hill, which is dominated by Brown University’s historic campus and some prime real estate. There’s a lot of money on the hill and plenty of beautiful, colonial-era homes so it’s no wonder that the American Planning Association designated the neighbourhood one of the Great Places in America. We spent a few hours exploring the streets, admiring the architecture and the views across the rest of the city. Highlights included the old state house, Prospect Terrace Park and the grand First Baptist Church, but in truth there was something worthwhile to see whatever the street. Later we stopped for lunch on busy Thayer Street, which is clearly a popular night-time destination for the city’s many students.
The John Brown House is a museum on the hill, bordering the university campus. Dating from the 18th century, it was the home of statesman and merchant John Brown but was donated to the Rhode Island Historical Society in the 1940s. Restored, it was opened to the public and today there are many original pieces of furniture from the Brown era on display, along with art, porcelain, silver and textiles. But Brown was not just a statesman, for like other successful men of the time he was also a slave owner and trader and this shameful history and its impact is also documented on the tour. Ironically, Providence was founded in the 1630s by the religious exile Roger Williams and was initially known for being rather more enlightened in its policies towards slavery and the rights of indigenous people than some of its neighbours.
Across the Moshassuck River from College Hill is the Rhode Island State House, where the great and not so good have gathered over the centuries to govern Rhode Island. It’s a surprisingly grand building for such a modestly sized state but it was built at a time – the end of the 19th century – when Rhode Island’s industry was booming and its grandees were rolling in cash. The architecture reflects the confidence of the times and the dome is jaw-dropping, the fourth largest self-supporting marble one in the world as they’re proud to proclaim in the blurb. We had a walk around, explored the chamber and the library and saw the colony’s original royal charter guaranteeing religious liberty.
We took a walk along the attractively landscaped riverfront, which has a range of memorials to events such as the Irish famine, and took a surprisingly good boat trip up the Providence River. Our captain delivered a witty and informative guide to the sights, with much about the regeneration of the city over recent decades, as we explored the waterways, going as far as the industrial harbour and the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier. This brute of a structure spans the Providence River and was built in the 1960s to protect the city from storm surges.
A somewhat less successful trip was to the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center, billed as New England’s largest glasshouse display garden with a collection of cactic, palms, succulents and other tender plants. I’m not sure whether we visited on a bad day or too early in the season but the place had the air of something that’s seen better days. We had a wander round the greenhouses and the grounds, which also looked a bit sad, and ordered a cab back to the city earlier than we’d planned.
Providence has a good range of bars and restaurants but one of its more interesting destinations for an evening out is the Federal Hill neighborhood, which did involve a trek out (and a few frustrating wrong turns) beyond Interstate 95. Long a home of the Italian-American community, the area is full of places to eat and Atwells Avenue is the highlight. It was buzzing when we visited, and the hardest thing to do was choose one out of so many restaurants for our meal. However difficult, it was a great way to spend our last night…