Community-Based Research Commons^™

Wanted: Live-In Teachers, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit and Cleveland all have it--a residency requirement--and so does Providence. Having to live in the city for which you work has been deemed to be an important measure in helping to bring people back into the city, and that was the reason it was included in the 1980 Home Rule Charter."

Rhode Island Gets A 'C' In 1988 Study, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Ranking cities and states for their livability, jobs, taxes, schools and a host of other measures is becoming almost a national pastime.

Perhaps the most comprehensive ranking of cities is the Rand McNally Places Rated Almanac whose most recent edition ranked the Providence metropolitan area as 26th best of 329 evaluated in the nation. Critics have questioned the methodology used in this ranking, but cities rating highly have been quick to capitalize on it. Walking through the airport terminal in No. 1-ranked Pittsburgh, one is greeted by a large banner that proclaims the city to be the most livable in …

Eight Communities Meet To Find And Foot Housing, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"When resources are provided to local cities and towns to address housing problems, the results can be both innovative and productive. This was aptly demonstrated at a recent workshop on affordable housing.

The 150 attendees who went to Newport, one of the eight cities and towns that received grants to study the problem, were there to share recommendations on how to best address the Providence metropolitan area's lack of affordable housing."

Housing Problems Grow More Acute For The Poor, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"One in seven people live below the poverty level in this rich country, and the result of this inexcusable condition is that housing is the principal problem for these more than 32 million people.

Nearly two of every three poor people rent their housing, and while home owners are experiencing increased equity because of increasing house values, low-income renters are having to pay higher rents with fewer dollars."

The Cities And Towns Look Ahead, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"What do you want your community to be? Over the next two and one-half years all communities in the state will be required to address this question, and to come up with a formal statement of what these goals and objectives are to be. And it's about time."

Countrywide Leadership Needed To Cure City Ills, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The urban riots of the mid- and late-1960s in this nation were devastating: In the three years from 1964 through 1967, it is estimated that 142 persons were killed and 4700 wounded with property damage running into hundreds of millions of dollars. This sad part of our history brought to a focus the magnitude of our urban problems and the need to attack them at the national level."

Taking Steps To Solve The Country's Housing Woes, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The problems of housing in today's America force us to look back almost a quarter of a century in time to the Great Society era, for it was during this period that some of the most progressive and far-reaching housing legislation in this nation was enacted."