Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons^™

For Providence, Another Era Of Greatness?, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Providence has come a long way from just 20 years ago when a visitor coming into the city by rail would find sprayed across the walls of the nearly empty Union Station such epithets as 'Providence is the pits' and 'Welcome to dead city.' And it was. I know because I lived there."

James Rouse--A Man For All Seasons, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services, said it best: he 'did more to revitalize American cities than anyone this century.' Recognition of this fact came last September when President Clinton awarded him our nation's highest civilian honor--the Presidential Medal of Freedom. James W. Rouse, died at the age of 81, just 17 short days before his 82nd birthday on April 26--a long life with long-lasting achievements by a humanist and an urbanist, a man often referred to as a 'real Christian' and an 'urban visionary.' Where does one begin?"

Cincinnati: From Porkopolis To No. One City, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It was 152 years after the settlement at Providence n 1636 that this Midwestern present-day metropolis was established. Its location on what was to become the country's most industrialized river, the Ohio, provided its accessibility, starting with the first visit by a steamboat in 1811. In 1819, one of the largest city universities in the nation today, with 35,000 students, was founded And by 1850, with its location next to the rich farming areas of the country, it ranked as fifth largest city in te country and had earned the title of Porkopolis because of its status as the world's …

Development Is Different For Cities, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It is one of the most powerful trade organizations in the country. The 13,000 members come from the legal, realty, building, financial, governmental, academic and development sectors, and many are CEOs and presidents of their companies and corporations. Most are or represent the decision-making leaders of their various constituencies, and they are the ones who make things happen in the land development of this country. So when the Urban Land Institute (ULI) meets to discuss the issues affecting this nation, one is well-advised to be there."

The Mobile Society, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Americans are a highly mobile society: One in six American moves every year. This is nearly twice the rate of Britain and almost three times that of Japan and Ireland."

Land Costs Make For High-Cost Housing Starts, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Here in the Northeast, where housing prices are among the highest in the nation, it is difficult to find measures to reduce the price of housing to make it more affordable. Even with talk of an impending recession, house prices have moderated only slightly, and the real estate business finds itself in a very troubled state."

Demographics Will Dictate The Future Of Business, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"If one could predict the future numbers of a population with some accuracy, that projected data would be most valuable, especially to business."

The 1990 Census Addresses Housing Concerns, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Beginning Sunday, April 1, 1990, in all 50 states of the United Stated and in its possessions, the 21st census of the population will be taken. And with it will be questions on housing, asked since 1940, so that we will have an accurate data base for both people and their housing conditions upon which to base our requirements for the present and to better project what our needs for the future will be."

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."

Urging Private Sector To Work For Public Good, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"There are few people who would be unhappy if they owned a capital asset that appreciated by 31.7 percent in one year's time. That is what happened to housing in the PRovidence area in the July-to-September period this year, as compared with the same period last year.

Inflation Takes A Toll On The Poor, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Everyone is keenly aware these days of the declining value of the dollar and the inability of the average person to keep pace with the rising cost of living. Inflation, an insidious ailment of the economy, strikes all people alike, whether they be working families, single people, elderly or poor."

Immigrants Can Contribute More Than Mere Numbers, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The job advertisement might read like this: Waned -- married couple to operate a market in a neighborhood subject to arson and robbery. Hours 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, with no vacations. Must know various languages to serve customers of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Benefits include satisfaction of knowing you are meeting needs of immigrants, poor and elderly in neighborhood and, maybe, earn enough money to pay for children's education. Investment of $60,000 required."

Fresh Ideas Essential For Redesigning Downtown, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Whether downtown Providence has style, grace, elegance and good taste or whether it is seedy, sleazy, schlock and second rate, there can be no question that the quality of the built enviornment should be a major consideration in all center city development. If the downtown is to prosper, than it must be made asthetically pleasing, inviting and comfortable, but who should be making these decisions on design?

Waste, Abuse Assure Changes In Section 8 Housing, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The series of articles and subsequent editorials on the Section 8 program that appeared in these papers have drawn several angry responses to the editor from residents of this government-assisted housing. Typical is the following: 'When something worthwhile is being done for the handicapped and elderly in Rhode Island, why do you do your best to kill it?...If the Section 8 program is hurt in any way because of your articles, you can sit back and laugh while 1,700 future applicants for housing are crying.'"

More Inner City Jobs, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Congressman Henry S. Reuss of Wisconsin has given the answer most succinctly: "The most straightforward way to help cities is to provide jobs...From a city's standpoint, jobless citizens make no contributions to a community's revenues. But they add greatly to its costs for welfare, crime, and assorted ills."