Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons^™

Us Citizens Will Stand Up And Get Counted In 1990, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The US Bureau of the Census, "Factfinder for the Nation," is starting to swing into high gear as Census Day, April 1, 1990, rapidly approaches. Ensuring that 106 million households receive their questionnaires before that date and then processing the numbers will likely total 250 million people is one Herculean task."

More People May Be 20th Century's Greatest Feat, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"This century may well go down in history as humanity's most productive period of accomplishment."

Unlike Most Top 100 Cities, Providence Losing Population, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Given the recent history of population decline in Providence and other large cities throughout New England, one might think that major cities throughout the country are also losing population. Not so."

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."

The Governor And The High Price Of Homes, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The recent well-publicized Cranston land sale that put the governor of Rhode Island in the spotlight, has raised questions about the ethics of a public figure being involved in a highly profitable real estate deal."

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."

As The Population Ages, Housing Needs Change, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The housing needs for all of us change over time, depending on one's position in the life cycle. The single person needs only a room, young marrieds settle for a rented apartment, and the family with children needs more space, both inside and out. Children grow up and still more space is needed, then the children leave the nest. Their parents become "empty nesters." A spouse dies and leaves a person single again and often dependent on others. And then, perhaps, a nursing home becomes a necessity before the person passes on."

Canada Teaches Some Simple Lessons, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It's an odd person who doesn't marvel at the cities of Canada on his or her return from a visit to our neighbor to the north. Whether this be a trip to Canada's largest city of Montreal or to a Providence-sized Quebec City, people speak of the cleanliness, the safety, the beauty, the good public transport and the relaxed way of living. What accounts for the livability of these urban centers? And is there something that we can learn from the Canadians that we can use in our own cities?"

Middletown Needs A Better Eye To Its Future, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"In the last 25 years this town in the middle of Aquidneck Island has undergone the most dramatic swings of population of any community in the state. Subject to decisions made in Washington, D.C., as to the concentration of Navy personnel, Middletown has had more than its share of ups and downs. Having its own Navy facilities and housing as well as housing personnel based in Newport, Middletown has seen its 1960 population of 12,675 explode to 29,900 in 1970 and then experience the greatest population loss in the 1970s of any of the nine Rhode Island communities that lost …

Teaching Jobs, Housing And Implications Ready For Providence's Lap, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"For the first time in 15 years, Providence has good news for those seeking teaching positions. There will be about 70 new openings in the next year as a result of about 50 impending retirements this year and an expected increase in enrollments of more than 500 next year. The short-term impact of the new teaching positions will be to bring young teachers into the schools and, in the long term, effect a major impact in the community."

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.

The Cities Do Need Help, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The lead editorial in the Providence Sunday Journal of December 7, 1986 is completely off the mark and deserves to be answered. The attitude expressed by the writer conveys the specious view that because our nation's cities are not being burned down or torn apart by race riots at the present time then things are not really all that bad in our urban centers."

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."

Ri: An Exodus From The Cities, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The numbers from the 1980 census are now starting to appear, and although some of the figures are preliminary, they still give an indication of trends. Until more detailed numbers become available in the spring, city and town totals for Rhode Island can now form the basis for some early analysis of changes over the past 10 years."

Changing Markets Require Different Style Of Houses, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It touches on the heartstrings and evokes a sense of nostalgia: the scene of father and mother sitting near the fireplace with the children playing at their feet. Here it is, the typical family at home, secure, stable, symbolic of the American way of life. But is this picture really accurate?

Suburban Sprawl Is A Tremendous Energy Waster, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Urban sprawl has been likened to a formless web of urban development that looks like Swiss cheese with more holes than cheese, and Gertrude Stein, in her inimitable style, once described one of these spread cities as 'There's no there there.'"

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.'"

Rediscovering Joys Of Walking In The City, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

""They're gonna stay in the city," is the way a major Providence developer and landowner stated it. A forecast that urbanists have been making for the past several years is now reaching fruition, and when it comes from businessman whose property investments depend on their perception of the future, there can be little question that its time has come."

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."