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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Ways To Offset High Interest, Rising Cost Of Housing, Chester Smolski Dec 1979

Ways To Offset High Interest, Rising Cost Of Housing, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Little noted by the general public, the recent decision by the Federal Reserve Board to make credit more costly and less easily available is having a marked impact on that same public, especially in the area of housing."


Waste, Abuse Assure Changes In Section 8 Housing, Chester Smolski Dec 1979

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.'"


Suburban Elderly Speak Out In Providence, Chester Smolski Nov 1979

Suburban Elderly Speak Out In Providence, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The talk was designed to elicit information and reactions from the audience of elderly. And it did just that because old people do not waste words and are not reluctant to speak out, perhaps because they realize that they have little time left, so they were ready with their comments and quite willing to fill out the questionnaire."


The Local Planning Boards Miss An Opportunity, Chester Smolski Nov 1979

The Local Planning Boards Miss An Opportunity, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Planning boards in the communities of the state have the responsibility to study, advise and recommend strategies and policies for the growth and development of their respective cities and towns. These appointed members frequently have no background on such matters and must often make decisions on which they have little understanding. This is particularly true in areas of housing where PUD, PURD, Condo, Co-op, zero lot line zoning, and a host of other acronyms and concepts sometimes defy comprehension."


Questions Raised On Railroad Location, Chester Smolski Nov 1979

Questions Raised On Railroad Location, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"A second public hearing on the proposed relocation of the railroad station and tracks in Providence was held on October 25 in state capitol. Approximately 40 people were in attendance: most of whom were from Providence; most of whom raised substantive questions about the proposed relocation; and most of whom were opposed to it."


Sharing Ideas For A Better City, Chester Smolski Oct 1979

Sharing Ideas For A Better City, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It was billed as 'Rebuilding the Medium-Sized North American City,' and representatives from nine cities throughout this country and Canada assembled in Providence to discuss ideas, ingredients, processes, and problems related to restoring the physical fabric of the city."


More Tenants Would Strengthen Downtown Retailing, Chester Smolski Oct 1979

More Tenants Would Strengthen Downtown Retailing, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"One of the most obvious symptoms of our sick cities is the decline of downtown retailing. Everywhere vacant shops and empty upper floors remind us of an activity that was the mainstay of downtown vitality, and which today has increasingly shifted to the ubiquitous suburban mall, that notable merchandising technique."


Downtown Plan Needed For Future Growth, Chester Smolski Oct 1979

Downtown Plan Needed For Future Growth, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It appears that the Providence downtown is finally turning the corner. A proposal to beautify the entrance into the city center from Route 95 with trees, flags, parks, art work and new illumination has been submitted to the Providence Redevelopment Authority. This turn to aesthetics, coming on the heels of considerable physical improvement of roads and buildings accomplished and in progress, is an indication that downtown interests recognize the lack of an attractive city 'gateway' and want to do something about it. This is decidedly a praiseworthy action on the part of the private sector."


The 'Providence Process' As A Model For Development, Chester Smolski Oct 1979

The 'Providence Process' As A Model For Development, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Sen. Paul E. Tsongas of Massachusetts, addressing the International Downtown Executives Association in Washington early this year, stressed the importance of the city center with these words: "I firmly believe that no matter what we do for the neighborhoods, if we let the downtown fail, then the whole city goes. In a real sense, the downtowns are everybody's neighborhood. And it becomes everybody's problem to see that they are as strong and healthy and vibrant as the heart of the city should be.""


New Federal Initiatives For City Revitalization, Chester Smolski Oct 1979

New Federal Initiatives For City Revitalization, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"'We have never really had a comprehensive urban policy in this country...and in the absence of understanding and coordinated assistance among government leaders, many of our cities are caught in a vicious cycle, a downward spiral that can only be broken by new attitudes, new initiatives, and a new partnership.'"


Beating The Drum For Tourists: Hartford Leads By A Mile, Chester Smolski Sep 1979

Beating The Drum For Tourists: Hartford Leads By A Mile, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"This capital city of the Nutmeg state is remarkably similar to Rhode Island's capital city both in terms of historical development and present day status. Bu there is one striking difference: the ability and commitment to 'sell' itself."


Saving The Arcade Isn't Easy, But It's Worth All The Trouble, Chester Smolski Sep 1979

Saving The Arcade Isn't Easy, But It's Worth All The Trouble, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The word tradition, when associated with an historic Providence, conveys a feeling of continuity and sensitivity to the past. To return to one's community after an extended absence and find the same drugstore, record shop and bank in the same location of familiar old buildings is somehow reassuring. Hometown signifies unchanging, comfortable and memories."


Right Mix For Successful Downtown Renewal, Chester Smolski Aug 1979

Right Mix For Successful Downtown Renewal, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It is sometimes called a 'big, small town.' It has all the trappings of a large urban center: from outdoor concerts at the Civic Center to a Go-Go lounge; parking problems and traffic congestion, to a Worthinton Street where bars and prostitutes prevail; and vacant old buildings , to new, high-rise office blocks. Sheer numbers alone in this city bring visible evidence of the activities and characteristics common to the downtowns of most large American cities."


Valley View Saved For Now, But What Of The Future?, Chester Smolski Aug 1979

Valley View Saved For Now, But What Of The Future?, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It is 'a remarkable demonstration that public housing, under the right circumstances and with the right kind of management, can work.' So stated a prominent urbanologist from Loyola University in describing the Valley View housing development in Providence."


Farewell To The Bucklin Bldg., Chester Smolski Aug 1979

Farewell To The Bucklin Bldg., Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"How does one write an obituary for a building? Does one concentrate on its architecture and long history, or does one single out the actors and forces which killed it? The current razing of the Bucklin Building can only bring sadness to the heart and the need to express, in a few, final words, a tribute to a fine and familiar structure."


Rediscovering Joys Of Walking In The City, Chester Smolski Jul 1979

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."


Rebirth Of The Downtown Industrial District--Key To Revitalization, Chester Smolski Jul 1979

Rebirth Of The Downtown Industrial District--Key To Revitalization, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Residents were there by the hundreds to welcome home one of their noteworthy product of a previous era. 'Old 299' had just returned from the Panama Canal Zone to its final resting place in the New Paterson Museum, a fitting climax for the 2-6-0 'Mogul' type steam locomotive that was born here in 1906. And June 6, 1979 marked the gala return of one of the few remaining American-made locomotives that were so instrumental in the construction of the Panama Canal by this nation in the period from 1904 to 1914, after earlier unsuccessful attempts by the French."


Housing Rehabilitation Working In Hoboken, Chester Smolski Jun 1979

Housing Rehabilitation Working In Hoboken, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"One may not believe the argument but George Kohn, executive vice president of Applied Housing Associates, makes an interesting point. His business is housing, and he raises the question of where one should live--Manhattan or Hoboken. Why live on Manhattan's West Side, he asks, and pay $1,000 a month to wake each morning and view the flat, industrial ad boring New Jersey landscape across the Hudson? Why not live in Hoboken, at a $250 monthly rental, and view the fantastic, and only one like it in the world, Manhattan skyline to the east? Thirty cents and a 12-minute PATH subway …


Visit Radburn Where People Turn Their Backs To The Automobile, Chester Smolski Jun 1979

Visit Radburn Where People Turn Their Backs To The Automobile, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"After 50 years it is still one of America's most visited communities, yet there is little for the tourist to see or do. It consists of only 150 acres, as mall part of the municipality of Fair Lawn, with 3,000 persons living in 430 single-family houses and 196 apartments, row houses and duplexes. Except for the sizable expanses of green spaces and differently arranged houses, what is it about Radburn, located just 10 miles west of the George Washington Bridge, that makes it such a unique community?"


Momentous Decision: Capital Center Project, Chester Smolski Jun 1979

Momentous Decision: Capital Center Project, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It may very well be the most important decision facing Providence in this century; it would provide new commercial space approximately one and one-half times that found in the present downtown; it would remove black and ugly 'dead' space (parking) from the foot of the state Capitol and replace it with acres of greenery and enhanced riverfront; it would provide better access into the downtown and facilitate the east-west flow of traffic; it would drastically alter the focus of the downtown; and it would greatly increase the tax base of the capital city. The Capital Center Project, with its proposed …


Downtown Buildings That Link Us To Our Past, Chester Smolski Jun 1979

Downtown Buildings That Link Us To Our Past, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It is sickening and it is sad. A building that has withstood the ravages of time throughout its 103 years of life deserves a better fate; yet there it stands, disembowled and broken by the wrecking ball. The Hoppin Homestead Building on the Westminster Mall will soon be only a memory, and its site will be marked by that ubiquitous asphalt reminder of our automobile addicted age--the parking lot. Is this the cure for old buildings in a downtown that is moving on the road to regeneration?"


The Case For Residency Requirements, Chester Smolski May 1979

The Case For Residency Requirements, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The issue has been raised previously. It came up again most recently with the applicants for jobs with the Providence Fire Department. The question is, 'Should city employees be required to live in the city which employs them?'"


Housing Program That Suffers From Too Much Success, Chester Smolski May 1979

Housing Program That Suffers From Too Much Success, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"One of the strengths of this country lies in the large number of people who own and occupy their own homes. In 1970, 63 percent of Americans were classed as owner-occupiers (in Rhode Island the figure was 58 percent), and that number has grown to approximately 65 percent today."


Ah, Toronto, You Care About People!, Chester Smolski May 1979

Ah, Toronto, You Care About People!, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"They had a band winter here this year and the sunshine and warmer temperatures of Spring did not arrive until April 17. Spring is called a myth here because it comes so late, yet even with severe and long winters there is not one single pothole to be found in the well-maintained streets of the downtown. (Would that Providence could say as much!) This is just one of the many unusual aspects of Canada's largest city, a city decidedly different from those in the U.S. Toronto also offers proof that cities can work, that they have a future, that people …


Role For Business Leaders In A Cleaner Downtown, Chester Smolski Apr 1979

Role For Business Leaders In A Cleaner Downtown, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The recent sales promotion by the Providence Intown Merchants Association proved quite successful. Five-cent bus rides and bargain sales generated considerable business, especially on Saturday, normally a quiet day for retail sales in the downtown. This well illustrates what is possible when salesmanship and cooperation among downtown merchants are used to full advantage."


More Inner City Jobs, Chester Smolski Mar 1979

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."


Stimulus For R.I. Housing, Chester Smolski Mar 1979

Stimulus For R.I. Housing, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It was the single largest bond issue in the state and one of the largest in the nation. The Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation (HMFC) has sold $163 million of tax-free bonds, $142 million of which will be made available at below market interest rates to persons with annual incomes up to $30,000, to buy homes in Rhode Island. This will have a sizable impact on the local real estate market and increase housing opportunities for many prospective home buyers."


Cleaning Up The Litter, Chester Smolski Feb 1979

Cleaning Up The Litter, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The last time the Environmental Protection Agency checked the numbers, it determined that eight million tons of America's annual municipal solid waste load was in the form of bottle and can beverage containers. Much of this was picked up from highways before it eventually reached municipal landfills."


State-Supported Urban Policy Vital For Rhode Island, Chester Smolski Feb 1979

State-Supported Urban Policy Vital For Rhode Island, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"For the first time in this country's history there is now a national urban policy, a statement of objectives that need to be implemented if this nation's cities are to survive and subsequently prosper."


Keystone For Renewal: City Neighborhoods, Chester Smolski Jan 1979

Keystone For Renewal: City Neighborhoods, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"If the heart of a city is its downtown, that central area of concentrated jobs and economic activity, then there is no question that its soul is its neighborhoods, that surrounding community of people and homes. Here in residential areas, the largest, single use of land in cities, one finds the strength, deprivation, flavor and other characteristics which congtribute to the diversity of city life."