Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Community-Based Research Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 61 - 87 of 87

Full-Text Articles in Community-Based Research

Retailing Is Key To A Strong Downtown, Chester Smolski Jan 1980

Retailing Is Key To A Strong Downtown, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The future of Providence, if Rhode Island's capital city has a future, must be keyed to retail sales, all pols and pundits to the contrary. If Mayor Cianci, the City Council, the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups really want an appealing city, one that hums with activity day and night, they have to redouble their efforts to put a solid economic footing under the still-eroding retail sector."


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.'"


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."


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."


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.'"


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 …


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 …


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."


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."


Gentrification--Urban Movement, But Small, Chester Smolski Dec 1978

Gentrification--Urban Movement, But Small, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It appears that the gentry are returning to the city in droves, snapping up old Federal, Victorian and Greek revival structures in some of our declining and marginal neighborhoods, rehabilitating these structurally sound buildings, and driving up the value of the surrounding properties, with a resultant upgrading of the neighborhoods in which they are located. In the process the poor and moderate income residents can no longer afford to live in their old neighborhoods, and are being forced from their communities by this avalanche of affluent professionals who have rediscovered the joy of urban living. At least this is what …


Various Alternatives To High-Interest Crunch On New Home Building, Chester Smolski Nov 1978

Various Alternatives To High-Interest Crunch On New Home Building, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The recent announcement by two major savings and loan mortgage lenders in California of higher home mortgage rates portends a problem already evident in the country--the inability of an increasing number of Americans to buy their own homes."


Despite The Heartaches, Urban Renewal Deserves High Marks, Chester Smolski Oct 1978

Despite The Heartaches, Urban Renewal Deserves High Marks, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The term "urban renewal" draws a mixed reaction. For some, it has meant relocated families, destroyed neighborhoods and heartache, even years after the fact. For others it has meant new construction, new jobs, increased taxes, reconstructed neighborhoods and visible signs of process."


Is This What We Want For Our Small Urban State?, Chester Smolski Oct 1978

Is This What We Want For Our Small Urban State?, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"The big advantage of a small state is that it is comprehensible, and some might say managable. Certainly, it is easier to work with the 39 cities and towns of this state rather than the 351 cities and towns of nearby Massachusetts. And yet one wonders if this is really true."


The Paradox Of Providence, Chester Smolski Sep 1978

The Paradox Of Providence, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Providence is a city of poor people, yet Providence is a rich city. This apparent paradox requires some explanation."


An Old Seaport Learns To Compete, Chester Smolski Aug 1978

An Old Seaport Learns To Compete, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It is situated at the northern limit of New Hampshire's short 18-mile seacoast, a seacoast perhaps best known for its beaches at Hampton and Rye. It was founded in 1630 on the south bank of Piscataqua at a location where wild strawberries were common, and carried the name 'Strawbery Banke" until 1653 when its name was changed to Portsmouth. Today, New Hampshire's only seaport is actively engaged in preserving this heritage of more than three centuries and to retain an architectural charm rivaling that of any New England seaport community."


Providence Needs Downtown Development District, Chester Smolski Aug 1978

Providence Needs Downtown Development District, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"In case you have not noticed, there is a considerable amount of activity taking place in downtown Providence these days."


Partnership That Can Save Downtown, Chester Smolski Jul 1978

Partnership That Can Save Downtown, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Downtown is the heart of any city. It is the most valuable land in the city, with businesses, entertainment, shops, government and transportation lines competing for space. It is this competition for space which causes buildings to rise highest above the ground, and go give the downtown the distinctive skyline which identifies a Providence, Boston and Manhattan. It is this skyline, in combonation with the architecture, building layout, and general appearence, which provides a sense of surprise and discovery to city centers, and which differentiates one city center from another."


Better Year Ahead For Ri Builders, Chester Smolski May 1978

Better Year Ahead For Ri Builders, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Building permit figures recently released by the Rhode Island Builders Association indicate that housing construction in the first quarter of 1978 is well ahead of the comparable period for 1977. The signs are encouraging that this year will be better than the last and that the recovery continues from 1975, the poorest year for the housing industry in the 1970s."


How Cubans Reshaped Downtown Miami, Chester Smolski Mar 1978

How Cubans Reshaped Downtown Miami, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It was just this past week that the last flight of refugees likely to come out of Castro's Cuba arrived at Miami International Airport. The hightly emotional reunion of familites that had been seperated for years was a reminder of the freedom which we enjoy in this country and for which many others are still waiting to come here to also enjoy."


Disney Plans City Of Tomorrow, Chester Smolski Mar 1978

Disney Plans City Of Tomorrow, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"It has been called Florida's 68th county, yet few of the millions of visitors to this fantasyland center of family entertainment realize the magnitude of the Walt Disney Productions' presence here."


Soul City Deserves To Succeed, Chester Smolski Jan 1978

Soul City Deserves To Succeed, Chester Smolski

Smolski Texts

"Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream--a dream of equal opportunity and justice for all. An assassin's bullet prevented him from realizing his dream. His friend and well-known leader in the civil rights movement also had a dream--a dream to build a new town in which the injustices of society would be lessened. Today, in the rolling farmland country of North Carolina, Floyd McKissick is working to fulfill his long sought dream."