Photoshopping the Future
In addition to my old site designs, I found some other cool things buried in my F:\ drive, including something my Prov Development friends might get a kick out of. Here's what the Providence River may look like once the 195 span is gone (you'll have to imagine the new bridge in the background, and mentally place a riverwalk on the west bank…)
I made this in 2001 from some webcam images taken from atop the Fleet Building. For reference, here's what it looks like now:
Neat, huh?
March 30th, 2004 at 6:15 pm
Quite neat. Help orient me a bit… Is the nearest bridge in your “future” photo the Point Street bridge? And if so, what is the farther structure?
Garris
March 30th, 2004 at 6:17 pm
PS: How cool is the location of the land that the 195 relocation opens up? I see great “Urban Village” potential there!
Garris
March 30th, 2004 at 6:26 pm
In the “Future” (top) pic, the closest span is the Point St Bridge, then the hurricane barrier after that. The new bridge will go just beyond the hurricane barrier. I’ll have some picture galleries up soon with closeups.
There is some amazing potential, definitely, but it’s going to be a long time before it realizes that potential. They’ve just barely started getting people to move downtown (in Downcity) at all, and there’s plenty of space in the Jewelry District that needs development even before all the new plots are opened up. Unfortunately.
March 31st, 2004 at 9:46 pm
Don’t fret, the Jewelry District is moving along at a good clip. Brown’s new BioMed building is gonna bust that mother out, and there’s two condo conversions taking place within a block on each side of Brown’s project.
April 1st, 2004 at 7:00 pm
The Jewelry District does have a great plan, and I was ecstatic to see Brown coming down the hill. Will it bust that mother out? I hope so, but there’s an awful lot of surface parking over there, and if Capital Center is any indication, it’ll be 20 years from now and the unused highway will still be standing.
Of course, Providence is much less corrupt (which is to say, its just “very” corrupt rather than “unfathomably”) so I’m optimistic. But not overly so.
April 1st, 2004 at 10:41 pm
Did you happen to see the latest on Parcel 2 in Capital Centre?
http://www.projo.com/metro/content/projo_20040331_capcen31.2772df.html
The architect ADD, Inc. I think is really great at bringing a modern touch to it’s designs, but being able to harmoniously integrate them into a New England urban centre. See their Atelier 505 in Boston’s South End.
Brown’s BioMed building is just their first step off of the Hill. Brown really wants to become a player in the BioMed industry, and coming to the Jewelry District allows them to be closer to, and integrate with the hospitals. I think the fact that Brown has it’s sights on the Jewelry District and Johnson & Wales has it’s eye on parts of 195 bode well for both areas.
Schools are much more recession proof then corporate industry (like what is trying to be developed in Capital Centre). In fact schools take advantage of recessions to expand in a depressed labour market when they have the money to build more for less.
Brown will have a lot of people in the Jewelry District quite soon, and those people are going to want the same services they are used to on the East Side, I think the market will respond quick. (by quick I’m thinking years, instead of decades).
April 1st, 2004 at 11:58 pm
Those are great points. We owe JWU a huge debt for making the decision 10 or so years ago to make downtown expansion a priority.
And if anyone from Brown would like to make a young graduate with a degree in cell and molec biology one of those people filling up the JD, they can give me a call. I’ll even sell my car.
Oh, and I have a post coming up about the new parcel 2 thing.