After the Carr-Lynch-Levine Development Strategy: What Next for Downtown Providence, Rhode Island

This Master's Research Project examines the manner in which the City of Providence reviewed a development strategy prepared by consultants for its downtown, and attempted to generate proposals for a fresh approach to central city planning and management. A profile of the existing political milieu and economic environment are furnished as a context for critiquing the consultants' report and the City's response to their findings. Case studies of alternative methods for promoting public-private partnerships in central cities are then analyzed as a basis for the development of a prototypical planning and management entity tailored to the needs of downtown Providence, Rhode Island.

. the City of Providence Department of Planning and Development is faced with a complicated set of choices for promoting stability and growth in the city core.
The central question of this Master's Research Project will be to identify the most beneficial policy options for the creation of a lasting public-private sector pact. geared to stimulating downtown growth.
The analysis will deal first with substantive issues.
including: a synopsis of Carr. Lynch's and Levine's work; a review and critique of the Strategy on its face; and an analysis of how downtown Providence is managed currently.
The second section will address policy and process issues. The conceptual framework While the goal of this study is to make purposeful recommendations for planning in downtown Providence at the 'metapolicy' level (that is. the strategic rather than the tactical scale). the approach is far from comprehensive. The study.
An implicit objective of this thesis is to propose realistic goals for implementation of a Downtown Development Strategy. the study for which has already been conducted by carefully briefed consultants. A personal. academic preference for freedom in venturing radical alternatives for central city planning is therefore tempered by pre-existing political and planning environments which. at least in Providence. amount to one and the same entity.
For the most part. then. theoretical considerations will not step outside the contextual framework set by the City of The aim of the thesis is to go beyond mere cataloging of one task of the Providence Department of Planning and Development; by analyzing the process of establishing an experimental approach to downtown planning, it is hoped that considerable insight into the development of a fresh planning paradigm will be achieved.

Procedures and methods of analysis
Because of the nature of the research, the approach to this study is qualitative rather than quantitative. to provide a bridge to Section II. the Strategy is critiqued as a prescription for change within the milieu of the city.

II.
Policy and Process Issues: Developing Planning and "Here's to dear old Providence.
Home of johnny cakes and scrod.
Where Metcalfs speak only to Browns And Browns speak only to God." It is true that Providence's great philanthropists.
cultural figures and educators have commanded greater national attention in recent decades than has its contribution to the regional economy of New England. Indeed.
as Caroline Knapp and Peter Kadzis (1986) have noted. "By the late 1950s Providence, like many northeastern cities. had fallen from industrial grace and succumbed to urban grit".
A sustained period of virtually uninterrupted economic growth from 1850 to the immediate post-war years gave way to a seemingly unstoppable period of economic decline. Only in the mid-1980s have politicians found the resolve to tackle Providence's problems head on. In a July. 1983 issue of the Wall ~.!.!~~! ~~~EE~l a front page story denounced Rhode Island as "the region's dowdy neighbor. clinging to old gritty industries and grappling with big economic problems".
Nowhere was the impact of this negative image -read about nationally by the nation's most influential investors -felt more strongly than in the city of Providence. Despite the 13 overwhelming defeat of the QE~~~EEE2~ fE~E~£! (perhaps the only attempt at regional economic planning ever seen in Rhode Island), the stage was set for indignant politicians to sit down together. to bury the disruptive nature of partisan Rhode Island politics, and to contrive to overcome the entrenched pattern of decline in the state's capital city.
2.2 The regional context In the Proyi~~~£~ §E~~~Z ~EEE~~l (October 5, 1986).  (September 8, 1986), "When you lose a job in northern New England, the bus station is a better bet than the local employment office". And within the flourishing economy of southern New England, sandwiched between the success stories of Connecticut and Massachusetts, Rhode Island seems very much the poor relative.
Within southeastern New England, Rhode Island and, in particular, Providence face competition from a number of highly successful regional service centers. Clearly, a few key employers are sustaining the state's economy. Electric Boat (a subsidiary of General Electric) and Raytheon Corporation together provide some 8,500 jobs, most of which are entirely dependent upon federal defense contracts. Magaziner estimates that should these contracts not be renewed at current expenditure levels. the state would rapidly see an increase of one to 1.5 percentage points in its unemployment rate.
To the extent that Rhode Island is holding its own against an entrenched pattern of manufacturing decline. a recent paper by William Jackson (1985) of the Brown University Research Foundation. cited by Knapp and Kadzis (1986). suggests that "Rhode Island is not doing well because of Rhode Island. but because of the run-off from Boston".
Steady jobs are increasingly found in the lower paid service sector and are more dependent than ever on the commercial success of corporations headquartered outside the state.
In the editorial section of the latest New ~QZ1~Q~ EC£Q£~X (1986). James Howell of the Bank of Boston notes.
"The New England economy is like a West Texas rattlesnake.
To survive it has to shed its skin." Nowhere is his warning more applicable than in Providence. Rhode Island.  et al. 1985).       1902 1183 1930-1983 1980-1983 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1980-1984 1980-1984 (Carr, Lynch and Levine, 1986). So where has the real growth in the commercial sector. indicated by the figures in Table 2.5.

A portrait of Providence
taken place?
Perhaps the only sector of the citywide economy which has experienced significant growth in recent years (and, incidentally, served to hold up the local economy) is the service sector (Smolski. 1986). In this sense. Providence is truly a state capital and regional service center.
But its overdependence on one industrial sector and its perceived low desirability as a residential location and as an environment for sound clientoriented. face-to-face trade have been barriers to balanced economic development (Arthur Markos. interview. August. 1986).

A portrait of downtown
For the moment. though. the descriptive statistics.
-The changing profile of downtown residents

52
The consultants proceeded to establish a statement of purpose. a series of goals and a methodology of data collection tailored to the downtown study.
The overall purpose of the Development Strategy was to make Providence "a better place in which to work. to do business. to live and enjoy life" (Carr-Lynch-Levine. 1986).
Commensurate with the wishes of the Administration.
the statement of purpose in the strategy was refined to achieve the following by the year 2000: 1.
Attract new office growth first to locations within the historic core. to provide direct support for residential and retail development.

2.
Develop a downtown residential community large enough to create a positive evening and weekend presence on the streets. as well as an active group to advocate continued improvement.

3.
Restore downtown retail to its full potential based on office workers, and create a realistic increase in evening and weekend business based on city and suburban residents and visitors.

4.
Create a set of new attractions, complementing those already in downtown, in order · to increase evening and weekend activity.

5.
Create a management function capable of promoting the continued growth and well-being of the area.

6.
Revive the Westminster Mall as the central spine of downtown activity and as a street of pride for the 53 people of Providence.

7.
Facilitate the re-creation of a mixed use downtown waterfront between Dyer Street and the Providence River.
8. Improve and reinforce the downtown ring roads for parking access, and provide publicly assisted structured parking adequate to support the projected hous i ng and office growth.
The three broad goals specified for the downtown development effort were: to the Downtown Development District.
The collection of primary and secondary data for assembly in the published data base was conducted in two ways: first. a review of secondary social. demographic. and economic data. as well as an analysis of past land use and policy plans; second. the execution of two primary data collection exercises -a downtown land use inventory and a market analysis which included a downtown employee survey.
A descriptive analysis of the consultants' findings is presented in the following chapter. The retail development strategy calls for the type of management to be found in suburban shopping malls. Based upon t e land use inventory and the employee survey, essential components for retail success were established as: 1. An upscale department store.

An attractive. secure and well-maintained Westminster
Mall.

5.
More attractions downtown on weekends for area residents and visitors.
The tasks of the agency to be charged with executing the Strategy. in respect to retail growth. can be summarized as follows: 3. An appropriately themed stage setting and performance facilities and equipment in Cathedral Square for celebrations and festival events, to be funded in association with a local sponsor or sponsors.
4. An Art Factory to be developed in association with housing considerations which would consist of exhibit and sales studios for artists, sculptors and craftspersons with interior and exterior space for related entertainment activities.

5.
A theme exhibit, such as an historic coastal steamer, tied to an appropriately designed restaurant/retail attraction on the waterfront, also to be undertaken with assistance from sponsors.
The locations of existing and proposed attractions are shown in Map 4.3.

The future downtown
The consultants anticipate that implementation of their  Carr (1986) notes that his perspective on achievable change is a feasible one. If their recipe for growth is followed he firmly believes that, "The core will once again be the vibrant It will be a pleasant and exciting place to live. work and play. It will once again be the pride of its citizens". The consultants expect to see the following in place by the turn of the next century: 1. Westminster Street will be revived as the active spine of downtown: brick street.
a simple. elegant and colorful tree-lined At midday and on many weekends it will be filled with crowds of shoppers. enjoying a renewed retail district.

2.
The upper floors throughout the old retail core will once again be filled. the predominant use being residential rather than commercial. Downtown office workers. students and the elderly will add immeasurably to the quality of the street life. helping it to seem safe. clean and orderly.
3. Weybosset will continue to be a strong street and become more so with the construction of Weybosset The Jewelry District will take off as more and more people seek to move back into the desirable downtown area. This area has the potential for creating several thousand more housing units. initially in converted factories and then in townhouse development.

10.
Access and circulation will be much improved by the work at the Dyer/Eddy interchange and on the ring road.
Modest improvements to other arterial streets. such as trees and sidewalk repaving. will attract commercial activity. built on increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic.
The following section looks at how Carr-Lynch-Levine hoped to bring about this idealistic. but desirable. future downtown.

Planning. funding and management
Perhaps even more important than the substantive elements of the Development Strategy are the recommendations for its implementation. The consultants paid as much attention to planning techniques. funding schemes and strategy management as the actual physical and economic plans themselves.
A number of innovative schemes were proposed as vehicles for successful goal attainment.

Management: The Providence Company
Section II of this thesis dwells at length upon the implications of and alternatives for a new management agency for downtown Providence. The prototype proposed by Carr-

Zoning and design review
According to the Strategy. modifications in downtown zoning will also require action (p.55). As suggested by Haar and Horowitz (1984), downtown zoning should encourage the fine grain mix of off ices, housing and retail adopted by the Strategy. The consultants support the City's intention to re-zone the entire downtown core as a C-3 Downtown Commercial

An orientation of opinions
The parameters set by the consulting firm determine the goals they set for themselves and, therefore, for the City.
It is one aim of this chapter to state the assumptions of the Development Strategy and to critique them.
Such a critique will be colored by the preconceptions, mind set and knowledge of the critic. It is hoped that the biases will be apparent and need not be set down here.
effort is both an intuitive and substantiated attempt to clarify a personal response to the Strategy.

The development of the Strategy. an overview
The scope of the report Carr looks at the processes of change.
While Carr. Lynch state that their concentration is upon the office worker market. they also note that downtown "will not come fully alive and prosper on this market alone". The question is raised. therefore. why did the financial analysis performed by Melvin Levine Associates concentrate solely on this limited. existing market?
The omission of further research in this area is no doubt based upon the prior experiences of the consultants.
However. of the three broad 'Goals of the Strategy' (p.47).
one is devoted to "increased shopping by area residents •.. " It is felt that the implicit assumptions of the document that there is a citywide or regional market to be tapped (no matter how marginal in anticipated impact). without further investigation. borders on conjecture.
Without establishing the precise role of downtown  (e) Clarification of the most appropriate response by the City to the prevailing economy in maximizing outcomes of public monies expended on redevelopment efforts; (f) Avoidance of duplication of service provision in areas Providence is not financially/fiscally able to compete.
Rhode Island does not have powers to plan on a truly regional basis.
Municipalities are in direct competition one with another. despite the fact that they are all components of the same urban system. Interstate highways are linear.
The succession of individual economies along them is not.
In order to make the report's goals more relevant to a secure economic future downtown and to establish a scope such that regional trends are understood and encompassed by proposed strategies. a limited regional economic analysis might have been useful. At present. the summarized impacts of the Strategy are not convincing (pp.6-7). Rather than merely suggest that. "This is the kind of process which we have seen in Boston and many other cities". the consultants ought to be encouraged to confirm their assumptions.
The City needs to know more. The scope must be broadened to facilitate efficient planning.

The Overall Development Strategy
In his secon~ 'State of the City Address' (1986). Mayor Joseph R. Paolino. Jr. indicated that despite recent attention upon downtown. his administration would never forsake the neighborhoods: "Those whose interests lie in downtown development must understand the depth of our commitment to the neighborhoods".
Nowhere in the report is there a reference to downtown Providence's role as a component element of a citywide urban system. The core is viewed as a self-contained entity.
Perhaps even more serious than the regional deficiencies there is something more than a residual role performed by the core in its servicing of the needs of residents of inner city neighborhoods. The report neither acknowledges nor builds on the existing and potential Providence markets.
In making unsubstantiated assumptions about the insignificance of both intra-and inter-city market trends and patterns, the Strategy is lacking in its analysis of the city's economic base. Doubts may therefore be raised as to the accuracy of its future scenarios and financial specifics. for a more detailed analysis of this potential problem).

Bright lights and colorful canopies
The 'Disneyland Gambit' is to be played in Downtown   Rabinovitz (1967) notes: "Although the addition of roles required for implementation may be only an adjunct to other conflicts between the skills needed by planners and the requirements of professionalism, it does not appear that even if the resource potential of planners for exerting influence is substantial, their disposition to use these resources in the political arena is limited".
Before assessing the impact of the fro~i~~Q£~ Q£~Q!£~Q Q~~~1££~~Q! ~!~~!~gy upon the Administration's planning professionals (the theme of Section II), a summary is provided here of the structure of planning and management agencies currently operating downtown, as well as an assessment of why another agency might be needed.
Such an overview is considered essential to an understanding of the mechanisms for review and adoption (Chapters 7 through 10 of this thesis) and paramount to evaluating alternative policies for implementation (Chapters 11 and 12). Eighteen separate entities are identified as having some   impact upon planning and management in downtown Providence.
While only a few of them will have prima facie involvement in the implementation of the Strategy. and even fewer in its adoption. the ramifications of downtown development will affect -either directly or indirectly -the operations of them all. The matrix of agency structure and operation in

Business Owners and Managers Association
This is a local branch of a national organization.  "the plan has got some imagination to it". Politzer noted, that this "latter quality eludes me completely." As for the consultants' recommendations for increased office space and more parking garages, Politzer wrote, "There is no question that the various notables to whom the Mayor is going to submit plan and vehicle for review will approve of both.
After all, they also approved of Westminster Mall, benches, planters, police booth, canopies and the Muzak of its beginnings." By the time this piece appeared, the private sector was beginning to ruminate about whether the entire downtown plan was no more than a costly exercise in "planning in a vacuum".
But the Department of Planning and Development was orchestrating its attempt to sell the Strategy: the Director himself took personal charge of the review process; members were appointed to a new Downtown Development Task Force; and a summer intern was appointed to conduct research and execute an opinion-seeking questionnaire on its behalf. The effectiveness of these measures are analyzed in the next chapter.
As the Mayor and his prof es s i o·n a 1 p 1 an n in g s t a ff b e g an to establish a considered response to the Strategy in terms of how best to apply it, a letter was received from Executive Director of the Providence Preservation Society, Wendy Nicholas.
As Table 6.1 shows, the PPS has no public powers, but it is a fierce lobbying organization and a firm exponent 115 of strict design review in the city.
Nicholas expressed concern about modifying traditional cobble stone streets on the proposed upgraded downtown ring road and requested closer attention to design review. not only in terms of standards.

The appointment of a Task Force
The Downtown Development Task   was a forum. not only in which the idea of a new downtown plan could be sold. but in which with the needs of the private sector could be identified and a plan tailored accordingly with direct private involvement.
The City recognized that it did not have the funds to 'go it alone'.

The Strategy recognized this (indeed. the Carr-Lynch-Levine
Strategy was unique in the history of Providence planning in that it assumed the availability of neither state nor federal funds). The Task Force was seen by the City as the only means by which a workable plan and a successful implementation vehicle could be generated.

The deliberations of the Task Force
According to what was anticipated to be only a summerlong agenda. the Task Force was scheduled to meet on four occasions between July 15 and September 9. 1986 (Figure 8.4).
The consultants had presented their findings to two invited assemblies of various downtown organizations. including the Chamber of Commerce. in early June and early July.   This initial period will involve a thorough investigation into the validity of the Strategy as a 'downtown plan•, with emphasis upon whether the integration of its many elements renders it a workable document. The consultants' report will be examined in the light of its strengths and weaknesses as perceived by yourself and the other Task Force particip~nts.
!t is anticipated that a diverse range of views will be expressed, but participants are encouraged to identify those issues which directly relate to the practicality of the plan -will it fly? If not, why not? Which elements have the greatest strengths ••• and deepest flaws? Attention will be paid in the first meeting of the Task Force to the key components of the Strategy: the establishment of the Providence Company; the development of Class 'A' office space; the Attractions Strategy; and the development of a 'Downtown Neighborhood'.

PHASE II. POLICY INPUT
By this stage, some consensus will have been reached in respect to those areas of the Strategy most actively to be emphasized and supported. While the first meeting will have established an approach to the Strategy, a more detailed critique (including the policy, planning and financial implications) is now appropriate. Responses from the presentations and the findings of the questionnaire (see example enclosed) will provide primary feedback data from both the public and private sectors. At this time, the Task Force should help to establish the most positive, workable elements of the Strategy in order that the Department of Planning and Development might initiate policy concerning the adoption of preferred plans.

PHASE III. POLICY GENERATION
The end of the sunrner months will mark the coalescing of a wide range of opinions into a policy document for the consideration of the Mayor. The Task Force will assist the Department of Planning and Development in defining the polcies and proposals to be selected for final recorrmendation. Again, participants are asked to look to the Providence Company (its accountability and financing, in particular), office space, attractions, housing and each sub-category of the planning scheme. It is hoped that the Director of Planning and Development will be able to make his submission to the Mayor by mid-September, 1986. renewal. at least a considered approach was now being taken to the direction and potential impacts of fresh initiatives.
An advisory body of acknowledged experts and powerful downtown actors had been assembled and what they recommended would be of considerable influence upon the Mayor as he attempted to set downtown policy for his new term (Paolino was re-elected by a resounding majority in November. 1986).
The Task Force was presented with individual agendas for each of its meetings.
None of these was adhered to. The points which did win almost unanimous approval in the last two Task Force meetings are as follows: 1.
The Task Force will support efforts to bring a multi-use, retail development (similar to that previously proposed for the Outlet Building) to downtown Providence.

2.
Developing and marketing office space is premature.

3.
A private sector initiative along the lines of the Carr-Lynch-Levine Attractions Strategy should be encouraged.

4.
Design Review is desirable, but the Task Force is not qualified to make specific proposals. For the longterm, coordinated design review is desirable.

5.
A residential neighborhood depends solely on supply and demand. Current land values do not permit the supply of residences at a cost which would be affordable to the type of individual/family who 143 would wish to locate downtown.

6.
The majority sentiment is to leave Westminster Mall closed to vehicular traffic at all times.

7.
The ring road will need more than merely improved signage to work effectively. Some form of physic.al improvements will be necessary. Residual. that is. because they are those functions which will not produce a profit and are therefore In selecting the four communities. it is hoped that a wide range of elements will emerge as contributing to the success of a prototypical management agency.  Almost entirely with private money, the city of Baltimore has been given a centerpiece; a worthy demonstration of capitalism organizing to preserve the status quo, but in a fashion acceptable to those with an eye for aesthetics rather than equitable function.

Renaissance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
During the nineteenth century. the city of Pittsburgh evolved from a military post to being one of the n a tion's most important industrial centers. As early as 1850, a larger share of Pittsburgh's population was involved in manufacturing than in any other U.S. city (Stewman and Tarr, 1982 1940,1980). In the same period, the total population declined from over 700,000 to less than 400,000. As an example of how the City and the CCIHMC resolved conflict, the case of the Harborplace location is described. The need for partnership arrangements to be flexible. Perhaps as a result of these factors. an independent mayor. whose motto was "I'm nobody's boy". was elected. All this marked the beginning of the unsettling period known as The Interlude.
No-one has ever suggested that development came to a George Barbour. Jr. (1982). writing on Portland, notes. But the means by which this new entity will come into being are probably as important as the entity itself. Unless there is a solid coalition among vested interests from the outset, any attempt by the City to institute a fresh approach will last no longer than the initial outrage it will engender. Quite simply. it will be ignored and, through isolation. be rendered useless.
The purpose of re-stating this fact before outlining the Some damage to the credibility of the Task Force has already been done. As noted in Chapter 8, one member feels she was brought into the fold to "rubber stamp" a fait accomplis. The Chamber of Commerce was far from pleased that 190 the consultants were appointed and the Development Strategy executed before they were involved. It is hardly surprising that the reception of the consultants' proposals for a new management organization was luke warm throughout the private sector; the businesses to be relied upon to both finance and initiate projects were never directly consulted by the City.
This was a grave error. but not insurmountable if future steps are taken with due courtesy to all parties. A detailed description is provided below.

Representation
There are two essential ingredients in the workability of the model: to the concept of partnership and the validity of broad based intervention in the free market.
In the long-term, the benefits to be derived by commerce from increased activity in the city core would far outweigh the sacrifices of incremental tax levies.

10.5
Summary It is hoped that this thesis has made a sound case for a new management entity in downtown Providence. Section I outlined the economic necessity for greater attention by ***