RESEARCH
The PCIS Mill Survey
In 2005 and 2006, the PCIS Mill
Survey was continued through the help of Brown University's
Urban Revitalization class to complete the areas of Olneyville
and Valley. We will soon
update the site with these results. This information
will also be accessible on the Providence Preservation
Society's Mill Listing on the ProvPlan site. Please
check back in a couple of weeks.
PCIS formed as partners in the mill
district, advocating for smart, responsible and balanced
revitalization of the city. We believe a balance of
commercial, residential and industrial use throughout the
city is essential in maintaining healthy and sustainable
economic growth in Providence.
At the request of the City of Providence's
Department of Planning and Development, PCIS initiated a
tenant survey of the ICDB in August of 2004 to collect data
on these properties. The goal is to provide the city
with information on the businesses, artists, manufacturers,
and occupants that currently make up the climate inside
these historically significant structures, so that proper
consideration of this population can be incorporated into
their plans for the development and preservation of these
sites.
The Results (PCIS
2004)
Through a grant from the RI Foundation,
PCIS surveyed a cross-section of the buildings on the ICBD
- a total of 31 out of the 250 buildings selected from the
Atwells, Olneyville, Valley and West End neighborhoods of
Providence. With a 13% vacancy, we found 157 businesses
and 1950 employees located in the occupied 27 buildings.
Applying the percent of vacancy, we used the ratio of 27
to 217, and found the ICBD facilitates 1,261 Businesses
and 15,672 Jobs.
The specific building results are accessible
in pdf format below. For the purpose of confidentiality,
the names of the businesses have been removed.
Through this work, PCIS has moved forward
in making recommendations to
the city that encourages community accountability and policy
that works with incentives for commercial development in
Providence. This information provides the basis to
select a number of buildings that should remain commercial
in their zoning. This preservation of use will directly
benefit existing businesses, the jobs they provide, and
the city of Providence. Furthermore, it will curb
displacement of the industrial and creative sector.
Through these efforts, we act in providing
resources to city planning in areas where they are in need
of support. We continue to form partnerships that strengthen
the creative and industrial communities of Providence, and
seek to secure and develop affordable space for the artistic
and small-scale industrial and entrepreneurial occupations.
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