Parking Madness 2019 Round 1: Providence vs. Austin

Years ago, much of the usable space between the Rhode Island State House and the train station in downtown Providence was, simply put, a parking crater. Earlier development had given preference to vehicle-based needs and several tracts of the historic Woonasquatucket River had been buried below blankets of asphalt. Further, the city’s downtown, which should have been just steps away from the State House, had become virtually unreachable by foot, with a maze of parking lots, freight yards, and rail lines segregating what is now known as Capital Center from the heart of Downtown.

In the late 1970s, a new vision was developed for this land, bringing together initiatives to relocate (below ground) a portion of the railroad tracks, create new streetscapes and public green space, uncover and re-channel the river and develop the tracts of land which had been parking lots into commercial, residential and retail space. Over the next several decades, this former parking crater became home to new rail station, millions of square feet of new residential and commercial office buildings and public open space. Decades after the river was uncovered and new streets were established to reconnect Capital Center to the rest of Downtown, the City continues to work with developers to fill in the remaining urban fabric in Capital Center. As of early 2019, two key projects are under construction on formerly vacant lots in this area including an 8-story, 120-room extended stay hotel and a 169-unit apartment building.

A significant part of this transformation was the creation of the award-winning Waterplace Park, which reclaimed the waterfront for pedestrian and recreational use. Now, nearly a mile of the river is lined with cobblestone walkways, plazas, pedestrian bridges and other features, and is home to one of the region’s most prolific public cultural events — Waterfire.