Providence’s West End- A Historically Struggling Inner City Neighborhood Showing Signs of Life & Reinvestment

In the 19th century, the West End Area developed industrially and residentially with several factories built near the now-filled Long Pond. Development began to fill in in earnest in the Mid-19th century. The neighborhood was historically broken up by the section  Northland South of Cranston Street. North of Cranston Street became a white middle-class subdistrict of the neighborhood characterized by one and two family houses, while south of Cranson became double and triple decker houses built to accommodate increasing numbers of working class  Irish, French Canadians, and African-Americans families. This division in the neighborhood still holds today and the sub-section of the West End north of Cranston is significantly more affluent with more attractive and well maintained homes.  Following the urban decline of the 1930s, the West End ended a slow decaying period where more and for middle class residents replaced by larger numbers of working class families, especially Hispanic and African American. In past decade however, the West End has begun to revitalize as increasing numbers of affluent households (generally White) have invested in homes bringing new life to the attractive historic houses north of Cranston  but also converting many older houses into affordable rentals. While the revitalization are most evident north of Cranston, it has begun to spill out into other areas of the neighborhood. There is even new urban infill along Westminster (the north border of the district).

From an urban perspective West End has solid urban bones with a good walkable grid, solid public transit, excellent access to Dwtn, decent park & recreation amenities, and lots of solid walkable school options. There are lots of diverse housing options with prices cheaper than Federal Hill to the north. But the neighborhood still lacks the retail and cultural amenities of Federal Hill, a sign of the long rebuilding effort need to erase its many decades of decline. I hope that the West End can find a way to rebuilt without significant displacement of its many working class households. Given the neighborhood’s many vacant lots and underutilized space I’m hopeful it can find a way to do this, but attention will need to be paid to intentionally create affordable housing as reinvestment comes.

Click here to view my West End Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Solid density even with a decent amount of vacant lots.
* Pretty good ADA and sidewalks infrastructure but ADA standard curb cuts are in place on about 2/3s of all curbs.
* Convenient access to Dwtn only 1.5-2 Miles away 8 mins by car, 12 mins by bus, and 15 by bike.
* This is a major Hispanic neighborhood but still good diversity with large White, Black, and modest Asian population. A Quarter of the population is in poverty but still good income diversity.
* Many family households likely  due to the large Hispanic population.
* Not a ton of private schools but plenty of public ones and generally high ratings.
* Good # of rentals and more reasonably priced than neighboring Federal Hill. 1-beds lease btwn 1.3K-2.3K, 2-beds btwn 1.3K-3K, and a decent # of 3 & 4 beds btwn 2K-4K. A large # of affordable housing rentals here.
* Good # for-sale options including and cheaper than Federal Hill but still a pretty strong market. Some 1-bed condos that sell btwn 150K-300K, 2-bed btwn 150K-500K, and 3 & 4 beds btwn 250K-700K with a handful of more expensive options.
* Pretty good # of small and medium sized parks well distributed throughout. Also the West End Recreation center.
* Mix of attractive late 19th century wood frame homes of various styles concentrated around Dexter Field but most of the other houses and more working class structures.
* Decent cultural amenities including some restaurants, a couple live music venues and salsa clubs, a couple breweries, and the impressive Cranston Steel Armory. Good access to the cultural amenities in nearby Broadway at Federal Hill.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

• Decent # of vacant lots throughout the district although few vacant bldgs.
• Okay amenities include a Co-op, plenty of ethnic grocerias and butchers, a drug store, a family dollar, plenty of salons & barber shops, several bakeries, a public library, plenty of churches, and a couple doctor’s office and decent access to the Rhode Island Hospital.
• Really a lack of bike infrastructure other than some dockless bikes.
• Tree canopy is so so. Generally better in the wealthier sections along the northern edge of the West End.
• Historically West End was a pretty rough neighborhood but it has come a long way since the early 2000s with reinvestment and much less violent crimes. While vacant bldgs are limited, there are plenty of vacant lot and underutilized autocentric uses, a legacy of the neighborhood’s disinvestment.
• Not much modern in-fill but some decent projects along Westminster. A good amount of autocentric junk on the Cranston and Elmwood Biz districts.
• Urban massing is really hit or miss along Cranston, Elmwood, and Westminster. Getting better along Westminster thanks to recent in-fill projects. Some residential in-fill near the stronger parks of the district around Dexter Field.