Fox Point- Historic Working Class Neighborhood located at Providence’s First Port (India Point)

Fox Point retains much of its historical character, with housing stock dating from the late 18th and 19th centuries. This includes vernacular of the Federal, Greek revival, and Italianate styles generally well represented West of Governor Street. East of Governor St the architecture is more working class from the late 19th century. Fox Point’s economy quickly became focused on the docks and trade with the creation of Providence’s first port at India Point in 1680, which sadly became major trading point in the Atlantic Triangle Slave Trade. By the mid 1800s Fox Point transitioned to move heavy industry with the completion of the Boston and Providence Rail Roads and regular steamship connections to ports along the East Coast. This attracted many immigrants starting with the Irish and then families from Portuguese and Cape Verdeans in the second half of the 19th century. Fox Point retained its working class ethnic vibe well into the 20th century but by the 1980s due to its proximity to Brown University working class families were replaced by students and upper middle class professionals looking for convenient access to College Hill in a walkable community.

Fox Point is a solid urban district with great access to both Dwtn and College Hill, decent public transit & bike connections, solid park amenities, and good retail amenities thanks to Wickenden & Ives Commercial Streets. It also is a great destination for night life, particularly bars & restaurants, and  has a strong cafe cultural and college vibe. While housing types are diverse and rentals plentiful, its a pretty expensive neighborhood and lacks good neighborhood schools and families. Hopefully Fox Point can do a better job attracting families and empty nesters. I also would like to see continued dense urban infill along Main & Benefit Street near Providence River. My dream project would be the removal of I-195 which would eliminate the barrier to India Point Park and heal this incision through the neighborhood.

Click here to view my Fox Point Neighborhood on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

• Good sidewalk infrastructure but ADA curb cuts are less than 1/2 of all intersections.
• Good urban density.
• Very convenient access to Dwtn being only 1.5 Miles from Dwtn across all modes of transport. Nice bike lanes along the river connecting to Dwtn.
• Good street grid but 195 really separates the southern edge of the district from the waterfront.
• Excellent economic diversity. Good racial but not as good as College Hill.
• Good array of for-sale options but pretty expensive. Thankfully do to the diversity of housing options there are moderately price condos often in multi-family historic mansions. This includes plenty of 1-bed condos that sell btwn 200K-750K, 2-bed btwn 300K-850K, and 3 & 4 beds btwn 400K-1.5 M.
• Lots of rental options with studios and 1-beds leasing btwn 1K-3K, tons of 2-beds which lease btwn 1.8K-3.3K, and plenty of 3 & 4 beds leasing btwn 2K-4K.
• Solid tree canopy.
• Overall a very safe community. Can be a bit noisy near the bars.
• Nice array of small parks spread throughout Fox Points, the larger India Point Park and a Guys & Girls Club with an indoor pool.
• Attractive historic 19th century architecture but not as consistent or old as Federal Hill. A lot more plainer working class homes mixed in, esp. the eastern half of Fox Point.
• Good urban form throughout most of Fox Point. A couple spots with surface prkg near 195 but these areas seem to be redeveloping.
• Good cultural amenities including many diverse restaurants, tons of bars & cafes, a couple art galleries, a brewery, a performing arts theater, and convenient access to all the cultural amenities of College Hill & Dwtn.
• Good retail amenities a Trader Joes, a couple gourmet grocerias, a couple florist, good amount of boutiques & gift stores, several antiques & home good stores, a hardware store, a couple bike stores, a local public library, several dessert joint & bakeries, a couple gyms, and several of churches.
• Very mixed use district with two main biz districts along Wickenden & Ives but also a local of commercial activity along Brook & Hope.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

• A handful of good schools in Fox Point but they are small. Several quality schools in neighboring College Hill and Wayland.
• Streetscaping along Wickenden & Ives is pretty dated and narrow but better streetscaping along Main St.
• Not much urban infill but more and more along or near Main St with pretty solid urban form.
• Missing a post office, doctor’s office, pharmacy, etc.
• Limited generational diversity as the district is largely college students and young professionals.