Settlement in Olneyville began at Olneyville Square in the early 18th century as a center of trade with a nearby Narragansett village. The settlement grew significantly around 1785, after Christopher Olney, an American Revolutionary War General, founded a grist mill and a paper mill. By the mid-19th century, Olneyville developed as a railroad junction and a mill district, and became a major employment hub in Providence attracting many immigrants. This all came to an end in the post War era as the mill industries decline and the construction of highways 6 & 10 separating Olneyville from other neighborhoods. This led to decades of decline for Olneyville and a substantial drop in its population. Yet Olneyville is mostly preserved and has become a major hub for 1st & 2nd generation Hispanic immigrants. Former warehouses and mill buildings have seen new life as artist collectives and loft spaces since the 1990s and trendy new businesses and some new construction apartments are trickling in. But I would not say that Olneyville is gentrifying yet as the neighborhood is very affordable comparted to neighboring as with a top for sale price at around 450K.
From an urban perspective Olneyville has a lot of good walkable attributes. Its dense, has solid public transit and bike access, has a nice neighborhood hub where Broadway, Manton, & Westminster St meet (historic Olneyville Square), convenient access to Dwtn, a good array of cultural and retail amenities and lots of mixed-use areas thanks to it historic industrial legacy. Olneyville also has decent parks thanks to the recreational trail and riverside parks along the Woonasquatucket River and decent walkable school options. But Olneyville still has a lot of blight and grit and plenty of strip malls & autocentric uses ( especially concentrated along Manton Avenue) limited tree canopy, and not enough housing options. But given its good urban bones, I think Olneyville will continue to get better and better and has one of Providence’s best potentials as an up and coming urban district.
Click here to view my Olneyville album on Flickr
URBAN STRENGTHS:
* Solid density at nearly 15K per sq mile.
* Good sidewalk infrastructure but only about half of all intersections have ADA curb cuts with much better coverage along the biz districts than residential streets.
* Some attractive 19th century landmark bldgs and old warehouses but the residential arch is generally very working class and gritty.
* Decent public transit access and very convenient access to Dwtn being only a 10 min drive and 20 min bus ride. Also a good # of dedicated bike lanes running along the streams & rivers and providing good access to Dwtn through Federal Hill.
* Likely hosts the largest concentration of Hispanics in Providence at nearly 60%. Also sizable White & Black populations. A largely working class population with some income diversity.
* Many larger families here with children.
* Some bad stretches of strip malls along Manton Ave but generally urban form is pretty solid along Broadway and decent along Valley & Atwells.
* Pretty good cultural amenities including tons of restaurants, a couple of bars & cafes, a couple art galleries, a small technology museum, several live music venues, a local performing arts theater.
* Extensive riverside park including a rec trail in Olneyville running along Woonasquatucket River. Also convenient access to the large Merino Park just across the river, Donigian Park, and the Button Hole golf course.
* Only one schools within Olneyville but several solid schools just across the river in Federal Hill.
* Decent # of rental options including some 1-beds options that lease btwn 1.4K-2.5Kand some of 2 beds btwn 1.5K to 2.5K. Good amount of dedicated affordable housing.
* Really solid retail in Olneyville which include several grocerias, a supermarket just on the edge of the neighborhood, a flee market, several clothing/boutique stores, a family dollar, a couple gift shops, several furniture stores, a hardware store, tons of salons, a couple banks, a couple book stores & bike shops, several bakeries, a local library and post office, several churches, and a couple of medical centers.
* Thanks to the historic industrial district located on the southern edge of Olneyville and 4 biz districts, this is a very mixed-use area.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
* Mix of autocentric strip malls and some quality urban infill.
* Lots of grid due to the industrial and immigrant legacy of the neighborhood. Some crime and gang issues but not terrible.
* Tree canopy is so so due to the large amounts of industry remaining in Olneyville.
* For sale options are a bit limited. Really no 1-beds but for sale housing is pretty reasonable compared to more gentrified areas. 2-bed sell in the 200Ks, and some more 3 & 4 beds which sell btwn 175K-475K.
* Some recent interest in the neighborhood judging by some recent loft conversions on creative stores locating in the old warehouses but judging by the relatively cheap housing prices, Olneyville is still not a cool and “in demand” area.
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 