Providence

Introducing Providence

Rhode Island’s capital city, Providence presents its visitors with some of the finest urban strolling this side of the Connecticut River. In the crisp air and falling leaves of autumn, wander through Brown University’s green campus on 18th-century College Hill and follow the Riverwalk into downtown. Along the way you’ll have opportunities to lounge in the sidewalk café of an art-house theater, dine in a stellar restaurant and knock back a few pints in a cool bar. At night, take in a play at the Trinity Repertory, pass out in a club or eat some 3am burgers aboard the mobile Haven Brothers Diner.

Providence contains several high-profile universities and colleges plus a correspondingly large student population, helping to keep the city’s social and arts scenes lively and current. The most notable of these schools are Brown University and the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Johnson & Wales University, one of the nation’s best culinary arts programs, ensures that you’ll find excellent restaurants in all price ranges throughout the city.

In recent years, Providence’s ‘Renaissance’ (a favorite term used by Buddy Cianci, convicted felon and mayor, to describe the city’s ongoing cultural and economic success) has caused an increasing number of formerly bohemian downtown lofts to become yuppie headquarters for people commuting by train to Boston, much to the chagrin of the artists, musicians and drug dealers who used to live there. Now the gentrification process has been pushed out into the many abandoned textile factories at the edge of the city and in neighboring Pawtucket.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009