Problem: East Providence is losing young adults, as the number of residents aged 25-34 years old fell 30 percent from 1990 to 2015. The East Providence Working Cities team has identified Riverside Square as an area where there’s a large population of individuals with low incomes and where a revitalization could help curb the exodus of youth.
Pitch: To revitalize Riverside Square into an arts-district area, where buildings are rehabbed into work-live spaces, galleries and restaurants that connect with the two waterfront parks, a historic carousel and the East Bay Bike Path.
“THE WORKING CITIES Challenge came at a great time because we’d already been talking with different groups in the Riverside community,” said Laura A. McNamara, executive director of the East Providence Area Chamber of Commerce. “There were different organizations working on their own, but we weren’t communicating. We all want the same thing and to contribute to this.”
McNamara is one of the leading members in the East Providence Working Cities effort and envisions the area – which she characterized as “very walkable” – transforming into a neighborhood known for its boutique and arts-inspired commerce, similar to Wickenden Street in the Fox Point neighborhood of Providence.
The idea has already yielded some interest, as Brian D. Dwiggins and his wife, Jessie L. Dwiggins, are redeveloping the old Riverside train depot to open a coffee shop called Borealis Coffee Co.
“There’s a huge upside here,” Dwiggins said. “You have affordability and then there are so many things happening to drive this whole area toward becoming revitalized.” •
