A 2-acre parcel of land for sale on the Providence waterfront, now the site of a former night club called Shooters, could be an extension of the adjacent India Point Park. Residents want the site to be rezoned to prevent condo development, while the Rhode Island DOT claims it must be sold at market price to the highest bidder based on Federal Highway Administration requirements.  

Ethan Kent, PPS Vice President, recently participated in a community forum about the site and said it could become a regional draw. It'll be up to community members to push for a plan that reflects the personality of the city.

Better access to the waterfront is one of the 7 principles listed in Providence 2020, a long-term vision for the city's growth. The plan calls for continuous waterfront pedestrian access with linkages to parallel streets.

Related Articles:
Residents Ask to Protect Shooters Site [The Providence Journal]
Proposed Rezoning along Waterfront  [Greater City: Providence]

The New York Times reports on the rising tensions between the community and developers over the plans for Brooklyn Bridge Park.

"For New Yorkers long accustomed to being shut off from miles of waterfront that were abandoned, underused or cut off by highways, lots of green open space on the water seems like a good idea. To Fred Kent, an urban planner who examines parks and plazas the way a doctor scrutinizes X-rays, it is another missed opportunity for life on the waterfront. Mr. Kent, the founder of the Project for Public Spaces, a nonprofit design and planning group, points to cities like Oslo or Stockholm where waterfronts are the backdrop to markets, museums and a range of commerce and culture.

'Putting a bunch of fields on the waterfront in the middle of a pier is not exactly the thing you should be doing on what is essentially your face to the world," he said of the Brooklyn plan, which he has opposed along with several local groups. "If Brooklyn wanted to distinguish itself as a great city, apart from Manhattan, it is the waterfront that could do it.'"

PPS recently facilitated a community visioning workshop for Pier 1, located at the end of Atlantic Avenue. There had never been any public input into the uses for the pier. The current design is for a passive landscaped space. Like many other waterfront projects around NYC and the world, the current vision for Brooklyn Bridge Park, and especially the Pier, is a squandered opportunity in place of what could be a great public asset.

Related Posts: 
Brooklyn Bridge Park Hall of Shame [PPS Archives]
Suburbanization of NYC Waterfronts [Streetsblog]
Waterfront Renaissance Around the World [PPS Newsletter, 2/07]

As cities are building new parks at a rate not seen for 100 years, the debate about what uses and activities to put in them is growing. 

Phil Myrick, a PPS Vice President, comments on how PPS helped create a program of uses for a new park in Houston that will generate buzz in a long-forgotten area of downtown, in this article from the Wall Street Journal.

"One participant described the “Placemaking Game” with Project for Public Spaces (PPS) as, “one the best events he had ever attended.” Hyperbole? We’re not sure, but one thing is for sure: the enthusiasm, delight in participating, and belief that it’s possible to create a dynamic public riverfront in Memphis was contagious."

Read more about the workshop attended by 134 people on the website of Friends For Our Riverfront.

This interview with Fred Kent appeared in the February 2007 issue of Urban Land:

"As an internationally known advocate for public spaces, Fred Kent, founder of the New York-based  Project for Public Spaces (PPS), sees cities - and the people who inhabit them - through the measured senses of an urban provocateur."

Although New York prides itself on its public life, New Yorkers inhabit a public realm that pales beside what it could become. "After working in cities around the world, we've developed a rich understanding of public spaces that begs to be put to use back in our home town," explains PPS President Fred Kent. "New York can benefit from our experience and become an even greater city in the 21st century."

Museum Mile Festival, 5th Avenue 

Read this special issue of PPS's newsletter Making Places, which includes the city commentary, New York great public spaces and hidden gems, and the places that provide the biggest opportunities for improvement.