This is sure to mean a tourism bonanza!

In recent years, Providence has not only seen a new convention center and a revitalized waterfront, but historic corridors have also been restored to their Revolutionary-era glory, giving the Rhode Island capital an architectural sense of place. But these cultural trappings, more commonly associated with overcrowded metropolises, have not caused this city of 200,000, near the banks of Narragansett Bay, to lose its small-town flavor. Drivers still request their initials on license plates, sandwich shops let regulars run a tab and Mayor David N. Cicilline greets residents by name and lists his home number in the phone book.

For the record, the Times ended their Friday and Saturday nights at the Black Rep and Local 121, which sounds pretty true-to-life. And did you know that the original State House, “where, in 1776, Rhode Islanders declared independence two months before the rest of the country,” used to be on Benefit Street?

Espresso at Caffe Dolce Vita, brunch at Nick’s on Broadway, and dinner, oh so predictably, at Al Forno. Sounds like a typical weekend!

I’ve often seen gentrification as a difficult problem to tackle. For many of my friends—young, working people trying to live in diverse areas and support themselves on small, non-profit or public service salaries—it is a struggle to find housing without becoming an agent of gentrification. But a New York Times piece today about Mount Morris Park, a traditionally-black Harlem neighborhood, explores one of the uglier examples of that phenomenon.

Timothy Williams chronicles the recent dispute over the neighborhood’s Marcus Garvey Park where, since 1969, drummers from Africa and the Caribbean have played an important role in shaping the social fabric and dynamic of the place. “The musicians,” he explains, “who play until 10 p.m. every summer Saturday, are widely credited with helping to make the park safer over the years.”

Across the street from the park however, at 2002 Fifth Avenue, is “a new seven-story cream and red brick luxury co-op with a doorman, $1 million apartments and a lobby with a fireplace.” Predictably, there have been some disputes about the character of the neighborhood.

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Table space is still available for the Providence Rock & Roll Yard Sale at the IndieArts Festival on Saturday July 19th. This all takes place in Burnside Park and the Bank of America Skating Center from 1PM to 11PM, with live bands and DJ’s, and food and drink, and tons of people walking by with plenty of money to spend on…. well, whaddya got? Books? CD’s? Vintage clothes? Crafts? Propaganda? Cookies? Please, someone be selling me cookies.

For info contact Jen or Chris at What Cheer? Antiques and Vintage, 861.4244, and get yourself a space (it’s BYO table). It’s only $25, but you must pay in advance. (Make credit card payments here.)

Seth tries to save a building.

Bob McMahon - inspired and competent long-term Parks Dept employee –  takes the helm.  That means frisbee golf, everywhere.