Reimagining the Urban Freeway Holding Back Providence

Providence’s DePasquale Square is a delightful experience in the summer. The fountain-cooled oasis is surrounded by restaurants and people, creating a scene that resembles a piazza in Italy. But walk just a few hundred feet further and the square runs into a chain link fence separating pedestrians from ramps that feed into what’s known as the 6-10 Connector.

This scene of Urban Nirvana-Meets-Freeway Dystopia is not unusual in Providence. During the 1950s and ‘60s, the city was carved up by a series of freeways that left islands of urbanity disconnected from each other. But in some ways Providence has been fortunate: the freeways did separate neighborhoods, but the fabric of the neighborhoods themselves was left largely intact. This is unlike other nearby cities such as Springfield, Hartford, and Bridgeport, where urban renewal devastated the traditional New England town layouts, especially in their downtowns. Providence still largely retains its turn-of-the-century city center, along with neighborhoods of brick townhouses and Victorian homes.