Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Rhode Island
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 06-24-2013, 08:20 AM
 
108 posts, read 180,370 times
Reputation: 163

Advertisements

I saw these and wanted to share. A couple of great write-up with commentary on Providence.

Slowly but surely i see more and more people recognizing so many of the great things that Providence (and RI) has going for it! Gotta love Lil Rhody!



Kristen Adamo: Imperfect, Wonderful Providence

Link: GoLocalProv | Lifestyle | Kristen Adamo: Imperfect, Wonderful Providence



Saturday, June 22, 2013

Kristin Adamo, GoLocalProv Guest MINDSETTER™

There is so much to love about Providence, from the food, to the entertainment, to the art and culture. Make sure you show your Rhody pride!
Providence is not perfect. In that way, it is like every other city in the United States. There are pressing concerns and I leave them to those with more acumen and zeal for handling those issues. My role–along with my 20 or so colleagues at the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau (PWCVB)–is to champion the wonderful things about this city. And there are many.

The PWCVB welcomes thousands of visitors to Providence every year–families, couples, meeting delegates, business travelers, journalists, sporting event attendees, and more. Each time we meet someone new to Providence, we experience the city through their eyes. I’m born and bred in Wanskuck but, when I am with these visitors, I see Providence with a fresh perspective. I watch them fall in love.

Federal Hill is startling in its authenticity. They love to stroll DePasquale Plaza and feel the cool spray of the fountain on a hot summer day. I have seen countless visitors scrunch their faces, as they try to figure out how to pack a couple of pounds of gnocchi and some marinara from Venda in their luggage. Unless they’re driving, it never works. They revel in the sweet and comforting smell of Scialo’s Bakery and laugh at themselves when they can’t pronounce the names of the pastries.

Visitors find Providence compact and walkable. They love to shop on Westminster Street, to find bargains and one-of-kind pieces. They enjoy the sharp contrast of Benefit Street’s stately elegance and Thayer Street’s gritty, artsy flair. They are fascinated by the rivers and how they flow in and out, measuring the work day. We have had groups come just to look at how we use our rivers and how we have lovingly preserved our architecture.

Every single traveler I have ever met–every single one–comments on the food and on the quality of our restaurants. The readers of Travel + Leisure magazine voted us the #1 Food City in the United States in their 2012 “America’s Favorite Cities” poll. They are right. The depth and breadth of our culinary offerings is astounding. Fresh seafood, rich ethnic traditions, talented chefs, and one of the top culinary schools in the country in our backyard make Providence the perfect culinary capital.

Food is one of the two things that visitors think we do best. The other is our arts scene. I have seen visitors moved to tears by WaterFire. A lot of us grew up with Trinity Rep and PPAC but visitors see them for the unique gems that they are. We have, arguably, the best art school in the country, with a museum that spans the history of art. Providence is cool. Everyone from GQ to the London Telegraph has said that. AS220 and our city’s commitment to cultivating young artistic and musical talent is what make us so.

People complain about living and working in Providence. Sometimes they are correct. Sometimes they’re not. But, at the end of the day, there are lots things to love about this city. I would like to ask you to remember them and vote. Travel + Leisure has just opened the voting for their 2013 “America’s Favorite Cities” poll. Here is the link: https://travelandleisure.roiresearch...urvey/Index/34.

Providence tends to do very well in this survey and the PWCVB uses the results to try to bring even more visitors to the city. Not surprisingly, we typically rank toward the bottom in “Driving Ability.” Like I said, Providence is not perfect.




Laurelei Ballard: Providence—Love At First Bite

Link: GoLocalProv | Food | Laurelei Ballard: Providence—Love At First Bite



Saturday, June 22, 2013

Laurelei Ballard, GoLocalProv Guest MINDSETTER™


Providence offers a food lover's paradise–new cuisines of every type and taste, and something for everyone.
“And it’s not like you want to make the commute from Providence,” said my commiserating friend.
“Providence?” I asked, confused.
“Rhode Island. It’s a state...”
“I took 5th grade Social Studies. Why are you talking to me about Providence?” I retorted.
“It’s only about an hour from Boston by train,” he said, as if everyone should have the Amtrak schedules for the eastern seaboard committed to memory.

I should probably give you some context here. About 20 days before this call I had been offered a job in Boston, but after two weeks of house-hunting all I had discovered was that the Sons of Liberty must surely have thrown all of the kitchen blueprints into the bay with the tea because Boston apartments were sadly lacking in culinary spaces, at least in my price range. So now, I was whining to a friend in NYC when he started pulling seemingly random cities out of his internal atlas. Providence?

A few web searches, a handful of phone calls, and a fortunate introduction by my future boss to a well-connected denizen and bing, bang, boom. This is how two weeks ago, my corgis and I spilled, weary and bedraggled, out of a U-Haul into the Creative Capital.

There is a lot to love about Providence. The people are gracious, the city is resplendent with history and charm and natural wonders. My loft rocks. My kitchen makes me giddy! What’s not to love? But believe it or not, none of these reasons comes close to what makes Providence my most treasured “discovery” in recent years. For me, Providence was love at first bite.

You see, I’m a little food-obsessed. For the last 8 years I have lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, a city that is so offended by vegetables that it must punish them Torquemada-style with long baths in boiling water or hot oil until they wheeze and gasp and grey. Okay, they make a mean BBQ, and they can fry a chicken, but that is where the city’s contribution to foodie-dom ends.

However, in this small city, in this tiny state I found food Valhalla! Everywhere I turn, there is another culinary celebration. Whether it is the Italian delicacies on Atwells Avenue, the funky bistros on the East Side, the abundant Farmer’s Markets (or all of the other amazing places my newbie status has me forgetting) there is something remarkable and succulent in every nook and cranny of this delightful city. Providence embraces food for the nourishment it provides both body and soul. Somehow, this city both honors what food is and imagines what food can be. And I have yet to witness any veggies being tortured in some perverse Epicurean Inquisition! My taste buds and I are home!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-15-2013, 05:01 PM
 
Location: where the sea meets the debris
50 posts, read 60,634 times
Reputation: 61
Agreed. Providence is small city with a big city feel to it. Federal Hill and Thayer St are awesome in the summer.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:



Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Rhode Island
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top