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Location: Earth, a nice neighborhood in the Milky Way
3,785 posts, read 2,693,466 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redplum33
I've lived in the Armory (though I would never refer to the neighborhood as the Armory, nor would anyone living there, it technically is the Armory according to the map that ormari posted here a while back). I've also lived in Providence for longer than the three of you combined.
Quote:
Originally Posted by redplum33
Incredibly poor reading comprehension. The bolded is not what I said. I said the neighborhood I lived in is technically the Armory (according to a map ormari posted) but no locals would ever refer to it as that.
I consider the Armory to be in the West End -- between Westminster and Cranston, and roughly from Brigham to Messer.
I lived in the Broadway neighborhood (technically Federal Hill). The map ormari posted shows that this area is part of the Armory District. Again, nobody in this neighborhood refers to it as the Armory. Cheesy real estate agents probably call it the Armory though.
As you'll see, it shows between Westminster and Broadway as the Armory. It even shows a small area between Broadway and Atwells (close to Broadway) as being the Armory.
And to be clear, I'm not disputing the validity of the map. It's apparently an official government document.
Sigh. I think it shows it as the "Broadway-Armory Historic District" according to the National Parks Service historic district map you thoughtfully linked. If you use a little imagination (no? Perhaps another nug?), you can envision that part of it is the "Broadway District", and part of it is the "Armory District". They're separated by a hyphen. That is to say, when the residents of the neighborhood applied for National Historic Register status, they did so in a "combined" application. Folks I know who live in the Armory section do refer to it as the Armory. And don't you think that my explanation kind of jives with your thinking of the section north of Westminster as the Broadway neighborhood?
Look, there's a lot of silly argument about neighborhood names. Neighborhood names are important if for no other reason than because they are used as territorial weapons between factions or as real estate marketing, but they have always undergone change. Long Live was just written up in ProJo as being in the West Side, the city calls this West End as part of its most recent legacy, but Providence residents of 100 years ago probably would have called this something else--likely Elmwood. [Nope, not South Providence, which was much further east, approximately in the Jewelry District, but which is called Downtown now... but folks of 40 years ago might have called it that.] Neighborhoods, and what they are called, shift based on so many factors, including population ethnicity, business loci, and transportation infrastructure such as highways and railways.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,937 posts, read 36,951,955 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ormari
Neighborhoods, and what they are called, shift based on so many factors, including population ethnicity, business loci, and transportation infrastructure such as highways and railways.
Well of course. Anyone around few a few decades know this. Neighborhoods expand, contract, disappear into memory, shift. Get safer, get more dangerous. Common sense looking around oneself is one has a clue. It can happen pretty fast too.
Location: Earth, a nice neighborhood in the Milky Way
3,785 posts, read 2,693,466 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by timberline742
Well of course. Anyone around few a few decades know this. Neighborhoods expand, contract, disappear into memory, shift. Get safer, get more dangerous. Common sense looking around oneself is one has a clue. It can happen pretty fast too.
I would have thought this to be obvious, yes. But this forum often suggests otherwise.
As for the Armory being a desirable urban neighborhood, that's your opinion. To me, a desirable urban neighborhood is Back Bay in Boston. I view the Armory as lipstick on a pig. To each his own.
This is important to note. While the Armory might be considered trendy among some groups and it certainly has a rising price tag, don't let that fool you that it is comparable to the East Side (never mind the Back Bay). It is an inner city neighborhood. It has been, and it still is. You have the projects right there. Restored historic homes are abutted by trashed slumlord properties with unaddressed code violations. Section 8 tenants, pimped out late 90s/early 2000s rice rockets (some on blocks), trash, graffiti, undesirable businesses...they are all there. I personally have no desire to be a real estate investor, house flipper or urban "pioneer", but if that is your thing then kudos to you. Just let's not give outsiders a false impression of the place, as far as what it is or isn't. And for what it's worth, it's important to realize that none of the posters talking up the Armory actually live there or ever would. There is one poster who I do think has a legitimate hard-on for the area, but he currently lives in a yet rougher neighborhood and the Armory would therefore be an upgrade that he currently can't afford (totally understandable).
This is important to note. While the Armory might be considered trendy among some groups and it certainly has a rising price tag, don't let that fool you that it is comparable to the East Side (never mind the Back Bay). It is an inner city neighborhood. It has been, and it still is. You have the projects right there. Restored historic homes are abutted by trashed slumlord properties with unaddressed code violations. Section 8 tenants, pimped out late 90s/early 2000s rice rockets (some on blocks), trash, graffiti, undesirable businesses...they are all there. I personally have no desire to be a real estate investor, house flipper or urban "pioneer", but if that is your thing then kudos to you. Just let's not give outsiders a false impression of the place, as far as what it is or isn't. And for what it's worth, it's important to realize that none of the posters talking up the Armory actually live there or ever would. There is one poster who I do think has a legitimate hard-on for the area, but he currently lives in a yet rougher neighborhood and the Armory would therefore be an upgrade that he currently can't afford (totally understandable).
There is a good deal of bias displayed in this post. Suburban Bias. And, that's fine. We all have biases. Suburban Bias, in the extreme, allows that the only "good urban neighborhoods" are ones populated by the well heeled (East Side, Beacon Hill & Back Bay, etc.). However, the bias that benefits such thriving urban neighborhoods as the Armory can be said to be Anti-Suburban Bias. These, usually younger, well-educated, people prefer a density & diversity not found in the suburbs or higher income urban environments. They certainly could afford to live in most middle income RI suburbs, but chose not to. To each his/her own.
Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,937 posts, read 36,951,955 times
Reputation: 40635
Quote:
Originally Posted by massnative71
And for what it's worth, it's important to realize that none of the posters talking up the Armory actually live there or ever would. .
You and the little kid really do like to tell other people what they would or what not do. Very right wing of you.
But you're absolutely 100% idiotically incorrect.
I'd live there in a second, and I did look at listings there, but the prices were comparable to what I did buy and the big negative to me for the places I looked at over there was the lack of off street parking and even a garage (which I got). The reality is the prices over where I was looking already ran up. I was too late to the party, unfortunately. I wish I was there, it has a lot more going on.
Last edited by timberline742; 04-11-2019 at 06:00 AM..
The State needs a new archives but $52 million is not going to happen. Would retrofitting the Armory as a State Archives be half of that or less? The entire building does not have to be completely climate controlled- they could create climatic zones, and anti fire and humidity rooms within the whole structure.
I support Gorbea in this as a need but disagree with the necessity for it to stay downtown. School kid visits are peripheral. Preserving our state's history is not. Also, parking is a necessity, otherwise nobody is visiting. I hate going there now in its current location.
There is a good deal of bias displayed in this post. Suburban Bias. And, that's fine. We all have biases. Suburban Bias, in the extreme, allows that the only "good urban neighborhoods" are ones populated by the well heeled (East Side, Beacon Hill & Back Bay, etc.). However, the bias that benefits such thriving urban neighborhoods as the Armory can be said to be Anti-Suburban Bias. These, usually younger, well-educated, people prefer a density & diversity not found in the suburbs or higher income urban environments. They certainly could afford to live in most middle income RI suburbs, but chose not to. To each his/her own.
Please quit trying to flip my objectivity into something it isn't. Feel free to go ahead and say Cumberland and Lincoln have lots of grass, lawnmowers and Rav4s. That is not anti-suburban bias, those are facts as well that few residents are likely to disagree with.
Fact is that while (like I acknowledged) some people choose to live in places like the Armory, far more opt for the burbs to raise their family (and for very legitimate reasons). To each his/her own, EXACTLY.
The State needs a new archives but $52 million is not going to happen. Would retrofitting the Armory as a State Archives be half of that or less? The entire building does not have to be completely climate controlled- they could create climatic zones, and anti fire and humidity rooms within the whole structure.
I support Gorbea in this as a need but disagree with the necessity for it to stay downtown. School kid visits are peripheral. Preserving our state's history is not. Also, parking is a necessity, otherwise nobody is visiting. I hate going there now in its current location.
The Armory as a new archives location has been in the mix, but not Gorbea's first choice.
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