With hundreds of new apartments and condos coming on line in and around Providence over the next few months, we urge state economic development and transportation officials to continue their push for more MBTA commuter rail service out of the capital city.
The demand for that service is growing. For example, the number of people riding the MBTA line from Providence to Boston has increased by about 30 percent in the past three years.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
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By securing more commuter train runs from Providence to Boston, Rhode Island can capitalize on the boom in Boston workers interested in living here.
That’s important. Because for the first time, we are beginning to see an important chapter of the Providence renaissance unfold – that is, the decision on the part of professionals to live downtown.
Transportation is a key element in spurring this migration of full-time residents into the capital city.
We applaud the efforts so far on the part of state Department of Transportation officials. By December, a layover yard for additional MBTA trains will open in Pawtucket. And because Rhode Island is funding 80 percent of the $18 million project with federal grants, the MBTA has agreed to increase the number of runs out of Providence – equaling the number of departures out of the South Attleboro station.
Making it easy for commuters to get to and from Boston will pay big dividends here. Anthony J. Thomas Jr., a partner of Foundry Associates Ltd., which is in the process of opening 220 apartments at The Promenade, said the firm’s project would not have been economically viable without interest from Boston.
This is a theme we hear from developers all over the city. Downtown Providence is becoming widely recognized as a hip, exciting place to live. Marketing it to people working in Boston is working.
Transportation service is a critical building block. Because an onslaught of new residents undoubtedly will be followed by new retail and entertainment projects. This bodes well for our capital city.
We urge our economic development and transportation officials to maintain this momentum and continue to push for the additional MBTA service. We suspect it is an effort that will pay huge economic dividends for years to come.
Housing, labor costs hurt our economy
The results of an 18-month study of the New England economy, one comparing it directly to other regions, serves as a reminder that a greater emphasis must be placed on containing structural costs of housing and labor.
The New England Council recently received a “report card” of sorts from A.T. Kearney, a management consulting firm that compared this region to North Carolina’s Research Triangle, Atlanta and the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., corridor.
The study did find positives. For example, it gave New England high grades for having a diversified energy supply and a larger concentration of innovative professionals when compared to the other regions.
But it also found New England facing many serious challenges. Paramount among them, the fact that our structural costs are our “weakest link” and they may be fueling a loss of skilled workers and companies to other parts of the country.
