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June 1, 2006

New Urbanists descend on Providence / Photo

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
A conference group today tours the Riverfront Lofts in Pawtucket, an old mill building converted into condominiums and artists' studios.

PROVIDENCE – Some 1,500 architects, urban planners and government officials have descended upon the capital for a four-day conference dedicated to a town-planning movement known as the New Urbanism.

The Chicago-based nonprofit Congress for the New Urbanism is holding its 14th annual conference here to celebrate and spread the New Urbanist cause.

The local work of developer and New Urbanism advocate Arnold “Buff” Chace Jr. helped bring the conference to Providence. His longtime friendship with CNU cofounder Andres Duany played a role, too.

Today, the first day of the conference, the New Urbanists have fanned out for walking tours of Providence’s old retail district, now known as Downcity, the Blackstone Valley, the historic port city of Newport and Boston’s Fenway Park and the Big Dig, the largest and most expensive urban construction project in American history.

-- With reports from Journal Arts Writer Bill Van Siclen

Posted by Kate Bramson  at 2:23 PM | Permalink

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