Urban Renewal on the East Side: A Walking Tour

The East Side is often considered one of the most historic sections of Providence, with a significant stock of colonial and Victorian architecture — but the historic buildings that remain are no accident of history. In the mid-1900s, bulldozers razed entire swaths of the East Side in the name of progress, making way for new housing, highways, and industry. The redevelopment era displaced entire communities, and the benefits (and harms) of renewal were not equitably distributed.

Explore what was preserved and lost in this East Side walking tour, focusing on how planning, development, and power transformed this part of the city. The tour will begin with a brief presentation at the PPS office and then will cover roughly 2.5 miles of walking, so wear comfortable shoes and bring water!

There were 16 urban renewal projects in Providence between 1950-1975. This walking tour spans six of these renewal areas that were clustered together where we can see radically different approaches to redevelopment. Strolling through Randall Square, Lippitt Hill, and the West River Industrial Park, we’ll explore neighborhoods that were physically erased from the landscape of Providence. Across North Main Street in the Constitution Hill and Mount Hope project areas, we’ll see a vastly different approach — renewal through preservation. While the physical buildings in these areas were maintained, the redevelopment of the area still resulted in the displacement of local residents, forever altering the makeup of the neighborhoods. The Providence Preservation Society played a key role in these renewal efforts, helping to preserve the structures at the expense of community networks and existing residents.

Learn more about these histories — and how they impact the city today — with Katy Pickens and Keating Zelenke, authors of PPS’s recent Guide to Urban Renewal. This tour is based on research included in PPS’s Guide to Urban Renewal, which was released in early 2026.

Saturday, May 16 // 9:30-11:30am
Tickets have a suggested donation of $15 (or more!); $1 is required to register.
All donations support The Providence Post and PPS's amazing research team!

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Host or Publisher Providence Preservation Society