City No. 7: Providence, Rhode Island, or, “The place we thought everyone on the street might be in the mob, and then we found out we were probably right. Should I be writing about this on here? I don’t want a hit put out on me”

Our Honeymoon, or, How We Got to the Midwest One Interview at a Time:  The Northeast Cities According to Me, the One Who Wanders the Cities While Peter Completes the Interviews
 
Disclaimer: This should by no means be used as a real resource to the northwestern cities.  While I am an observant person, I have no background in city development, nor do I have expertise on the cultural or historical background on these cities.  For the most part, I am reviewing these cities based on my personal preferences, as we will be moving to one of these cities in the spring.  And, if you are hoping for a lot of artwork (as this is my art blog), sorry to say, but you will be sadly disappointed if you continue to read this blog in the upcoming two months.  Apart from my photographs of the cities, I doubt I’ll get to very many art and craft projects. 

So Providence, eh?  Well, let me just put it this way:  I felt like we stepped foot onto the set of “Goodfellas.”  If you haven’t seen this movie, it’s a mobster movie, and I think that pretty much tells you all that you need to know.  There were men lining the streets, outside Italian restaurants on their cell-phones speaking in low tones so that you couldn’t hear them, and I can only imagine that they were just putting hits on people right and left.  We finally found a place that we thought might be nice to have dessert at, and we walked in to find the entire establishment void of people with the exception of a table in the back that was full of what looked to be older men and their wives—ALL with very strong mob ties—you just KNEW. 

Now at this point, it was all in jest that we were coming up with these theories.  Because no one is really in the mob anymore, right? …ummm…wrong!  According to our couch-surfer host, the mob is very much still alive in Providence.  Of course I’m sure it is hard to know to what extent they are in power, but it gives Providence an edge that I hadn’t even imagined it would have.  Every time I went into a restaurant, there always seemed to be a bunch of serious-looking dudes just sitting down in the back, having a serious conversation…It was very bizarre. 

Obviously, I had a hard time getting over the “mob” thing…that’s all I’ve been talking about the entire post thus far.  But I’ll get over it and tell you about the rest of the city.  Many parts were very lovely.  I spent some time catching up with an old friend on the phone while looking out onto the water.  It was gorgeous—I really like having that ability in a city—to spend time by a body of water. 

I went to a pretty awesome coffee shop called “Coffee Exchange,” which is so good, according to the people of Providence—that its popularity has outgrown the size of the coffee shop.  The place was actually quite small, and to deal with this they must have thought it was a good idea to get tiny TINY tables.  Which would have been good if everyone followed the rule of “one table per person” but I saw a guy in the corner that had hoarded three tables to provide a larger workspace!  Mind you, not only was the place small, but it was really crowded—people were standing, waiting to get a table—and there is that guy… As far as coffee shops go, it was not amazing.  I think that the place is so popular because you can come and buy coffee beans from practically everywhere, and they’re all sourced from organic and fair-trade farmers.  It really was quite amazing to see their plastic bins that lined the countertop—it seemed like the bins were set up 10x10…which means they had 100 different kinds of coffee (which is impossible, I would think!) but there were many, many different kinds!  Good place to get coffee, maybe not the best to drink it. 

The other coffee shop that I went to was called “White Electric Coffee” and this one was much better.  I know you must think I’m obsessed with coffee shops at this point, which might be a bit true.  But, I’m a firm believer that you can really judge a place by their coffee shops.  “White Electric,” was in a much less developed area (many storefronts abandoned and broken windows everywhere…) but you could feel that the area was moving through a transitional period.  There was the coffee shop, as well as a new youth arts organization and youth pride organization.  If there were a really interesting part of Providence, it was this one.  The people inside the coffee shop were not as young as the other area near the university—these people seemed more artsy, and more grungy.  A stark contrast from the Brown students I had seen all over earlier in the day.  Yes, it’s true.  I had been judging Providence on its college youth.  I have no intention of living in a city full of college (or medical) students and no one else... So it was refreshing to see a grittier side (that wasn’t the mob). 

But I have to say I really didn’t feel a connection with the place.  I am finding myself really searching for things to mention here.  It was a lovely city (the buildings were beautiful!) with many things to offer (like a cool bookstore!  I forgot the bookstore full of art and design books!)…but it didn’t really speak to me in a strong way.  Could I live here?  Probably.  Do I want to?  Probably not. 

I’m pretty tepid about Providence...