Some of the prettiest homes in Providence are “affordable housing.”
That was the unspoken but clear message at Thursday’s housing trolley tour of the Smith Hill, Olneyville and South Providence neighborhoods. Senators and housing officials looked at restored historical houses and newly built homes, many adorned with flower boxes, black wrought-iron fencing, and shiny metal mailboxes.
Many of the homes on the tour were formerly boarded-up, abandoned and/or foreclosed properties, remnants of the foreclosure crisis.
Organized by Rhode Island Housing and the Senate Committee on Housing and Municipal Government, the tour was designed to show all the aspects of neighborhood revitalization that have accompanied investments in affordable housing in the capital city. Senate President Dominick Ruggerio was a member of the tour group.