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Housing Unit Density
With the Providence Tomorrow process underway for updating the City's comprehensive plan, the Planning Department is asking residents to think about "Where do we grow?" - or how can we best provide for the housing needs of Providence's incoming population and expanding families? 
The current location of housing concentrations is one important factor to consider in answering the question of growth. In the map to the left, density is calculated as housing units per acre within a census block. Census blocks, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, each represent roughly a city block, with roads or natural features forming a block's boundaries.
As a densely settled urban area, Providence has only 68 blocks - out of approximately 2,600 blocks citywide - where housing unit density is 1 unit/acre or less. Furthermore, the city has almost 250 blocks where housing density is at least 25 units/acre. Thirteen of these blocks have 100 units/acre or more! And an additional seven locations have very high density due to dormitory or extended care housing.
Housing density is greatest in areas of Federal Hill, West End, Olneyville, and Fox Point where multifamily properties and small lots abound. However, the new engines for increased housing density are mixed-use redevelopment and building for height. As former mills and offices have been converted to residential uses and several plans approved for high-rise construction, density is rising in different parts of the city. Downtown Providence has received the lion's share of new residential units in the past few years with large residential projects progressing in Downcity, the Financial District, the Jewelry District, Water Place Park, and just across I-95 in the Promenade area. For more information on this map, contact Eben Dowell. |
