HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University, recognized as a leading source for information in what has been described as an “urgent housing crisis,” is among three winners of Grow Smart Rhode Island’s 12th annual Rhode Island Smart Growth Awards.
“Housing Works RI has become the premier Rhode Island go to source for data and policy analysis regarding our complicated and urgent housing crisis,” according to Grow Smart Rhode Island, the state’s leading advocate for “neighborhood revitalization, environmental stewardship, and economic opportunity.”
Besides Housing Works, the other organizations that will be honored at Grow Smart’s Power of Place Summit on May 5 are the Pine Street Project in Pawtucket and East Providence “Main Street” Mixed Use Overlay Districts.
The awards, Grow Smart says, “honor those helping to shape strong, sustainable and just communities across Rhode Island through innovative leadership, community revitalization and policy initiatives.”
Here’s what Grow Smart says about each of the award winners:
- Housing Works – “They highlight clearly how increasing Rhode Islanders’ access to healthy, affordable homes can advance such other key smart growth objectives as stronger transit, increased economic opportunity, revitalized Downtowns and Main Streets improved public health.” Grow Smart noted its Housing Fact Book has “become Rhode Island’s go-to essential resource on housing affordability.” The organization also recognized Housing Works zoning atlas and a report on mobile home parks, while also “encouraging policy changes critical to digging us out of our severe housing production and affordability hole.”
- The Pine Street project is an example of collaboration among numerous stakeholders, redeveloping the historic office building within the Conant Thread/Coats & Clark Mill Complex in Pawtucket. Grow Smart specifically recognized “Citizen Developer Alison Bologna,” who is credited with bringing the project to fruition, despite delays during the pandemic and a fire that destroyed eight nearby mill buildings. The project was completed in August of last year, resulting in several social enterprises and eight mixed-income residential apartments.
- East Providence “Main Street” – With a need for reinvestment in commercial corridors, and outdated zoning, the city adopted a series of “Mixed Use Hub” overlay districts for four of the city’s Main Street areas. That resulted in a reduction or elimination of parking requirements, “especially for adaptive reuse affordable housing projects.” The city also allowed mixed-use development “in all commercial districts, reduced many other parking requirements, and allowed for increased multi-family density. Numerous commercial and housing projects on key sites have resulted from these overlay district.”