The City Hall chambers before Mayor Smiley’s Budget Address on April 16. Photo from the Providence City Council livestream.
Mayor Smiley’s Proposed 2026 Budget
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Providence is in a tough financial spot right now. Unavoidable higher costs combined with a state law capping total property tax increases to 4% per year would leave the city at least $6 million in the hole next year, according to Mayor Brett Smiley. To [...]

30
Apr
A photo of Mayor Smiley featured in the recently released plan.
Can the City and the Commissioner Collaborate?
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After 5 years of state management of the city’s schools, Mayor Brett Smiley has released his plan for taking back control from the RI Dept of Education (RIDE). The plan seeks to provide a roadmap for building a better public school system under city control. [...]

23
Apr
Crash Data
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Among its many good deeds, the Providence Streets Coalition has done an amazing job of collecting data on crashes involving motorized vehicles striking pedestrians, cyclists or scooter users since 2010. When the Rhode Island Department of Transportation stonewalled the Coalition’s request for Providence crash data, [...]

09
Apr
Members of the Duggan Academy Teacher Leadership Team shared their experiences of collaborative school governance. (photo: Jonathan Howard)
Springfield’s Empowerment Zone Schools Thrive- A Model for Providence?
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Providence Schools have struggled to show any signs of significant improvement over the last five years of state control. Meanwhile, through state intervention of another kind, a group of public middle and high schools in the very poor urban district of Springfield, have thrived. Since [...]

26
Mar
Aerial photograph of Providence by Avery Lorde from Providence Public Library’s Special Collections.
Providence Property Revaluation
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If you own a house, you probably were amazed by the new assessed value of your house shown in letters from the Assessor’s Office last month. The City hired Vision Government Solutions to conduct a revaluation of all real estate in the city. On average [...]

12
Mar
Fiscal vise squeezes Providence students
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UPDATE: Prior to publication, we requested clarification of two budget line descriptions from the Providence Public School Department. PPSD’s response was received only after this article was released. These clarifications are now included in the article. Last November, after months of sniping among the parties, [...]

05
Feb
Snow in Providence photo courtesy of Jon Howard
No Business like Snow Business
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It’s easy (and, admit it, enjoyable) to complain about the city’s snow plowing performance after a winter storm. But give some thought to challenges involved and perhaps you’ll take a deep breath before popping off about the wait for a plow on your street after [...]

22
Jan
Hunger in RI – Bad and Getting Worse
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The number of Rhode Islanders facing “food insecurity” has doubled over the last four years, according to the Status Report on Hunger for 2024, released by the RI Community Food Bank (RICFB) on Monday. Nearly four in ten Rhode Islanders faced hunger in the last [...]

27
Nov
PVD Votes – Harris Wins in a Landslide!
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If it was up to Providence voters, Kamala Harris would be the incoming President, with massive Democratic majorities in the US House and Senate to back her up. Of course, in the real world, American voters chose Donald Trump and provided him with majorities in [...]

13
Nov
Service Calls to City Hall
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Every day, dozens of Providence residents contact our city government with requests for information and service covering everything from rat control to noise to speeding on our streets. Our biggest problem based on 311 calls? Getting rid of stuff – or the ways that other [...]

30
Oct