ProJo: Providence 'potentially gentrifying' as rents rise, report says

Downtown and Federal Hill neighborhoods have experienced price increases that outpace other parts of the city, according to a HousingWorks RI study.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Several neighborhoods in Providence, including those clustered near Downtown and Federal Hill, have experienced rent increases between 2000 and 2015 that far outpaced those seen in other sections of the city, because they are “potentially gentrifying,” according to a new report from HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University.

The report, released Friday, is titled: “You Don't Have A Problem Until You Do: Revitalization and Gentrification in Providence, Rhode Island.” It is part of the HousingWorks' Scholar Series on contemporary housing issues, and was adapted from a master's thesis written by Fay Strongin, who studied city planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

While the citywide median rent jumped 26.1 percent between 2000 and 2015, “potentially gentrifying” Providence neighborhoods experienced a 47.8 percent average increase in median gross rent, nearly double the growth citywide, and nearly triple the increase seen in “non-gentrifying” neighborhoods, where rents increased by 16.2 percent, Strongin found.

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