“If nothing else, the kind of organized, intelligent protest that greeted the Feldo Development proposal served notice that the city hasn’t done enough to prioritize affordable housing for artists and the preservation of historic mill buildings. ‘I think this was a wake-up call for us,’ acknowledges John Palmieri, Providence’s director of Planning and Development. The presence of so many people at the Plan Commission meeting, and the strength of their arguments, made it abundantly clear, he says, ‘that these older mill buildings have to be reviewed and assessed,’ while looking at the needs of the arts community. ‘We have an obligation to respond quickly.’

From “Dig the new breed,” published December 14, 2000:

In August 2001, then-Mayor Vincent A. “Buddy” Cianci Jr. was enraged when the Phoenix reported on how the city had dismissed Bill Struever’s alternative development plan for Eagle Square.

“[Struever’s lack of rights for the property] doesn’t mean, however, that the city is powerless when it comes to the future of a strategic chunk of land laden with historically significant buildings and incredible potential. On the contrary, it was the misguided notion of putting a cookie-cutter development on this site -- a violation, as critics argued, of the city’s comprehensive plan -- that triggered such passionate resistance. It seems remarkable that Cianci, whose popularity is closely tied to the reinvention of Providence as an urban mecca, once seemed relatively untroubled by Feldco’s original plan. And although officials may have once approved dubious developments, rather than letting vacant property languish, the city’s bargaining position has improved considerably with the advent of a state law that makes tax credits available for renovations to historic properties.”

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From “Crunch time,” published August 2, 2001:

By February 2003, Struever had become a villain to artists and other critics in Olneyville, who perceived the Rising Sun development on Valley Street, amid a worsening statewide housing crisis, as a harbinger of gentrification. Struever and other developers responded by citing new housing as a much-needed source of investment.

“Regardless of the merits, it’s still no wonder that artists like Brian Chippendale, the drummer in Lightning Bolt, who relocated to a mill building in Olneyville Square after being displaced by Feldco’s project, feel under the gun. ‘It seems like someone dropped a rock on Eagle Square and it’s coming down toward us,’ Chippendale says. ‘It used to be in Providence, you could live really cheaply and make art. What this is going to do is to weed out a lot of artists who are just starting out.’

From “Where will people live?” published February 7, 2003:

During a bitter cold streak in January 2004, Chippendale and about 60 other artists and musicians were abruptly evicted from a sub-code Olneyville residential-performance hotspot, a reflection of heightened official anxiety after the Station fire disaster.

“Art dealer Sara Agniel offers a similar view [on the disconnect between maintaining a vibrant creative subculture and increasing high-end development] Although Providence has long since gained national recognition as an ‘arts city,’ and city officials tout the ‘creative economy’ concept, some of the best artists can afford only to live in unsafe, illegally zoned, off the radar spaces that become unaffordable to them once they are fixed up. If this is the underpinning of the Providence Renaissance, Agniel asserts, ‘Then what we’re selling is a concept that doesn’t exist.’

From “Whose creative economy is it?” published February 13, 2004:

In July 2005, the Phoenix broke the news of how Struever Brothers was planning a very large mixed-use project on what proved to be a 22.5-acre parcel of old industrial properties in the Valley neighborhood.
“Activists remain concerned about the prospect of gentrification and displacement. As Laura Mullen, of the Rhode Island Citizens for the Arts’ Sustainable Artist Space Initiative, says, ‘I hope that any development that occurs would consider the needs of the neighborhood, all of the nonprofit and community organizations working in the neighborhood, and all of the residents and the businesses currently making positive contributions in the neighborhood.’

From “Struever Brothers targets ambitious development in Valley neighborhood,” published July 15, 2005:

By May 2006, a videotape in which a Rising Sun leasing agent described an “us and them” atmosphere on Valley Street poured fuel on the fire of tension triggered by West Side development.
“Thomas E. Deller, director of Providence’s Department of Planning & Development, concedes that low- and moderate-income residents, including artists, bear the brunt of new residential growth. While Deller cites balancing new growth with the preservation of existing communities as a desirable goal, the city seems to lack a real plan for achieving this outcome. Asked how the city will deliver this balance, Deller calls the query ‘a good question,’ adding, ‘We’re going to keep struggling our way through it. We’ll win some, we’ll lose some.’
From “Class warfare in Olneyville,” published May 24, 2006:

POST-SCRIPT: While tensions between artists and development are obviously not limited to Providence, notes Judith Tannenbaum, who curated the RISD Museum’s Wunderground show, “[That] doesn’t make it any easier in terms of how you try to have a balance, because it isn’t all negative and that’s the tricky part; how do you make the city economically viable and attractive and at the same time not have people who have invested in it and [creatively] developed it not be priced out? We’re hoping to have a program here in December looking at some of these issues.”