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NNIP PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
The Providence Plan Institutional Setting The Providence Plan was established jointly by Providence Mayor Vincent Cianci, Jr., and Rhode Island Governor Bruce Sundlun in April 1992 to become a central force in revitalizing Rhode Island's capital city. It is a nonprofit corporation, chartered to build partnerships among government agencies, civic groups, and concerned residents in pursuit of six primary goals: (1) to put people to work; (2) to retain the city's middle class; (3) to make neighborhoods safe and livable; (4) to improve the quality of the public schools; (5) to provide decent and affordable housing; and (6) to increase jobs and tax yields in downtown Providence. Its mission is to serve as "keeper of the vision" through efforts to direct a community-based strategic planning process that will translate ambitious city goals into specific program initiatives. The focus, however, is on distressed neighborhoods: "A holistic approach to community rebuilding has begun, focusing on the interrelated sources of urban poverty and decay." The Providence Plan is funded by ongoing grants from the state and the city along with cash and in-kind contributions from private funders. It is obligated to raise at least one-third of its annual costs from sources other than the state and the city. In addition to the provision of much improved information on the city's neighborhoods (see below), The Providence Plan has initiated a number of action projects to achieve its objectives. These have included working with the school system to improve school performance and partnering with citizen groups in neighborhood development efforts. Its broadest initiative has been its leadership role in the preparation of an overall strategy for the improvement of the city that formed the basis for Providence's application for the Federal Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community Program. This entailed close collaboration with the city's Department of Planning and Development in analysis and in convening hundreds of residents to examine options for the city's future (State of Rhode Island and City of Providence 1994). The Indicators Initiative The director of the Providence Plan, Pat McGuigan, is its principal representative in NNIP. He and his predecessor, Michael Rich, have given strong emphasis to the use of neighborhood-level information as the foundation for many of their initiatives. They have accomplished this through a close collaboration with the Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University, which maintains the data system. The Center had begun developing an automated database on the city's neighborhoods even before The Providence Plan was initiated. Its director of research, Jack Combs, is responsible for the Center's state-of-the art computer facilities and many relevant data files. Extensive data files from a number of administrative agencies have been assembled, and most are being updated at least annually. One of the most important products of this collaboration to date has been The Providence Neighborhood Fact Book (Providence Plan 1994), which contains a host of information (tables and maps) at the block-group and neighborhood levels, characterizing and comparing the city's communities. It was widely disseminated and now forms the basis for much of the community planning now under way in the city. The Providence Plan/Taubman collaboration has also laid the groundwork for a parcel-based GIS system for Providence, and maps for a substantial portion of the city have been digitized. Also, most of the system's neighborhood data have been installed in a World Wide Web site that can be accessed via the Internet.
PARTNER BIOGRAPHIES: Patrick McGuigan has been the Executive Director of The Providence Plan (TPP) since January 1995. The Providence Plan is a private non-profit corporation charged with the mission of developing and overseeing a comprehensive and strategic plan for the revitalization of the city. Prior to this position, Mr. McGuigan spent more than ten years with senior management responsibilities for neighborhood housing and economic development policies and programs for the City of Boston. In addition, he was the Executive Director of Boston Neighborhood Housing Services from 1983 to 1984 and was a senior member of the staff of the Massachusetts Community Development Finance Corporation for the five years from 1978 to 1983. In that capacity, he had responsibility for the development and implementation of new community development financing strategies in partnership with local Community Development Corporations across the state. Mr. McGuigan has a Masters Degree in City and Regional Planning from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an undergraduate degree from Boston College. |