Letter: Jewelry District already a great neighborhood

To the Editor:

We are writing in response to the article about Providence's Jewelry District ("Downtown, big ideas are soon to be tested," Nov. 2). The article suggests that the Jewelry District is empty (of businesses, of Brown University students, etc.) and dead, and therefore ripe for University development. We live in the Jewelry District and have found it a wonderful place to live. Contrary to the image portrayed in the article, the Jewelry District is already a beautiful, lively neighborhood.

We have Olga's, a cafe with fresh-baked bread that rivals Seven Stars; CAV, a restaurant ranked as one of Providence's best in none other than the New York Times; and Jerry's Artarama, one of the best art supplies stores in Providence. The Jewelry District is home to many important local businesses, including Durkee Brown Viveiros & Werenfels Architects (responsible for the majority of development in downtown Providence) and Shape Up the Nation. The Thayer Street staple Beadworks even recently relocated to the Jewelry District. Just a five-minute walk from downtown Providence, it's an exciting place to live. The Jewelry District is alive and well.

While Brown University's expansion in the Jewelry District seems unstoppable, we hope that the University will not approach the Jewelry District as a blank slate waiting to be developed or renewed. Although the University professes to prioritize community engagement in future building plans, we also hope that new developments will not be shaped solely around the needs of Brown University students. The Herald's dream of "sitting at a small sidewalk cafe on Richmond Street, sipping a cappuccino, discussing the applications of stem cell growth" is a dream of a Jewelry District built for the enjoyment of Brown's Bio Med community. We ask that the University tread carefully on a diverse neighborhood that already enjoys countless assets.

Camilla Hawthorne '09 GS
Timothy O'Keefe
Nov. 9