The Meeting Street Steps are an unusual feature in the College Hill National Historic Landmark…read moreDistrict. These 20 granite steps were constructed in the late 18th-century to connect Meeting Street and Congdon Street and had for centuries provided a shortcut for residents, including Governor William Sprague. Local folklore maintains that Sprague would travel out of his way between his home and the old State House just to ride up and down the steps on horseback. We take these steps a lot when we take our walks along the East Side of Providence, so we have enjoyed the city views from both the top and bottom of the steps. These steps have a strong historical significance to the city. Prior to its 1995 inclusion on the Most Endangered Properties list, the city-owned Meeting Street Steps stood in complete disrepair. Moisture had forced the steps out of alignment; the retaining walls on either side were crumbling; and the handrail had disappeared. Neighboring residents formed the Meeting Street Steps Work Group and petitioned the Preservation Society to include the stairs on its Most Endangered Properties list. Beginning in 1999, in conjunction with the City and the Meeting Street Work Group, the Preservation Society helped to solicit over $100,000 in donations from nearly 350 residents. Soon thereafter, ground was broken to realign the steps, rebuild the retaining wall, install handrails, and beautify the surrounding area. Contributors included the College Hill Neighborhood Association, the North Benefit Street Association, the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, and East Side Marketplace, which pledged 1% of the cash register receipt totals of concerned shoppers. Today, they are in good shape and used by hundreds of pedestrians.

"Standing in a two-hour line makes people worry that they're not living in a democratic nation…read more People stand in line for two hours and they go over the edge." David Sedaris, Santaland Diaries I was just listening to a colleague kvetch about a 7th-circle-of-hell-ish visit to the Providence/Westminster St. Social Security office, so I was compelled to write this review. The first step to changing your name (in my case, marriage) is to first change with Social Security, in person. When I discovered that you can go to any office in the state, I decided to give Pawtucket a try just after they opened at 9, fearing the worst and clearing my calendar of obligations for the morning. It looks like I imagine the Social Security Office where Carol, Marcia, Jan and Cindy might have walked into when they changed their name to Brady. There was only one person in front of me, and then I sashayed up with my documents, slid them under the glass, and DONE in 10 minutes.

Wait time was only 30 min, which was reasonable. They were unable to complete my transaction…read morebecause I was missing a piece of random paperwork...which happens. But the woman behind the desk was very rude with me, considering that in my case, the error was made by social security and not by me. She also told me the wrong piece of paperwork to provide and when I went back with exactly what she said to get, I still didn't have what I needed, and she didn't seem to care. She said, "I could help you, if you had all the paperwork you were supposed to have." All attitude. Bottom line--the facility itself and wait to be seen were reasonable, she was NOT. Woonsocket SSA is much better--go there if you have a choice! They were helpful and friendly!

All heck was breaking loose with one car running the stop sign and hitting two other cars. I was a…read morewitness and first to ring 911. "You called it in, saw what happened?" "Yes officer, that car went X, and then Y, and then Z and then I called." "X, Y and then Z?" "Yes." "Thanks for the facts, and for calling it in and for hanging out and giving the eye witness." "No problem, just the facts." So there you have it. Complete mayhem, a dangerous scene, ambulances and hook and ladders, plus every yahoo recording the action on their cell phone and yelling "woot, woot!" while smoking blunts. But the PPD mopped everything up, saw to the safety of the peeps and got things back on track for the citizens. The bottom line is that the police did a great job managing a complete shitshow and I for one am better off for their competence.

I was recently the unfortunate victim of a hit and run. Just in case the headache from the fallout…read moreof the accident wasn't enough, dealing with the Providence police department was a huge headache. Everyone I was finally able to speak to was miserable and clearly hated their jobs. I'm sorry I need to disturb you, but I am thankfully not familiar with the process after an accident, especially after a hit and run. It was really nice to feel like such a burden while also dealing with everything else. The officer who responded was ok, but everyone else made me dread ever having to call back. Unfortunately, I am not done dealing with them since I still need an accident report and their hours are limited to my work hours, so I have the pleasure of dealing with them again in the middle of my workday (and paying for it), I can't wait.

I want to send a special thank you to the East Providence police department. During this difficult…read moretime many parents have had to cancel birthday parties for their children, leaving parents to scramble, trying to figure out how to make the day as special as possible. The EP Police were able to make the kids birthday's memorable by doing a drive by with lights, sirens and happy birthday messages from the officers! I know they are very busy but both my husband and I along with our son thank them for helping us make some special birthday memories in an otherwise difficult time!

It's great that they have a flag depository right outside at City Hall. It makes disposing of our…read moreAmerican flag properly so easy!

Every year I have to go down to city hall to get my pup re-licensed. No big deal, especially…read morebecause no matter how busy I've seen the offices, I've always been in and out of there quickly- like within 10 minutes at the MOST! And the staff have been friendly and helpful every time. I've also had to go in person to take care of a ticket, and the woman at that particular desk was kind and helpful, too. My only complaint was that the ticket said to go to one location, but when I got there, I was redirected back to where I had started off. No big deal, just a bit annoying. Even on the phone, the city staff are helpful and kind. In one instance, I had forgotten to pay something (can't remember what now), but the woman on the phone very kindly helped me get the information I needed, and made sure I knew I had to call her back with the payment confirmation by a certain time (well before closing) to make sure I wouldn't be penalized. I was so grateful for the heads up! There's a ton of info on the city website, but if you have to go down in person, it's not an unpleasant experience. :-)

Many people in MA never heard of this town. This town is so pretty! It is so country. If you love…read morespace and distance, this is the town. Every house must have a septic system. That is more eco friendly. There are farms everywhere. You can get fresh produce in so many farms. For a busy state like MA, this is a great low-property tax town to live.

This is a great skybridge connecting the Providence Place Mall and the Omni/Convention center…read more From here, you can see much of the skyline of the city and the cars coming on/off the I-95 highway....all these views, while you stand several feet above Memorial Boulevard. The structure is not climate controlled, so it can get hot in the summers and cold in the winter months.

The Providence Skybridge was built during the construction of the Providence Place Mall to connect…read moreit to the Omni Hotel formerly the Westin; it was open in 1999. This Skybridge can be found near the South Garage of the mall and CVS. The bridge goes over Memorial Blvd. It's currently painted yellow and is covered with glass. This is a great feature because it's safe and protects people from the elements, especially in the winter. I've been walking through this since the early 2000s. On the other side of the Omni, the Convention Center is also connected to it. We would park at the mall and walk through this bridge and the hotel to get to the convention center. Overall, a great addition to the city and definitely a landmark that needed to be added to Yelp!

This library is such a gem! To start off it's beautiful and I love how historic it is. Even the…read moregrounds are thoughtfully landscaped and the flowers look beautiful in the Summer. Both the children's room librarian and the checkout desk librarian were friendly. It was very easy to sign up for a card and I enjoyed hearing more about the library. The children's room is adorable and was chock full of awesome books. I appreciated the back to school book suggestion lists that they had for every age from baby to fifth grade! I checked out quite a few from the list. Parking is easy out front and if you want to stay longer than 30 minutes there is more street parking just ahead of the library and the town parking lot a block away. I look forward to more library adventures.

This place is like a second home for me. When I first moved out here, I practically lived in this…read morelibrary for a year, studying for my certification exam. Although there's only one private room, the main floor, with its comfy chairs and rows of bookshelves, is quiet and inviting. You can sit down, truly enjoy the quiet, and immerse yourself in your reading while basking in the natural light streaming through the windows. It has a soothing atmosphere that can be a real snoozer, and that's a compliment. This particular location also offers a good selection of foreign movies, which I really appreciate. The first floor below houses the computers and the children's section, complete with a friendly reference librarian. While the hours are somewhat limited compared to larger libraries, and parking can be a challenge, it's conveniently located right behind Main Street, East Greenwich. After your visit, you can head straight for a stroll. There's even a bike rack close to the entrance. The patrons are mostly older individuals who look like genuine book lovers, along with young parents and children who likely come for the activities and the dedicated children's area. Like many buildings and homes in East Greenwich, this library boasts a beautiful, historic architecture.