The Woonasquatucket River Greenway Project (WRGP), will run primarily through the community of Olneyville, in Providence, Rhode Island. Olneyville is a community which has many of the ills of urban America: high poverty, crime, vacancy, and transience. According to public statements, the WRGP is intended to: increase recreational opportunities, improve environmental quality, and attract business and residents to Olneyville.

The Providence Plan, the facilitating agency of the WRGP, and other groups involved describe the WRGP as a grassroots project that is community-led. My investigations have revealed that such designations are not appropriate or realistic for this project.

This project was not started by residents of Olneyville or by any other local residential community. Yet, because the WRGP has been described as a project that is grassroots and community led, it is assumed that ultimately the community will actively support it. The case studies of Sauer Park in New York City and Meridian Hill Park in Washington DC demonstrate what active support entails- community leadership in the development and maintenance of the project. Such leadership is a serious commitment on the part of the community. That the Olneyville community did not initiate the WRGP, calls into question the public assumptions of the Providence Plan that the residents of Olneyville eventually will devote time and energy to become leaders of this project. Such a presumption so far appears to be unwarranted. First, the Providence Plan has not established the credibility in Olneyville that would be necessary to make an effective request for active community support from these residents. Second, such a request faces strong competition from the other daily demands on these residents to provide immediate necessities like food, shelter, and clothing to themselves and their families.

Thus, it is not surprising that such active community support has not yet happened for the WRGP. A few people attend the community meetings and events that the Providence Plan sponsors, but no one has demonstrated leadership at these events- no residents have accepted responsibility of the WRGP independent of the Providence Plan. No group comparable to the community groups in Sauer or Meridian Hill Parks has emerged. As of now, only passive support has been generated for the project, and that may well be all that the project can reasonably be expected to generate.

Therefore, the WRGP should not be understood as a grassroots or community- led project, nor should such active support be so confidently expected. Further, active community support should not be so presumed from any of the communities along the proposed greenway route, not just Olneyville. A more realistic expectation is that this project could be a resource for the communities along the Woonasquatucket River that could gain passive community support. The Providence Plan should continue its efforts to generate this passive support in Olneyville. In addition, they should acknowledge that the WRGP is a regional project and should invite this type of passive support to the other communities along the proposed greenway route. Area recreational groups should also be solicited for their support of the project.

This research is based upon newspaper and magazine articles; books; interviews of people involved in the WRGP, Sauer Park, Meridian Hill Park, and people living and working in Olneyville; and observance of community meetings in Olneyville.