Providence Neighborhood Profiles

Hope

Located in the northeast section of Providence, the Hope neighborhood is roughly bounded by the border between Providence and Pawtucket to the North, Hope Street to the East, Rochambeau Avenue to the South, and North Main Street and Interstate 95 and the North Burial Ground to the West. Although principally a residential neighborhood, Hope has two commercial corridors, Hope Street and North Main Street.

The area that now comprises Hope was first settled in the seventeenth century by farmers and tavern keepers who followed the Pawtucket Road (now North Main Street) out from the center of Providence. These settlers and their descendants established a strong, rural community that survived well into the nineteenth century. Unlike many of Providence's neighborhoods, Hope experienced little industrial or urban development in the years following the Civil War.

Although North Main Street grew as a commercial thoroughfare during the 1860s, it was not until streetcar service came to the Hope neighborhood area in 1875 that suburban residential development began. In a slow but accelerating process, farms were sold and sub-divided into plots for single family homes. In the 1920s, some of these new homes were bought by Russian Jews who migrated to the Northern section of Providence and established a substantial Jewish community there in the years before World War II. Now, one of the largest shopping centers in the city exists off of North Main Street on the site of one of Providence's two former drive-in theaters and the former sites of the "Cycledrome" where the once National Football league champions, the Providence Steam Rollers, played in the early 20th century.

Since the 1940s, a large section of the Hope neighborhood has been occupied by the Miriam Hospital. In 1945, Miriam moved from the West End to a two acre site along Summit Avenue. The Hospital has since expanded four times, adding wings in 1952, 1967, and 1978, and a major new medical building opened in 1989. Miriam Hospital now occupies two city blocks from Fifth to Seventh Streets. The strong presence of Miriam Hospital has not, however, weakened this neighborhood's identity.

Although officially designated by the city as the Hope neighborhood, many residents refer to the area as the Summit neighborhood. An active community organization, the Summit Neighborhood Association, publishes a quarterly newsletter, encourages resident participation in neighborhood affairs, and works to improve neighborhood conditions. Today, this strong community commitment helps make Hope one of Providence's most stable and independent residential neighborhoods.

According to the 1990 census, 3,967 persons resided in the Hope neighborhood, an increase of 3.2 percent from 1980. The neighborhood is predominantly white (84.4%); 9.9 percent of the population is African American, 1.8 percent Hispanic, 2.5 percent Asian and Pacific Islander and less than 1 percent were Native Americans. More than three out of four (78%) persons age 25 or older had completed requirements for their high school degree, according to the 1990 census. Four out of ten employed residents in Hope worked in the professional services sector. The unemployment rate in Hope in 1990 was 6.6 percent, well below the citywide figure of 9.2 percent.

Median family income in Hope in 1989 was $37,838, about one-third higher than the citywide level. About one in ten persons in Hope was living below the federal poverty line in 1989. About 5 percent of families, 13.5 percent of children, and 3.3 percent of elderly persons were poor in 1989, all figures well below the citywide rates.

Housing tenure in the Hope neighborhood shifted dramatically over the past decade as the proportion of owner-occupied housing units declined from 56 percent in 1980 to 46.8 percent in 1990; renter-occupied housing increased from 44 percent to 53.2 percent. Overall, the number of housing units in the Hope neighborhood increased by 11.8 percent between 1980 and 1990. While the vast majority of housing units (77.6%) in Hope was built more than 40 years ago, 1 in 10 units was built during the 1980s. The median housing value for owner-occupied housing units in 1990 was $129,000, 16 percent higher than the citywide median. The median rent in Hope was 38 percent higher than the citywide median rent.

Resident stability patterns in Hope were comparable to citywide totals: according to the 1990 census, 17.1 percent of Hope residents moved into their current housing unit more than 20 years ago, slightly below the citywide figure of 18.8 percent; 57.2 percent of Hope residents moved into their present housing unit less than 5 years ago, a figure slightly above the citywide figure of 54.8 percent.