Follow this link to Rhode Island’s Future to get to a site called ‘Forgotten Providence’.

Forgotten Providence posts photos of foreclosed and abandoned properties and their locations. It’s sobering and sad to see the remains of what were once affordable houses and apartments.

As I drive around greater Providence I see this every day. More than abandonments, there are ‘For Sale by Owner’, ‘For Sale Bank Foreclosure’, ‘For Rent’ signs on every block in areas like Manton and Smith Hill.

Meanwhile, the Journal reports a narrow escape when a family staying in a foreclosed house nearly died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Rents are lower, but more people are homeless. What is the quick fix, what is the long-term remedy for this problem?

I don’t know, but the pictures on Forgotten Providence tell a story of waste and discouragement and dreams abandoned.