You collect more taxes, you get life on the street, stores open and brew pubs don't close. Ciminelli rehabbed the downtown Cyclorama building at the same time he put up an office building in the suburbs. Because of fees and delays, it cost him more to rehab the city building than to build the new one. From Providence to Portland, downtowns across America revived in the '90s. They did it by bringing old buildings to life, by getting people to live downtown.
People living downtown is what drives everything.
City Hall may finally cut fees and shave permit time later this year. This is Tony Masiello's seventh year as mayor. Council President Jim Pitts has been around for decades. I have no answer for that. But we're working on it now.