A miniature version of the bigger, better-known metropolis just across Rhode Island's northern border, Providence is a mix of ethnic enclaves and chic urban sophisticates drawn to the Rhode Island School of Design.

The city even has its own version of Boston's infamous 'Big Dig' only in reverse. The river that once flowed under the town, through a concrete culvert, has been uncovered as the centerpiece of Providence's urban renaissance.

Pretty amazing considering that, not so long ago Providence did not seem so well-blessed. At the end of the 1960s, the old manufacturing town seemed destined to be just another notch in the rust belt, complete with a crumbling economy and politicians who seemed like more like Corleones than Kennedys.

Vincent 'Buddy' Cianci certainly fit the bill. Elected mayor in 1974, the 33-year-old hothead ran the mayor's office like a mafia don. "Marry your enemies and f--k your friends," was his favourite political dictum. During his administration, 22 of Cianci's political friends and associates were convicted of assorted corruption charges. Cianci, on the other hand, was convicted of assault.