It's not like I've never said anything good about Woonsocket, R.I.

For one thing, I've given the old mill city on the Blackstone River full credit for the great role it has played in reducing New England's humor deficit.

Where, after all, would we be without all the limericks that use the city's name? I'm sorry that I can't quote any of them here, but limericks tend to be naughty, and there's a chance a child is reading this. They should not learn such things in the newspaper, but in the schoolyard, like their parents did.

Then there's the wordplay originating with direct translations from Canadian French to English by immigrants to Woonsocket, where they "park the cars side by each," and where a farmer might say "throw the cow over the fence some hay" or a mother might yell "throw the baby downstairs a diaper."

And for another - well, the fact is that I went for years without saying another good thing about Woonsocket. But I found myself envying the old mill city while watching a Rhode Island newscast on Columbus Day. It was a slow news day ... and would have been even slower had it not been for Woonsocket holding one of the Ocean State's three Columbus Day parades (the others were in Newport and, the day before, in Providence).

To be sure, this was not Macy's on Thanksgiving, but spectators were packed two or three deep at points along the route to Social Square. The smart steps of the marchers, the flapping of the flags, the blare of brass bands were suitable pageantry to celebrate the anniversary of the discovery of America.

In downtown Attleboro the same day, to steal a line from Rhode Island's favorite felon, Buddy Cianci, you could have rolled a bowling ball down Park Street without having to worry much about hitting anybody.

Woonsocket has become something of a destination. The region's most popular jazz venue for years has been Chan's, a combination Chinese restaurant-nightclub.

The sparkle has returned to the city's old moviehouse, the Stadium Theatre, which has been rehabilitated as a live entertainment venue. There's the Museum of Work and Culture, which I have good intentions of visiting someday.

To be candid, the most popular spot in the city with the Flanagan household is a Salvation Army outlet that re-creates the feel of a 1950s-era department store.

And last weekend, the crowds came in for the three-day Woonsocket Autumnfest, of which the Columbus Day parade is a crowning event, which has been going on for 29 years now.

But when it comes to comparisons with Attleboro, another old expression reputedly born in the Woonsocket mills comes to mind: "Same thing, only different."

Where they are the same is in population. The Woonsocket count is 43,224; Attleboro, with 42,068.

The cities took vastly different routes to this number. Back in 1950, some 50,211 people called Woonsocket home. Attleboro's population at the time was 23,809. In the years since, Woonsocket was hobbled by the departure of the textile industry. Attleboro continued to grow, except for the downtown area, where competition from highway shopping centers has crushed the old retail sector. Though you might not be inclined to call Attleboro a rich city, you would in comparison to Woonsocket. The median family income here is $59,112, more than 50 percent higher than Woonsocket's $38,353.

The needs have been greater and the economic redevelopment efforts there have been bolder, benefiting from the federal Blackstone Valley Corridor project among other initiatives, because the needs have been more critical and obvious than the malaise Attleboro has experienced downtown. Here, redevelopment efforts have been spotty.

Until now. A long-awaited streetscape improvement project has finally started. The Attleboro Redevelopment Authority has started to make headway toward development of the downtown riverfront, mainly for housing. On Saturday, the brick building at 8 Wall Street is to be torn down to make a new driveway into MBTA parking lot - a small but significant step.

Attleboro City Hall has been cautious about setting goals and timetables for the new project, tending to describe the project as a 20-year effort. Sometimes it's smart to set low expectations in politics, but the public is hungry for some sign of progress, with the possible exception of those betting on failure for the project.

At the very least, there ought to be a promise of measurable progress within seven years. That would bring us to 2014, the hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of Attleboro as a city. There ought to be something new by then, something making a statement that Attleboro is still a city, and still proud of it. Something that ... gulp ... says Attleboro on City Day can be as lively as Woonsocket on Columbus Day, a modest enough goal.

MARK FLANAGAN is Opinion Page editor of The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0335 or by e-mail to mflanagan@thesunchronicle.com.