Hey, you see that light blue shed in the photo? That's just like the one that was just built next to the Erie Canal terminus right? Just a different color.

Questions for Transplant: Where are you from, when did you get here and have you ever thought about running for mayor?

Here is a great link to a PDF file desccribing all the current waterfront plans that are either under construction or are imminent. It gives their status and what is needed to move forward. Very interesting reading. It is on the Erie County Industrial Development Corp web site.

http://www.ecidany.com/OPTwaterfrontupdatemay06.ppt#292,1,Slide

Thank you transplant for such an astute observation - my frustration often clouds my judgement - perhaps becuase I have ties to Buffalo.

IT SEEMS LIKE A SUCH AN EASY FORMULA FOR SUCCESS - but no execution, which might explain my pessimism and disgust.

Now you can join the conundrum -

A place with such potential, with so many people who love it, but no one can seem to execute the easiest plan!

Buffalo is like a bad relationship with a lover. You know its not good for you to go back, but you always do, then are you stuck in the same bad situation as before becuase NOTHING CHANGES.

Welcome to Buffalo!

Most of the 190 near the riverfront is built on rubble (filling the former Erie Canal) which wouldn't support trees. Most of the right of way is too narrow for trees, and there is no center area for planting anything. The road would need to be torn apart & rebuilt, to accomodate planting. Also, the Thruway doesn't allow trees near the pavement, anywhere. They spray most of the ground with poison instead of mowing the weeds.

So, while it's unlikely that the 190 will go away (especially if we don't get together and demand it) it's more unlikely that trees will be planted and MUCH more unlikely trees would survive.

Transplant's plans would cover about 10 times more waterfront land than exists in Buffalo, unless we're talking about the industrial brownfields surrounding the Buffalo River. Building on most of that land would involve expensive remedial work, if that is even allowed. (Times Beach and Squaw Island cannot be built upon because they consist of heavy-metal laden landfill - the detrius of sewage ) ...

Most of those six points suggest to me that Transplant is unfamiliar with the landscape and history of the waterfront. No offense intended.

"Third: Parks, Parks, Parks. Bike Paths, Marina's, Harbors, Docks. Cheap, and effective"

the best advice, look at how many people are already going down to Gallagher beach, Times Beach, or the new area around the small boat harber. All we need to do now it organize the land and mitigate the 190 so that businesses and people actually have a place to build something. Almost all of the land that people want to develop is owned by government or quasi government authorities. It needs to be broken apart into the type of neighborhood we want to develop and then sold. Otherwise the whole thing will either be nothing but a giant park or a giant housing complex for rich people. Either way the citizens and the city loose.

The ideas are nice, but ideas have come and gone many times over. The problem isn't coming up with something to do with the waterfront. It is that those who are in control of the land are loathe to allow any development if it isn't something they can deeply manipulate.

lol...transplant hit many, many nails on the head... being rather new here ourselves we laugh at the amount of low income housing on the water. Also the developer stuff, the city seems to of done j**k s**t over the years, any progress being made now with all the new conversions is private developers who realized the potential and jumped on it.
True the 190 is here to stay, probably so is the casino. [still on the fence on that one] but if it is here to stay then turn a dark cloud into one with a silver lining. Embrace it and use it to our advantage, add the museums or aquarium, throw in some great boardwalk shopping and dining, a viable convention site and hotels. They will come...in droves, conventioneers to see a beatiful city with great architecture,waterfront dining, shopping, gambling...they will spend money, lots of it...and there will still be plenty of room for high end waterfront homes and condo's. Imagine if Buffalo got known for it's own golden mile instead of the negative bashing it gets...

On the right track. The trees would be a problem with the way things are, but I am sure something could be done to improve in this area. Parks are big. On the whole, good ideas. We should look at these areas for improvement.
Good to have Transplant aboard!

The best thing to do would be to put all the land up for sale and let the private sector have at it.

Ben - Although that would make sense, you have to make sure that there is control. I live on G.I., which is basically nothing but waterfront. Public access? Pretty much nil. A couple of overlooks, a state park, and that's it. All the rest is private. We would have to make sure that public access is maintained. With that in mind, I would rather have a developer with experience handle the job, than the NFTA and politicians who have no clue.

pauldub - Understood, but Buffalo and Grand Island are two different things. Being so close to the city, private waterfront development would have a mix of uses. Some park space would be nice, but it is the planning that I'm against.

People always seem to think that they can design the perfect environment for any particular situation. The places that we truly love are the ones that grew from the interactions of people exercising their free will, not some grand design of some planner sitting on high.

Build a park or two, sell the rest of the land, let the chips fall where they may.

Got my vote Ben.

Transplant -

You just descriibed Cleveland. I don't know if that was your intention, but it made me think: "Buffalo's success has to work because its Buffalo, not because Cleveland or Baltimore has X,Y,Z.."

Probably not your fault though.

Good ideas, especially the parks and amphitheater but I disagree with the shopping mall. I'd rather see shopping back on Main Street and other streets downtown that are metro accessible. Frankly, I'm so sick of "malls".

These ideas are not new, neither is the provincial condescension. Believe it or not, Transplant, there is more than one person with sense in Buffalo.

but ben most cities from the very get go did have some of that evil planning associated with them. It jsut might not have been a planner who did it. Ellicott street grid, planned, olmsted parks and parkways, planned, all of NYC planned, Chicago, also planned from the beginning.

Someone has to figure out how to divide up the land, the problem is not the lack of good planning but the political will to make the land to people who will use it better. You are right on the money with that respect. The land needs to be put on the market that will allow for developers and people to buy pieces of it in the arrangement that we as a city deserve.

If developers and the rich had their way there would be no waterfront amenities in Chicago, cleveland or any other city. People are greedy and do not look out for the betterment of the city as a whole. It has been and continues to be a poltical problem.

sbrof - I'm not against planning per se, I just think it should be limited to the duties and entities to which it is proper . Planning out roads, a park system, and different aspects of infrastructure are legitimate duties of a governing body. Trying to plan economic development, or the nature of a community/society is not.

Some responses here:

First off, Buffalo needs to start taking itself seriously...what happens on this website, doesn't happen in City Hall and that is a huge problem. I used to drive through Buffalo every summer when I was a kid driving out to Mass. to visit my grandmother, but it wasn't utnil I moved here that my parents actually saw what the city looked like.

They were amazed. All the water, Deleware Park, Elmwood, Chippewa, the Mansions on Deleware...it was like something totally foreign to them, and I hail from one of the largest cities in the country.

I've been to Cleveland more times than I care to remember, but for some reason, people here think of Cleveland as some sort of Renaissance city, as though if we get really really lucky, we can be like Cleveland. F---- that. Buffalo can be and should be much better.

Chicago and Toronto both have Lake Shore Drive's, why can't the 190 turn into that? As soon as you get out of the downtown area, it can turn back into interstate, but not in the city.

I bring up the ampitheatre, because I am familiar with that business. 90% of the shows that go to Darien Lake and like venues sell under 10,000 tickets. If the city owns it, they'll get ticket fee's, percentages of concessions, and tax dollars. Plus imagine going to see you're favorite band on a nice summer night, right on the River. Nice right?

Actually, to the person that said, I described Cleveland, you're wrong...I described Chicago. The only devlopment on their entire waterfront is Navy Pier, the ampitheatre on Northery Island, and the Shed Aqarium. The rest of it (like 10 miles) is all beaches and parks. During the week in the summer, drive home from work there, and everyone is jogging or roller blading on the path that traverses the waterfront.

I also agree that I would prefer shopping to go back on Main Street or somewhere else. But would an outdoor mall that is aesthetically pleasing be that bad? Maybe that belongs more in Cobblestone?

I just know that this development is the key to the entire city. If the city is successful, than you will see suck improvement on the west side that if you went away for five years, you wouldn't even recognize it.

I mean who isn't excited about Cobblestone and what is going on down there, but as the waterfront goes, so goes the city.

And yes, I did think of running for mayor, but I am far too young, and moved here too late.

Transplant, great comments and ideas...and to the rest of the negative haters, you are buffalo's ills. This is a great idea and so seemingly simple...if this were Vegas or Scottsdale it would be done in 9 months...Scottsdale has a 25 foot wide river running through it and they have develeoped $2billion on this little stretch and call it the Scottsdale Waterfront!! There are PF Changs, Banana Republic, Coach, W Hotel, Nordstrom, Flemings Steakhouse, Pink Taco all highend stuff and high end condos. My point is that if they can create a waterfront in the middle of the desert then we should be able to create somehwat of one on one of the largest bodies of freshwater n the world..No? Its sad we cant seem to get out of our own way.

Parks have become as sacred as motherhood and the flag, but if you've read your Jane Jacobs, you know that neighborhoods give vitality to parks and not the other way around. A dull, listless neighborhood will have a dull, listless park. A vibrant neighborhood has a better (but not guaranteed) chance at a vibrant park.

THIS CITY IS A DEAD END -

No style-

You're right. It is a dead end. So the question is, will Buffalo become Utica, NY or Columbus, OH?

Recently the city government of Columbus, scheduled a meeting with its top planners, the mayor and top business leaders, with a note saying, "check your ego at the door."

The result: The Mayor holds a press conference and says that no city is a city without a downtown, I want 10,000 housing units in the downtown area in 10 years.

Guess what. It's working. 3600 already completed. Talk about a city with a renaissance, I was there four years ago and was SCARED to get out of my car. I was there last week and it is one of the most prosperous cities in the midwest. The 10,000 units will only help.

But their government works. Ours will too, we just have to DEMAND that id does.

Yeah, we have heard it all before but the problem is that Buffalo and Western NY are still dropping in population and that means we have to find a way to populate our buildings before their demolished and find new ways to create jobs. How do we do that?
1) jump beyond Charter Schools and implement School Vouchers. If the unions fight it, then start closing public schools. Most teachers only work 4 hours a day and what 9 months a year and they want extortion money for every cost saving proposal while truancy is rampt and kids (especially minorities) are illiterate. Thats not going to rebuild our city.
2) replace all municipal housing with rentail vouchers and subsidies for developers to include 10-20% of their residential, commercial or industrial for low income people. Make the government and the developers partners instead of competitors.
2a) those who refuse Rental Vouchers should be given the choice of a bus ticket out of Buffalo and Erie County. Gravy train is over.
3) The Peace Bridge handles 7 million passengers per year (http://www.chamber.ca/cmslib/general/IA034.pdf). Buffalo must make adding value to those potential customers a priority and that means making the Niagara Street Gateway Project a Priority.
4) The Richardson & Buffalo State. We have a relatively small arts cluster on Elmwood (BECHS, AK & B-P) while Forest and Grant are totally ignored. This must change. Buffalo State and NYS must not be allowed to continue this blight into our city.
5) Demand the High Speed Rail initiative devote equal funding to upstate. Presently it is spending 5-7x the funding between Albany and NYC as they are in upstate even though there are more people per mile between Buffalo & Toronto than between Albany & NYC.
6) Demand a counsel between Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Cleveland, Erie and Pittsburgh for High Speed Rail.
7) Our Airport handles 5-6million passengers per year and all of those passengers are disconnected from downtown! If you want businesses downtown then you have to connect them to its transit centers.
8) close access points to thruways and expressways within the downtown core and put more traffic on local streets.
9) Invite Great Lakes Cruises to dock in Buffalo. Rebuild the Passenger Concourse for the DL&W.
10) unearth and rewater the Ohio Basin under Father Connolly Park and build on each side....a Conference Center, Convention Center and Hotel.
9) now that Buffalo is the auxilliary port of NY/NJ we need to bring logistics, transportation, warehouse, distribution and supply chain management related industries to Buffalo.
10) Emulate the Control Board in the areas of IDAs, Small Business Incubators and Higher Education. How? Create a one stop panel comprised of education professionals, business and government:
-examine local degree programs to see where there is to much competition and where gaps of higher education are not being served and what degree programs local industries need. Hopefully it will create degree programs for local industries and stop educating kids for degrees that have no local jobs.
-examine the business plans for small businesses and match them with venture funds and government programs
-facilitate more joint research projects and development projects between all our local colleges and universities so they can compete statewide and nationally.
11) Tell the people of Buffalo and Erie County what the city and county priorities are for job creation and development! Everyone will be best served by the ending Giambras vomit of good ideas but no execution....and ending the hide behind the desk but claim credit of every other politician.
12) It means telling every elected politician that their loyalty is NOT to DC or Albany but to Buffalo and Erie County. You here that Slaughter, Tokasz, Volker and the rest of you!
13) It means gutting the Water and Sewer Authority from patronage (we already have the highest water rates in the nation) and using the money for a 10 year infrastructure investment program to replace every waterline and sewar. Thats going to create jobs and pump millions into our local economy.

This is about what we do with our money. This is about how we use it and what our priorities are so its less about money and more about leadership execution and guts! We have to learn to do more with less (less money, less jobs and less people) and that means cutting off the blood sucking leaches and investing.

Great idea's L....

Especially about the Peace Bridge. Upon entering Canada, you feel like you are entering Disney World. Upon entering Buffalo, you get a green sign that says Welcome to NY and a slum.

Entering Canada at Fort Erie, is like Disney World compared to Buffalo? Niagara Falls maybe.

Yeah we want Buffalo to be like Fort Erie..... I don't think so.

I though the goal is actually to put all customs on the Canada side including the US customs.

Lets put a huge mall right at the Peace Bridge. Starbucks, Hotels, COndos overlooking the river! Why not? Its better than some shitty park that gangs run through at night...we need to be creative here people. Oh wait, the bridge still isnt built...its only been 10 years of studies...we should create consultants so we can all be rich bitch!!!

PS...can we ship out Hillary CLinto while were at it? She sucks.

Don't ship out Hillary.
I have a better idea.
Put her and Bill in one of those new waterfront condos and people will pay extra just to live near them. They'll sell out fast.

i dont think so Tman

Hillary isnt the enemy. True she hasnt done much for Buffalo but atleast she didnt betray Buffalo during the Niagara Power relicensing like Slaughter did. How many people remember Slaughter saying that Buffalo didnt deserve more money for relicensing and that if Buffalo didnt cooperate then we could loose all of our low cost power. Frankly, did Tokasz or Volker and others say anything much different.

How many of our elected representatives stood by as 70mw were redistributed to all of NYS because of a loss of business....but couldnt get it back when Wacker Chemical said they would bring 1500 jobs if they got enough low cost power. Who stood up for Buffalo-Niagara? No one!

I dont like Hillary because she is a big mouth who speaks about everything but the needs of the people who voted for her but unlike others she does have a backbone (but doesnt use it) while the others have no backbone at all!

Buffalo, know who your ENEMIES are!
Buffalo, know who where your elected officials loyalty is....is it to the people who voted for them or to their party platform!

We should have had Barilla Pasta and Wacker Chemical!
We should have had the new Federal Courthouse and the Peace Bridge!
We should have had our light rail extended and the southtowns connector started!
We should have had the Richardson restored and redeveloped with a conference center and maybe 2 presidential libraries!
Fill in the blank. We should have had______

The people who didnt take our local issues to Albany and DC are our enemies!

Back to the waterfront...tearing down the (public/subsidized?) housing would open up an area that is probably the center of downtown's waterfront (dont get me wrong i'm not saying theres a lack of underdeveloped land down there, i just think that those high rise buildings take away a key location). Also, I still believe that if we just do exactly what Baltimore did, we'll be ok. Lastly, I do believe that the 190 can be turned into a parkway like the one in San Francisco.

>>>> Also, I still believe that if we just do exactly what Baltimore did, we'll be ok. Lastly, I do believe that the 190 can be turned into a parkway like the one in San Francisco.

EXACTLY!!!!

Jim, you are spot on!!!!!

I'd like to see Buffalo start by beautifying it's sidewalks, city gateways, and highways. Simple improvements like getting rid of weeds, crumbling concrete, and planiting flowers and trees (new, artististic, lamp-posts?) will do a lot to make Buffalo more appealing to potential residents, business owners, and politicians. Laying the groundwork to a nice city is key.

Cost? Feasability? I don't know. I just know it's embarassing to take visitors through my city sometimes. It often looks like the rust belt that they imagined. The center of town should not look like the worst neighborhoods of other cities.

I, too, am a former Buffalonian -- and I recall writing a long, published letter to the editor enumerating many things that could be done with the waterfront.
I have lived in San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Phoenix, Syracuse, Santa Cruz, and Boulder. They're all great cities. What they have in common is that they actually have created spaces/parks/museums/galleries/walking areas/shops, etc. for people, not cars. And they actually look pretty. The waterfront in Buffalo, to me, is depressing. Ugly concrete buildings, dismal walkways, no landscaping, no shops or cool places to speak of. And, yet, as Transplant said, it is a blessing to have Lake Erie at our doorstep -- not to mention we can walk over the bridge to Canada.

The architecture in Buffalo is outstanding -- a leftover from the boom days when it was one of the wealthiest cities in the world. I don't understand why the city has never marketed itself as a top-notch architectural tour area, why it won't beautify the waterfront and make it useable, why it doesn't put up a covered/enclosed walkway along the lake for the winter -- a place that could be filled with shops, cafes, galleries, etc.

I remember the 1960s before the bust -- before Bethlehem Steel closed and before they moved the UB campus to Amherst (one of the most stupid things I have ever seen Buffalo do). College towns are notorious for arts, culture, music, and bringing in what it needs most: money!

Until there are younger leaders with real vision, I doubt that Buffalo will bounce back. I've heard so many good ideas over the decades and they all bit the dust. I mean, a subway that goes down one street!? What is that all about? If you build a subway system, make it accessible for the entire city, not just one street.

You may have already checked it out, but if not, look at it: http://www.cooltownstudios.com/mt/archives/000801.html

Good luck! I'm still in California -- I'll come back when it's a "cool" town once again.

Why don't we create a museum down by the Peace Bridge where we can display all the proposals for our waterfront, our downtown and the Peace Bridge that have been run by us or run over us, pulled over on us or driven away from us by our elected officials. We could include a special exhibit room for our late 20th century mayors. We could have statues made in their honor. Tony's statue will show him talking, Jimmy's statue can show him waving his angry fists. Makowski's statue can show him scratching his head. Chester Kowal's statue can show him with the bottle of sleeping pills that he tried to ingest after getting caught receiving kickbacks for the sale of the Old Post Office or what is now ECC's main downtown building. We can have a twofer for Frank Sedita-a staue of him cuddling with a statue of his mistress, the first Channel 2 weathergirl and former Miss Niagara Maid Of the Mist. And let's make sure to have useless talk constantly blaring over loudspeakers in this museum. Let's name this museum "The Museum Of Buffalo's Useless Leaders While The City Was In Decline".

Don't forget the "live" Brown exhibit, which will have its name changed monthly. hehe

Ted's Hot Dog Stand Museum, or The Wonder of Blunder, might actually attract a lot of visitors !

I'd rather not have all $900 - $2000 rents downtown. Personally, I'd rather see somewhat lower rents (starting around $700 2bdrm) so I can spent more of my money on things like restaurants, wine, entertaining, and cool things to enjoy in my place. Yes, I can afford those rents but I'd rather spend the money on fun things. Not to mention that we need some reasonable rents for the creative class who do not make a lot of money but are a key part of Buffalo.

To archive readers cause I know this is late, but...BLA, BLA, BLA, BLA, BLA> Reading all these blogs and comments, I don't mean to rain on your parade or lecture, but just to let you know, until each and every ONE of you young'er' people start believing in yourselves as the original builders of this 'fair' city did, this city will remain FAIR. It will not progress to the great heights it should (have). Should (have) because this glorious architecturally blessed place we call home was made that way by people with more guts and more courage, and more tenacity than anything we will ever see the likes of again in mankind's history. When you think of the rudimentary tools and technology they developed what we see around us and many take for granted (obviously) it makes me swell up with pride, tear up with sadness that overwhelms me to the point of total dispair. Many of the generation just before you shared a sense of helplessness. That is what I think most of those growing up here in the 60's, 70's and 80's feel. It's a mindset that I hate. When I saw the movie, "Neverending Story", I'd have sworn it was a story of what was happening here. The nothingness taking over and growing, growing, and everything falling away and succumbing to it. So please don't talk without dreaming. Dream big...and BELIEVE that YOU can do this as future politicians, business owners big and small. Have a vision and set goals for yourselves and achieve. Achieve greatness, whether it turn out to be in the eyes of the city or the eyes of your own family. Leave a legacy to rival the likes of those mentioned in every rundown conversation about what this city was and what it can become. Do you think they who began it all sat around looking at the filth of the logging, shipping, and industry that clogged the waterfront through the 19th century or the vast forests before that and said if only this or that wasn't as it is, we could do this and that? No! They got together one joining with another with a vision and saw no reason why they couldn't! So take their que! Look at a blank slate and see ways to make it happen. Don't pay attention to the road blocks! If those that came before us could do it, so can you! Believe me there HAD to be physical, political, and social obstacles then too. I guess my main point is to JUST TRULY BELIEVE in yourself, your city and join together to make it happen so these conversations of what 'could be' become a reality. Do not do what the last two generations has done. They have let this city 'go' as far as it can go with them running it. Take the city back and unleash your dreams! Make a promise to yourself to leave your mark so future generations will thank their lucky stars you were a part of what they call home.

Hi Kat,

You might want to let the city leaders know how you feel. Plus, I'm not sure what you mean by the "young(er)" ones, but I was at UB in 1966, when it was a "cool" town.

I think the problem is political, and small-thinking. Those of you who are still there ought to start organizing and demanding changes in the city. It's got a good infrastructure, and it should be well-used.

Allegories won't solve the problem. I don't live in Buffalo anymore, and I wouldn't unless it turned itself around. So those who are still there, are still complaining, and are missing out on what other cities offer, should be assertive enough to get the city council, mayor, etc., shook up.

After you bang your head against a brick wall enough times, you finally learn to use the door.

I hope to see some activism to return Buffalo to its old glory days.

Thanks.