Calling All Tools

what a fantastic idea!! i always thought each neighborhood should have small power equipment collectives. i mean, why does everyone on my block need their own lawnmower, weed wacker, and snow blower, when a couple shared would satisfy the needs of all??

I first heard about tool libraries while staying at the Nalanda cohousing community outside Boulder, CO. Clearly this is something cities should take up if serious about reducing waste/GHG emissions.

I'm normally not into coop's as I like being in control of my possessions, time, etc., but this is actually a good idea that will hopefully motivate those homeowners who have the desire to renovate but not the means. Hopefully my friends and neighbors will stop borrowing tools from me! Perhaps if space allows they can have a drop off for unused or remnant building materials for people to take. I often work on my house and have left over plywood, studs, drywall, trim etc that are substantial enough to use but can't be returned to the store and I have no where to keep it either. I'm talking new materials too, not reclaimed or weathered materials like those at Buffalo Re-use (those materials have their place too.) That way I don't end up throwing out a half sheet of plywood or drywall.

I thought this was going to be a post on the new season of VH1's Tool Academy!

Kevin,

I didn't mean it to sound negative, you guys certainly have a large stock of items but I haven't noticed a space for brand new remnant materials. I do frequent you guys for old architectural items though which is the best stock in town. I don't know if people think to drop those types of materials off to you as I didn't think you would want a half sheet of plywood but if I'm wrong then awesome, I have a place to recyle my left over materials! I just thought you guys dealt with salvaged goods.

The Habitat ReStore at 501 Amherst Street will also take unused materials.

This access to affordable tools is a much needed resource in many low income neighborhoods.

But it raises the larger issue . . . which to fix first, individual 'trees', or the 'forest'?

The sad reality is that in many low income neighborhoods investing in one's house has minimal, if any, 'payback'.

But city housing policy almost totally ignores that painful reality . . . instead plowing $10's of millions annually into construction of ever more new "affordable" housing units costing taxpayers as much as $1/4 million each.

Indeed, there is a hard choice for folks in poor neighborhoods . .

A low income person of merely 55 can declare him(her) self "elderly", abandon his(her) house, & move into a glitzy new subsidized unit in a closed S Bflo Catholic school or several other locations(to live comfortably & heavily-subsidized for perhaps 20 years) . . .

OR

they use the new tool library to continue living in a neighborhood where vacancies, blight & rock-bottom housing values project far into the future.

Is this the choice that $10's of millions of endless NYS & HUD "low income housing funds" should create?

In this Mayoral election some hard qustions need to be asked . .

1. How many housing vacancies were there when Byron Brown took office?

2. How many now?

3. How many subsidized newbuilds have been built since Brown took office? At what taxpayer cost?

4. How much taxpayer subsidy has gone into neighborhoods for planful rehab? For planful demolition of hopelessly blighted properties?

Poor neighborhoods need tools all right . . but they need tools to fix the 'forest'(in a city with 30,000 housing vacancies), as well as tools to fix a few 'trees' here & there!

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea and will most likely join. But, I'm going to play devil's advocate here for a moment. Won't this library potentially have a negative effect on Chi-Chi's Rental, just down the block from their HQs. Chi-Chi's is a locally owned Grant St. business that has been around forever. If PUSH starts a tool library that allows people to rent the same products for a small annual fee, this might pull people away from Chi-Chi's. One could even argue that taking business away from established Grant street businesses is at odds with PUSH's mission.

Thanks for picking this up, BR! The Buffalo Tool BARn also accepts donations at its original location on the East Side. Bring tools in good condition during business hours to the ReSource at 298 Northampton or to the Buffalo ReUse office at 158 Eaton.

Stay tuned for info about how to become a member and start borrowing tools when we officially launch this fall!