First Niagara Moves to Larkin District

I would much rather see a picture/video of Mayor Kearns standing in the shot, off to the side, so the people who were actually involved in making something like this happen get the actual credit. As opposed to when um um ah Mayor ah Brown uh jumps front and center with his uh uh podium and uh steals the spotlight away from the people who actually laid it on the line to make things like this happen.

cheap? Doubtful. Do you have evidence?

this isn't shuffling the deck. they aren't leaving niag co and they are already in the Larkin bldg.

fnfg is adding jobs. growing. and those jobs will be added in the larkin bldg.

everyone wins hear. fnfg is going to continue to grow with all the new bank acquisitions. i bet they add another 300 jobs early next year.

clearly such a connection would be:

1. likely cheaper than many of the regions road projects - many of dubious merit and of fewer benefactors
2. serve not only the Larkin blg, but also the expanding district. of course there is also park and rides @ the cobblestone lots for northbound commuters (UB, Medical corridor Trimain etc.) or waterfront and downtown events.
3. gas is already $2.77 a gallon with economy in the tank. what happens during the recovery? what good is free parking if it costs $5 in gas to get to work?
4. doable. it doesn't cross jurisdictions, only the one municipality
5. would encourage the development of downtown southward and eastward
6. could easily be extended further as part of an overall long-range transportation plan

sure, it wouldnt be my highest priority. UB North, commuter rail to the falls, even the airport would all be great, but will they be completed anytime soon? in the anti-regional region of WNY, I have my doubts. this is easy easy stuff for less than reconfiguring a highway exit. its a no brainer.

might I also add, no complaints were lodged went 100 million dollar price tag to the outer harbor was thrown about. 100 mill, to go where? vist the Coasties?

It's good to see First Niagara's growth, and hopefully it continues.

Although Sally is right that metro Buffalo's 2008-9 job losses compare favorably to Charlotte's (and to the average U.S. metro), a longer term comparison doesn't look good.

BLS.gov lists the following job counts: http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?la

Buffalo: 551,421 (6/1995); 560,100 (6/2000); 559,081 (6/2005); 543,934 (6/2009)
Buffalo's peak over 1995-2009 was 567,127 (7/1997).

Charlotte: 616,263 (6/1995); 715,417 (6/2000); 748,723 (6/2005); 747,682 (6/2009)
Charlotte's peak over 1995-2009 was 812,222 (10/2007).

So Charlotte in 6/2009 is down over 60,000 jobs from its 10/2007 peak and down a little (1,100) since 6/2005. However in 6/2009, Charlotte still had over 30,000 more jobs than it had in 6/2000, and a lot (130,000) more jobs than in 6/1995.

In contrast, Buffalo in 6/2009 had fewer jobs than it had in each of 6/2005, 6/2000, and 6/1995. The drops are small as percents, but Buffalo's lack of job growth is staggering compared to Charlotte (and to average U.S. metros). Nothing about the recession changes that.

I used June as a reference because 6/2009 is the most recent non-prelim BLS data, but the same trend is there for any month and any 5-year interval.