Sneak Preview: WNY's Greenest, Most Complete Street

Green streets and complete streets have been a frequent topic on Buffalo Rising, but sadly -- to date -- some of the best examples we've covered have been from out of the area.  Well, those days may be over, thanks to a building trend in infrastructure planning in western New York that is beginning to come to fruition in a major way.  In a spectacular way, actually, resulting in the opening this weekend of a street which will be second-to-none anywhere in the world in terms of green, complete, sustainable design -- and the creation of a new "public realm" and human-scale attraction for western New York's second largest downtown.

If that sounds like hyperbole, go see for yourself this weekend at the all-day opening bash for Old Falls Street (see below for events).  I got an eyeful this week at the preview event and "soft" opening.



This is a street designed to be green, complete, and sustainable -- in spades.  With its square cobblestone surface, heritage light standards, and use of natural stone, it's a good fit with the historic entrance to the Niagara Reservation State Park which subtly frames one end of the street.  Yet its overall feel is significantly modern enough to mesh with the buildings -- sadly, almost entirely of urban-renewal era and blandness -- that line it, and the casino that dominates its eastern end.

 The street is designed to function as both a street and pedestrian mall, and can be easily closed partly or entirely to traffic for special events.



The design attempts to place all modes of transportation on an equal footing with vehicles, and calms traffic with a variety of techniques including a driving surface of square cobblestones set flush and extensive, planted, bumpouts.



And those planted bumpouts are but one element making this undoubtedly the greenest street in western New York.  From one end to the other it's lined with bioretention swales -- planted with native species -- rain gardens, and rock gardens.



It's designed to hold, filter, and slowly release thousands of gallons of rainwater and stormwater, keeping substantial amounts of urban runoff from entering the Niagara River.



Checking out the street I ran into Dennis Mullen (from my hometown), the head of Empire State Development, who was there on behalf of the Governor.  He said that he and Governor were pleased to have backed the project, and were especially taken with the project's balance, listing aspects of downtown revitalization, tourism, green, sustainability, and job creation.  "The Governor has given his challenge to the State administration to prioritize these kinds of projects," Dennis told me.



The dedication remarks were led by Chris Schoepflin of USA-Niagara Development, who talked of reconnecting downtown with the Niagara Reservation State Park (which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year) and injecting an element of "cool."  But it was Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster who took the dedication to near-poetic heights.  He talked about the havoc on his downtown by sweeping urban renewal projects in the 1970s.  As in downtown Buffalo, signature buildings were lost and streets disappeared or were built over, inhibiting pedestrian circulation and destroying a sense of place.

In undertaking this project, Mayor Dyster said, they set out to reestablish a sense of place.  He described several prominent "places" he had visited around the world, including Bryant Park in New York City.  These great places, Mayor Dyster said, "become part of the repertoire of civilization, and we come to love them."



He talked about the types of human interactions and serendipity that would be engendered by Old Falls Street.  "This is a heart transplant for the city," he said, "which will enable the life blood of the state park to flow again into the heart of the city."  In his remarks, Mayor Dyster used the term "public realm," and openly suggested that "one of the great ways to move forward is stealing great ideas from great people and great cities."  Sounds like a public official who gets it.



This project was developed and funded largely by the USA-Niagara Development, a State entity, and included funding from the New York Power Authority.  The design was the work of a firm located in downtown Buffalo, DiDonato Associates, which also recently produced a very green and sustainable design for Buffalo Riverfest Park.  At the sneak preview I ran into Norm DiDonato, who founded the firm over 40 years ago.  He was beaming with pride in the project -- while sharing credit with the contractor, Mark Cerrone -- and in the fact that in its history his firm has never been before a judge.



Looking after Old Falls Street, providing maintenance and scheduling events will be Global Spectrum, which already has the contract to manage the Conference Center nearby.  They already have developed branding and a full schedule of events, and have mapped out a process for encouraging and incubating business development along the street.  These are essential elements in making a Great Street -- perhaps Buffalo Place should compare notes with these folks!

Get connected -- grand opening events:

2010 Calendar of events: