A lot of dollars and a dream...

I have read a lot about how today's richest individuals are pledging more than half of their net worth to charitable foundations.

I am this close to writing an in-depth letter to several of our country's wealthiest individuals to explain how $1 Billion could completely flip a struggling city like Buffalo. Much like a charity, it would impact hundreds of thousands of peoples' lives, but in a different way.

whats needed are decent places and spaces for people to live and things to do and see. not more greenspaces.

Now this guy is THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX, awesome ideas!!!

I would be willig to collect the signatures for a petition to send to some rich people 5to81allday, thats a great great idea to. I just don't know who they are or their addresses, if you could provide that info maybe we could start a grass roots thing and get the ball rolling on this.

level the Main Place Mall and renovate the empty grain elevators into high priced loft apartments for the influx of young people moving into Buffalo

list of Billionaires donating to "The Giving Pledge" campaign:

Over $230 Billion already committed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Pledge

list of Billionaires donating to "The Giving Pledge" campaign:

Over $230 Billion already committed

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Pledge

the best idea with the skyway is to disrupt the linear promiscuity of its undercarriage. none of this box under bridge concept.

scoop up the skyway visually. so in a few stragic places the building form envelops the underside of the bridge like a third of a hedgehog ring. light this baby up and there.. were intra grated the skyway

REPOST:

I never repost but I would like to get some traction/feedback on this plan.

"As people may already know I am not a preservation homes like some of the other posters on here. That being said I truely believe that these building should be saved. I really think they represent a unique environment. If redeveloped imagine what type of neighborhood environment would be created. You would have the local bars on one side of the street, HSBC on the other side of the street. If converted into living space, and HSBC build their own building on the Webster block, and maaaaybe juuuust maaaaybe we get a brige connecting to the foot of Main St. You would have some serious infill. Maybe we would start talking about the foot of Main St as the economic catalyst of Buffalo. Plus lets not forget Canal Side. If we can take that old church and transport if DT to canal side it would probably be cose effective as it would save time and labor, as opposed to creating new buildings.......a boy can dream right?"

Yeah, what's a little eminent domain among friends? No problemo!

why bury them? just take them out like more cities are doing and freeing up their waterfronts for people instead of traffic.

Great concept for an underutilized asset but there's little chance for funding it. New York State is about bankrupt and things are so bad in cash flush Nassau County its financial affairs are under the state financial oversight board - much like what happened to Erie County some years ago. Unless there's some private money, I think there will be a long wait before any shovels are turned.

for me its not a hindrance. its just like steroid muscle, it looks good if you do it right.

plus the money that you would spend on the project would pretty much transform the rail system

Burying is too costly and unlikly. Creating an at grade blvd dt like san fran is much more realistic.

After Common Council, Preservation Board, NFTA, National Registry of Historic Places debate, advisory and exploratory committee approval, then re-approval after an election year, the environmental committee will rule that the now abundant Asian Carp population choking the Buffalo River might be in danger, setting the project back 3 more years before the initial bulldozers start work which is then halted by a lawsuit and restraining order by 80 year old preservationist Tim Tielman.

This is an interesting idea, but just going around buffalo is cheaper and easier. I'm not even sure what kind of engineering would be needed to make a water right pipe that size right next to Erie, and we would still have the problem of the peace bridge needs to be routed south. I get the tunnel would be for that, but the cost. If were talking 5 Billion, I'd go for most extensive light rail system I could and keep the skyway. For 5 Billion, you could get the Airport, UB North, Buff State, Black Rock, Lakeview, D'Youville and the Central Terminal to top it off. I think connecting us all that way would be far more beneficial. May it a Fly and Ride city!

Interestig idea, but I don't think it would work even with money. As much as I like greenspace, theres no plan to counteract the traffic that travels through that busy stretch of 5. The DOT actually has numbers online if you ever care to look.

I think the most plausible approach to amending the ugliness of the 190 is by lowering it to an at-grade boulevard starting south of the Virginia st exit to Michigan street. After that, it can rise and join the current 190.

This would allow for a focus on the downtown area of Buffalo. Synchronized Street lights would appear for these vehicles and traffic could be reduced to 45. Wide pedestrian crosswalks could be developed with timers. The six lane total would be reduced to 4. The reduction in speed would lower accidents along this busy stretch as well.

Aright I've spoken quite enough.

While we're at it, can we cover the Kensington and bury the Scajacuada? It would be nice to have Humboldt Parkway restored in an already dense residential area.

As for the Niagara Section, burying it might be a bit tricky (and an archeologist's dream/nightmare, wasn't it built over the filled-in Erie Canal?) but I am all for incorporating the rail lines into the median of the at-grade or below-grade expressway. Atlanta has done this with a part of their transit system, and I believe the Tampa-Orlando high-speed rail corridor will utilize I-4 in a similar manner. Perhaps at least a portion of the funding can come from the upcoming rail projects that are being planned.

The biggest cluster-fumble is going to be re-working the I-90/Rt 5 interchange... those ramps never quite worked right to start with, and putting them underground would be just as complicated without tunneling the Skyway too.

We should get rid of the highways and use the money we are spending on asphalt and concrete on mass transit instead. This is the way of the 21st century so let's get ahead of the curve for once.

While I think this is a great idea in theory and would certainly open up space in the city, I don’t know if drawing inspiration from the $17 Billion dollar cluster-F known as the Big Dig is such a hot idea.

It's important to remember that the prime motivation for the Big Dig was the replacement of the non-USDOT approved State funded elevated highway Mass built which had entrance/exit ramps that were too short and turns which were too sharp to allow for the 55mph speed. As a portion of the Interstate System, the Fed had to get involved to bring the stretch of highway up to code, and fortunately for Boston the piss-poor quality of the steel used in the elevated section was near collapse by the time the Fed stepped in. Resulting horror at the costs to replace the entire elevated roadway allowed for the tunnel & parkland proposal to be floated and implemented. Unfortunately for the designers almost all of Boston is situated on a combination of landfill or soggy unstable ground, so costs skyrocketed. Add to that your usual union labor ripoff scams, at least two material suppliers falsifying quality control records on their products and presto, you have a $17 Billion dollar tunnel which leaks like a sieve and needs to have half of its length refitted due to improper bolts and glue holding it together.

Buffalo has no such problem. I-190 was federally constructed through and through largely over Erie canal towpaths so technically speaking the Fed has no motivation to replace a large portion of it just so it can be prettier. I think short of a major disaster involving part of the elevated roadway for 190 there is little chance of it going anywhere, so like impressingagent said, effort should be directed at improving the appearance of the underside of the roadway to make it more hospitable and pleasing to the eye. From a design and implementation standpoint, your money might be better spent there.

Sure it might be “lipstick on a pig” as many here are fond of saying, but I feel it’s much more realistic and within feasible means.

Gee, wouldn't it be nice once again to walk down to the water from Riverside Park. The canal may no longer be there, but you can't have it all! Some of us are of a certain age that can remember.