"Revisiting and Re-Imagining the Broadway Market"

The photo reminds me a little of Toronto's St. Lawrence Market. That this meeting could start the Broadway Market on a road in that direction.

One thing I still like to 're'visit the Broadway market for today is the produce. There are two produce vendors, both of which have have a full line of veggies and fruits. When it comes to price/lb or price/each many to the offerings are as low as any I see in town. Especially reasonable can be fruit such as apples and citrus- there are some real deals.

i am a believer that the kmart and the strip on the corner of broadway and mills currently housing cricket should be demolished and that space transformed into a park, the market green if you will...part of making this area work is maintaining its vintage look and these two buildings are very much expendable, kmart has been empty for a long time, the other building has has been half empty for almost as long... this can certainly benefit the image of the broadway market and its business district...

Why isn't this meeting at the Market? I'm attending at ECC but I would imagine there's ample space in the Market for an ad-hoc presentation space. And it would get, what, forty people into the Market that would otherwise not be there.

It would be a lot easier to bring people back to the old neighborhoods if you had buildings like this left in them. Think about the current Broadway Market structure. It is at best unmemorable, at worst it is scary and uninviting.

Is it totally out of the question to move the Broadway Market? The building isn't authentic and the location stinks. I would love to see it downtown. I thought I heard that someone was interested in opening a market at the old NFTA train storage garage at the end of South Park behind the HSBC arena. That would be a great location. The building is big and brick (full of character) and its near the harbor. That location reminds me of the very successful Pike market in Seattle.

I agree.. the sad part about it is that it would be doing 1000 times better in any other part of Buffalo. Its not an original building so what is the point of keeping it where it is?? It really is far from everything, I think it would do great closer to downtown or even better if it were where the Chippewa market once stood.

I also think its funny that the building is 2/3 parking and 1/3 real estate.."A Buffalo tradation". LOL

Im all for moving out. Its not the neighborhood. Its not the location. Its the building, plain and simple.

Shoppers want ambiance. They want either historic/retro or brand new. There is very little room btwn. Have you been to an old mall that hasnt been updated for a few decades? You can smell the failure. No one wants to be there. Same with the market. Its got all the charm of a parking garage - which its also is.

If practical, moving into an old church, trading spaces with the city shops in the old Broadway barns, or even part of the Central Terminal complex would provide the historic charm the current incarnation is lacking. Further, a move would be a good time to create a new and effective management organization. If vendors dont like it, they dont have to be there.

I cannot attend the hearing today. If I could I would ask why we continue to try to prop up what is a dying market. Why not put the energy into moving the market to the waterfront. The Granville Island market in Vancouver is in an area much like our waterfront and the area with overhead roadways. It would bring synergy to an area that has a chance of developing and a chance of having people actually want to come to it.

jsMITH.. i was down there the other day and your right..the area all though beat to hell still has some good bones that make you think it was a pretty cool "old world" part of town at one time.

Excluding the lack of ambiance, authenticity, history, saftey, and quality product I believe the type of clientelle that would support the broadway market (and support other public markets in Northeastern cities) will never again reside in the East Side.

You wanna see a cool original market...West Side Market in Ohio City. (Cleveland) I would have to say the neighborhood is NOT much better then Broadway Fillmore; but the market is original and there isn't ONE vacany in the entire place.

I reiterate..location location location..outdoor public markets with locally made artisan goods definatley fall into the "cool" catergory for the young "up and coming" crowd; but with the broadway market as evidence location is everything. I think its only a matter of time before its either moved or they pull the plug. (Best use of limited resources)

I could see it working at the Central Terminal on a much larger scale (old world food central, retail incubation, food start ups etc) ..but is it the best use of limited resources?? No keeping the market a float is definately not fiscally responsible.

1) Hold meetings inside the Market
2) Take down the KMart and make all of it a Garden/Farm
3) Cover the Roof Top and Make it a Green Roof/=less heating
and start growing produce
4) Offer Free Parking- have a "Market Bus" take people to and from their work place, Remember- we have 45,000 commuters to and from the City daily
5) Create a Land Bank, take in vacant housing, give them away
for $1 dollar, if you promise to live there and fix it up, Artists have preference, first year tax $100
6) Invite CAO, BMHA, All Churches, create a Focus Group,
7) Ask if MAP would be interested in expanding their existing Program, under what conditions?
8) Collaborate with a regional Urban Farming Center (TBD) accept Food Stamps
9) Establish a Police Precinct in the immediate area
10) Embrace the notion that its not a question of either or
when you speak of a Farmers Market here or at the Waterfront,
you can have both!!

Its the neighborhood, not the building. Its been the neighborhood for 30+ years now thats been the problem. The population numbers, and consumer income have been decimated and the real estate has been destroyed. Unfortunately living there equals living with an abundance of bad neighbors for the few good ones. The problem is that the east side has been under attack by domestic terrorists for decades and this hasnt really changed.

1. hold meetings in the market. (they definately have the space)
2. demolish kmart and build a park (as if the endless amount of vacant lots in east buffalo wouldn't suffice
3. Make the top level of the market green, much like the vacant lots all around.
4. Parking is and has been free..offer a chance for daring and "non saftey"minded suburbanites a chance to go and browse all dozen vendors at the market during their 45 minute lunch breaks. (I would probably say it'll take 30-45 minutes in a bus just in travel time and thats probably only one way)
5. Create a land bank. you win good idea
6. Focus group..okay another good idea
7. 2nd local for MAP on the other side of town?? Not soo much
8. I challenge you to find 10 people within 10 blocks of the broadway market that would even listen to your talk about urban farming.
9. A police precinct would do wonders for the immediate area. At least make all the pollacks feel a little safer come easter time.
10. You can have both sure, whether its the city or a foundation or echdc they should make the investment and walk away and if these markets don't work then they should be closed and not be a continuous drain on resources.

Rochester has a remarkable public market in a similarly “unattractive” neighborhood that is packed full of people even on the coldest of winter days (with the majority of it is outside!). The key is providing goods and services that are attractive to people who are not intimidated by what we did to our city (ie. suburban sprawl).

Be the change you want to see.