Buffalo Rising: January 2012 Archives

City January 31, 2012 6:05 PM

Buffalo's Original Sports' Bubble

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After writing a piece this past weekend on the need for an urban indoor athletics arena, a few BRO writers got to passing along this interesting, and very original photo (reference) of what has to be one of the more unusual structures ever assembled. And guess what? It was designed and implemented by Buffalo's very own Walter W. Bird of Birdair Structure Company. Featured on the front cover of Life Magazine in 1957, the photo was taken in Bird's actual backyard (see history). Talk about ahead of his time. The concept of tennis and pool bubbles ultimately led to military contracts, which transformed Birdair into a mega Buffalo company, but it is the origin of the company (and its designs) that truly captures the imagination of futuristic living. Later

City January 31, 2012 3:03 PM

Best Accredited Online Colleges for Buffalo's Top Industries

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By John Larson:
Numerous studies have shown that many of the most successful, prosperous, and vibrant cities in America are also among the best-educated. While this correlation may not necessarily infer causation - after all, it is entirely likely that educated people are drawn to more vibrant cities - there is little doubt that a rising education level can only have a favorable impact on a municipality's future.
This fact can certainly be examined in light of our local situation. When we consider the revitalization of Buffalo, we

City January 31, 2012 12:53 PM

Small business hours can be hard on customers...

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In a day and age, when more families have multiple incomes, it gets harder and harder to find time to eat and shop. When people do somehow manage to find the time, it can often be later in the day, or on Sundays. Seeing that the city of Buffalo is comprised of many owner-operated small shops, cafes and restaurants, it can sometimes be frustrating trying to support the homegrown operations. Many times people must resort to going to malls where it is mandatory for businesses to set regular long hours. Either that or shopping for goods online where the World Wide Web never closes. This from a BRO

City January 31, 2012 8:28 AM

Then and Now: Cinderella on Oxford Place

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I was recently flipping through some images I took of the Oxford neighborhood. The neighborhood takes its name from Oxford Place, which runs approximately through the middle of a roughly triangular area between Main Street, Forest Lawn, West Ferry, and Linwood Avenue. As I viewed my pictures I kept coming back to this house located at 112 Oxford Place. There was something odd about it. I could not put my finger on what it was. Certainly the front porch was quite unusual with its squat fat columns. It had many interesting details but they did not pull together

City January 31, 2012 12:20 AM

Simple Solutions for Better Transit

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By Nicholas Miller

I'd like to start out this post by saying that I've had very good experiences on the NFTA. The buses were timely. I can check the schedule through Google Maps on my smartphone. The MetroRail is fast and actually goes to quite a few of the destinations I care about - UB South, the Darwin Martin House, Downtown, Allentown, and it's not too far of walk from much of Elmwood, if you're not in a rush. There's also decent airport bus service. However, there are some very simple things that the NFTA could do to improve their service. Here are

City January 30, 2012 7:05 PM

Buffalo Greeters

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By Bennett Collins:
In my experience I have found visiting cities that I have no personal connection with to be overwhelming. You can so easily pass by buildings, parks, and landmarks without thinking twice about them simply because time does not allow you to ponder and explore every place the city has to offer. How do you 'do' big cities like London and Chicago or comparatively smaller cities like Kent or Bilbao in a weekend or even in a week? In a recent trip to The Hague, Netherlands, a friend and I found way to overcome this sense of intimidation. Since

City January 30, 2012 2:06 PM

Music at the Marcy mixes it up.

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As many of us are just starting to kick it into high gear, enjoying winter festivals, skiing and snowboarding (weather permitting), pond hockey tournaments, sledding at Shakespeare Hill, etc., a concert series is waiting in the wings at Delaware Park. For the third year in a row, Music at the Marcy is scheduled, but this year it's going to be slightly different. Per usual, there will be four bands playing on four consecutive Thursdays starting February 16th. While there will still be great music, food and drinks, this year Olmsted is upping the ante with some special guests in the form of

City January 30, 2012 10:30 AM

New Buffalo Arts and Technology Center Planned; Artspace Location Likely

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The John R. Oishei Foundation, First Niagara Financial Group and Empire State Development Corporation are joining forces to establish the Buffalo Arts and Technology Center (BATC). The BATC will potentially serve over 400 at-risk high school students and train 200 under employed or unemployed adults over three years.

The center, expected to be located at Artspace Buffalo, 1219 Main Street, is expected to debut late this year. It will offer after-school visual

City January 30, 2012 9:59 AM

EAFA in search of local musicians

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If you've ever attended the Elmwood Festival of the Arts (EAFA), then you know that the emphasis of the event is not just on the juried artists who sell their wares up and down the center of Elmwood Avenue. The art festival is a spectacular smorgasbord of delicious food, children's activities, theater, dancing and of course music. While other festivals have led to clashes between businesses, artists and musicians in the past, the Elmwood Festival of the Arts embraces the working dynamics between the different entities in a manner that helps the event to showcase a cohesive unity. Every summer

Real Estate January 30, 2012 12:01 AM

Construction Watch: Medical Campus Mega Ramp

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The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus' (BNMC) parking ramp is shaping up for a May opening. The $34 million facility will be bringing 1,800 much needed parking space to the corner of Michigan Avenue and High Street. The BNMC presently offers about 6,500 parking spaces for 12,000 daily visitors including 8,500 employees.

Continue reading Construction Watch: Medical Campus Mega Ramp.

City January 29, 2012 3:17 PM

My Favorite Buildings: 123 Bidwell For Sale

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One of most interesting and important buildings in the Elmwood Village is up for sale. The building, 123 Bidwell Parkway, was built for CD Arnold in 1895. Arnold was an important and well known early architectural photographer in the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was known best for his work documenting the Pan American Expo in Buffalo and as photographer to architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee. Silsbee, in turn, was an important 19th century architect with

City January 29, 2012 9:45 AM

HOME Scholarship Application Deadline Extended

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Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) has extended the deadline for the Joanne Champion Granger Scholarship; scholarship applications are now to be postmarked February 15th.

The scholarship will be given to a college bound high school senior in Erie or Niagara County who, in addition to academic achievement, has demonstrated a commitment to human rights and/or equal opportunity in housing. The scholarship was created in 1995 by Dr. Carl Granger, to honor his late wife's courage, commitment, and inspiration to others.

The

lifestyle January 29, 2012 3:38 AM

The Silent Girl: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen

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Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Staff Review by Patricia Covley:
Don't confuse the books in this series with the TNT television show. The books are much darker and the characters are better developed. In The Silent Girl, Rizzoli and Isles are called to a crime scene in Boston's Chinatown when a young boy discovers a severed hand. Jane Rizzoli, her partner Barry Frost and medical examiner Maura Isles are called to the scene. A woman's body matching the hand is discovered on a nearby rooftop, decapacitated.

lifestyle January 29, 2012 1:19 AM

Second Chance Sundays: Baby Spike

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Buffalo loves its animals. Did you know that by 2014 Erie County will have adopted a no-kill system? Second Chance Sheltering Network, Inc. is an all-volunteer, not-for-profit animal rescue group serving the Western New York area. Their goal is to help place homeless animals while simultaneously helping interested individuals find a new furry companion. Every Sunday, we run a homeless pet spotlight to help these animals find a good home with a loving family. Please consider

City January 28, 2012 6:37 PM

The city needs a public indoor athletics complex

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I'm a big fan of the four seasons. That's one of the reasons that I've been on a winter festival kick over the last couple of years. If you're going to live in a city where it snows, you better be able to get outdoors in order to enjoy the elements. At the same time, there's something to be said for indoor recreational activities during the winter months, and that is one of the amenities that Buffalo (the city) is lacking. I'm talking about an urban indoor recreational center where you can play soccer, hit golfballs, run on a track, etc. On the outskirts of the city there are a few indoor athletics

City January 28, 2012 4:13 PM

Acme Storefronts

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Does this building facade look familiar? Kinda looks like the Christmas eve facade makeover that recently occurred at 500 Elmwood, doesn't it? The new storefront seen here is located next to the Showplace Theater on Grant Street. You can see an eerily familiar trend, as the old inset entranceway, transom windows and twin fronts was replaced with what looks to be an off-the-shelf, store bought, do-it-yourself system. I had hoped that the Elmwood 'pop-up storefront' was going to be a unique scenario - little did I

City January 28, 2012 12:10 AM

Providence and the Virtues of Scale

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After visiting cities and doing some research on them, I like to come back and write a "master narrative" survey of my impressions of a place. I've been able to do this fairly successfully - at least natives have viewed my take as basically fair - and pretty easily for Midwest cities.

I've spent some time in Providence, Rhode Island recently, a small city reasonably comparable to the ones I focus on in the Midwest, and was hoping to do something similar there. But I've found it difficult. New England culture is something I just don't grok, so

City January 27, 2012 4:58 PM

Unsung Advocate Leads the Way

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By Carl Francis Penders:
"I've been going to Buffalo for four or five years. It's an amazing place," Roberta Lane of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Boston office told the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance's not so sure Maggie Stier. So Maggie, who I encountered on the Roycroft Campus, came to see for herself, and like Roberta, left a believer. Even our weather enthused Shelly King-Davis of Yosemite, California, saying while exiting Shea's (Performing Arts Center) after the Trust's opening plenary, "You've got these amazing

lifestyle January 27, 2012 4:10 PM

The FVC's 3rd Annual Open Audition Winter Casting Call Event

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By J Garrett Vorreuter:
Did you ever want to be a movie star? Or a television personality? Well what are you waiting for? Join us this Saturday, January 28th from 12pm - 6pm at DBGB's (253 Allen Street) when the organizers behind the Film Video Collective (www.thefvc.com) and the Buffalo 48 Hour Film Project, host The FVC's 3rd Annual Open Audition Winter Casting Call Event, where many of the region's most active filmmakers, producers and commercial production companies will be there in attendance.
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City January 27, 2012 11:35 AM

Rise Of The Regionals: Thinking Main Street, Not Wall Street, For Bank Bets

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It's what we like about Buffalo. I'm referring to hometown banks like M&T that have withstood the financial crisis, coming out relatively unscathed and ready to do business. That's one of the reasons that Forbes has profiled the bank - as Forbes staff writer puts it, "Buffalo may be miles away from New York City as a financial capital, but when it comes to putting money to work in the U.S. banking sector John Fox prefers the former to the