City February 10, 2012 5:00 PM

Buffalo: Home to Great Architecture

queenseyes 11

This week was a good week for Buffalo PR. It started with a photo essay in Brownstoner.com, and ended up with a spirited article in The City Traveler. It was the latter tribute that truly captured the essence of modern-day Buffalo, described as a place where an activist hides behind every corner and the architectural assets add to the sense of place that many people take for granted. From writer JoAnn Greco:

"...a rapidly re-energizing downtown are icing on the cake.

"Buffalonians know this. Everywhere I went in this lakeside city of 260,000, I encountered an enthusiastic and enterprising cadre of architects, planners, preservationists and developers dedicated to bringing what was once the nation's eighth largest city back to life."

I hope that our politicians are reading this stuff.

Be sure to check out the comment section that follows both of these media mentions...

View image

Comments

11 Comments Leave a comment

john.straubinger@gmail.com

February 10, 2012 6:09 PM

Let me just add the nice things Moody's had to say about buffalo's economy:

http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article725687.ece/BINARY/Read+Moody%27s+report+on+medical+campus

[ Reply ]

Score: 0 ( 0 votes )

STEEL

February 10, 2012 6:12 PM

Except it seems to me that they got the unemployment numbers wrong in that story.

[ Reply ]

replied to john.straubinger@gmail.com

Score: 0 ( 0 votes )

Peter Burakowski

February 10, 2012 6:27 PM

I had the pleasure of showing JoAnn Greco around Buffalo during the National Preservation Conference in October. Thank you to everyone who helped her feel so welcome! JoAnn also wrote a wonderful piece about Buffalo that ran in the Washington Post last November.

Peter Burakowski
Communications Manager
Visit Buffalo Niagara

[ Reply ]

Score: 4 ( 4 votes )

Travelrrr

February 10, 2012 6:56 PM

Safe to say that, no, our leaders are not "reading this stuff". Or, if they are, it ain't penetrating.

Where is the preservation plan, Mayor Brown? Why is there no implementation of a land bank system city wide, or at least in the most difficult areas? Why demolish salvageable homes and buildings for serious $, when that $ could go towards mothballing. Why not take some tax dollars and create a fund for the preservation of buildings, which are now confirmed revenue producers?

Can we save everything? No, but there is no risk of that at the current rate.

Buffalo could be the Charlestown of the North-but we need the political will to drive that.

[ Reply ]

Score: 10 ( 10 votes )

flyguy

February 10, 2012 6:56 PM

How about instead of the politicians always being the ones who have to get the message that we refocus a bit and hope our neighborhood residents who, over the last few dacades, have increasingly shown they dont give a care in the world that maybe they should start caring for their properties, their neighbrohhods, their neighbors. See, the problem is bigger than just a few politicians, it involves every person who makes a decision to be positive or to be a negative influence on neighborhood or the city as a whole. I know its chic these days to blast the government, politicians, government workers all day every day for whats wrong with everything in the world but the fact is that many need to look in the mirror to discover the root of the problem. We all expect a big white horse to arrive and the governmemnt leader to miraculously fix everythng but I think it takes a change in culture to do that amongst the majority, not just amongst a vocal minority who is moving to change the status quo.

[ Reply ]

Score: 4 ( 6 votes )

Travelrrr

February 10, 2012 7:03 PM

I don't think the people of Buffalo could, in general, be better stewards of Buffalo's architecture. It is the people, in fact, that have turned around this city...building by building, block by block.

I agree, in principal, in take all of our commitment. However, I think it is blatantly clear that Buffalo has not had a mayor that truly understands the power of its architecture for some time (if ever).

[ Reply ]

replied to flyguy

Score: 13 ( 13 votes )

Rand503

February 10, 2012 7:05 PM

Totally agree. There are parts of Buffalo where I drive by and see garbage and litter in front of houses. Perhaps these people are renters, so they don't really care. But they should.

If they are homeowners, they really have no excuse. I don't know what it will take to encourage them. CAn't they be fined?

[ Reply ]

replied to flyguy

Score: 3 ( 3 votes )

brownteeth

February 13, 2012 1:43 PM

I agree too. It's easy to blame other people for problems, it's harder to take resonsibilty for your own situation. To me, expecting our local government to take care of every problem is no different then the people leaving litter all over the ground expecting someone else to pick it up.

One thing the city should do is not get in the way of progress and make it easier to start a business or remodel a home and make it cheap to do so.

[ Reply ]

replied to flyguy

Score: 0 ( 0 votes )

Chris

February 11, 2012 9:08 AM

Come on guys... Let's just bask for a moment of "how others see us". Buffalo has problems like any other city. The fact is that in the past few years more than a few publications have said "come to buffalo, you'll be surprised how cool it is."

No one who comes to Buffalo expects it to be like Orlando... Just like no one goes to Montreal and expects it to be like Paris!

The negativity is just nauseating. Just be happy for once!!!

[ Reply ]

Score: 5 ( 5 votes )

Rand503

February 11, 2012 9:11 PM

Unfortunately, the negativity comes from the fact that our city leadership is actively destroying the very heritage that we are celebrating. If every there is a time to be negative, it is now. Once these buildings are gone, they are gone forever. Worse, each building torn down makes it more likely that everything else will eventually go. Momentum goes both ways.

I would love to bask in the applause. But there simply is no time for it -- not when great churches are being abandoned and torn down left and right. Worse, there is NO PLAN for saving any of this stuff. I wouldn't be so upset if there was at least a plan to deal with this issue, but there isn't. Until we get a plan, the demos will continue. That's a fact, and it's worth lamenting unless and until there is a plan to save them.

[ Reply ]

replied to Chris

Score: 2 ( 2 votes )