Symphony Circle, Looking Fine Once Again (for now)

Here here, David. We all have to realize that we are merely stewards of our built environment, and there there are increasing business (tourism revenue), environmental (re-use is simply better than building new), and quality of life (historic, densely built neighborhoods are increasingly sought after) reasons to preserve what we have.

Good post. I did a double-take on the second picture, wondering if a picture of the San Francisco painted ladies hadn't crept into this story. Clearly, our stuff stands up to those.

Clearly remember when the Birge Mansion was vacant and boarded. I lived on Plymouth near Pennsylvania in 1979 and the lawn in front of the mansion was an informal gathering place at that time, used to take my son over there to play. The reflecting pool at Kleinhans was not yet restored and of course the circle itself was just paved over.

Many of the naysayers here in Buffalo have short memories or are not old enough to recognize just how far we have come. The city had few advocates in the 1970's and preservation was a small niche movement. In the past 20 years I have witnessed a remarkable turn around in this city and I am confident we will continue to realize the potential of our outstanding built environment.

Buffalo fortuneatly has a huge stock of future re-hab structures; notwithstanding, in the past while there has been an obvious momentum of completed renovated homes and multipurpose buildings in the city. We must also add to the many structures that have been maintained throughout the years and one can easily see that Buffalo has really turned the corner and is becoming , might I say quite an attractive city.

I just moved behind those houses you pictured on Jersey. The block really is nice. The blue house, next to the big red house could use a paint job, but it's still a really nice house.

That's terrible news about the church, and you're right it's a really impressive building. Last I heard they were trying to raise money to fix the steeple, I'm suprised they may abandon those plans.

The one thing about this neighborhood I wish they would change is moving the soup kitchen on Wadsworth. I know we need a place to feed our mentally ill and less fortunate people but having them wander the streets really is an eyesore in an otherwise nice neighborhood. I don't know where to put it, but farther away from my house would be fine by me.

I still complain all the time about the city, and there is a distinct lack of vision especially when it comes to getting families back and the growing inequities of poor vs affluent BUT when I was growing up the boarded up & desolate Birge Mansion, Martin house, Market Arcade, everything on Main St.,etc... etc... were so emblematic of how everything was going downhill at the speed of light. The city will never be on par with many other chic cities but the change in mentality since the 70s & 80s is astoundingly more positive and invested in the future. There was so little hope 30 years ago.

The fact of the matter is that in addition to the mentally ill, Friends of Night People also serves families with small children, folks who are out of work and out of options, and even older people who don't necessarily have the means to take care of some of their needs. They also provide free health care clinics, drug and alcohol counseling, vaccinations, and free eye care. Oh and they also provide assistance for folks who are looking to find affordable housing, and they provide Veterans Affairs assistance. The fact of the matter is that they serve the people who live in that neighborhood. Moving the soup kitchen isn't going to make its patrons disappear. Also, the last time I checked, there are no rules concerning where people can and cannot be. If you're uncomfortable with the people in your neighborhood, maybe you shouldn't have moved in until you were more familiar with the demographics.

Friends of Night People has many supporters and their mission is noble. But there is no denying that soup kitchens are magnets for troubled and sometimes dangerous characters. Feeding time brings a steady stream of homeless and marginally functioning adults through the neighborhood, most of whom may be quite harmless and respectful. But certainly not all. I used to own an apartment building on Allen and I was harassed on more than one occasion by angry drunk men to whom I refused to give money (one who claimed, and I believed him, to have been a veteran and who was so incensed that I wouldn't give him money--I was wearing a suit and tie--that he literally took swings at me, and only stopped when he was convinced I was on the phone to 911). Characters in that daily migration were also a reason a few tenants of mine (women) moved out; they didn't feel safe after being harassed for money and verbally threatened when they refused.

Cops on the beat would go a long way toward solving that issue. They could be stationed in the general vicinity of the soup kitchens near feeding time, to clamp down on harassment by those who are angry at their marginalization or at life in general.

Today's pop quiz question is -- What is the essence of the blog?

Answer -- from the author of the posting --
"I have been doing a lot of complaining about what is wrong with the city lately. But that is just one side of the story. WE CAN'T IGNORE WHAT IS RIGHT WITH THE CITY TODAY."

Consequently, significant demerits will be given to the many people that detoured from the positive subject matter to the road shoulder of negative, pessimistic comments.

I actually own the building behind the friends of the night people, I've never seen children there. Many of the clients come in cars, one in a Jetta and panhandle myself and my tenants and after politely being asked not to do so, my plants have been pulled out, bushes stolen, graffiti written on my walls and at least a ton of garbage thrown on my land and each of my trees snapped of! I spend hundreds of dollars having both lawns mowed and pick up their garbage and have been threatened on many occasions! The manager makes a healthy executives wage and I am sure the attendances vastly inflated, given my observation over the past year. When I asked why they still exist in this neighborhood, I was told, this is a good neighborhood and they can come here. Their need has long been overstated here and should be moved to a community of greater poverty level than Allentown.

As far as this neighborhood goes, it rocks and the folks that live here, I do wish to police would monitor the area by walking between 10 pm and 430 am, but asking them to do their job is not what our system deems necessary, more like their right to entitlements for being asked to do no more than anyone else in America!

Regarding, “Put it closer to the target population.”

The Medical Campus was a new location suggestion. However, with that area’s current Zumba-energized development, I suspect that the FONP would need to keep their bags packed for an impending next move.