Marketing Bliss or Blight?

The purpose of this is to generate revenue, not sell the space. If they wanted to market the space more aggressively, they would stage it with art, desks, lighting, etc. Make it look lived in.

Also, why not work with some of the folks looking for pop-up spots for the holidays?

It is only blight if it stays up for a decade. These types of ads are in cities all over the country. I think Buffalo might think differently about this because of the numerous decaying ads that stick around waaay to long.

Steve Christie Art Voice

Billy Fucillio Buses

Not a bad idea for a post... People's favorite decayed ads.

What goes and doesn't go is impossible to determine. This ad is awesome! I've watched this on TV last winter and it was oddly addicting. I would say Niagara Falls USA or Buffalo should try and get this but I doubt we would.

You can't regulate off-premises advertising based on whether the subject matter is "cool" or not. Legally, there's no difference between this and an ad for Cellino & Barnes. Most EV residents were silent about the presence of the illegal Artvoice sign on Elmwood, but if the same spot included an ad for ... oh, KFC or William Mattar, everybody would be up in arms over it.

How dare a corporate entity commodify a gentrified neighborhood, only the gentrifiers get to profit from their gentrification and control the public viewshed with what they approve as worthy of their eyes. EV has turned into a self righteous, pretentious, homeogenous suburban enclave in the city with Mayor Newell acting as tastemaster and his long line of lemmings following suit with their copies of Suburan Nation, The Rise of the Creative (aka gentrifying) Class; and The Death and Life of Great American Cities neatly stowed away in their ubiquitous shoulder bags as they pedal away on thier equally ubiquitous fixies, skinny skins and ironic moustaches and dark rimmed glasses. Face it, what Newell and everyone here argues for is a uniform, well-behaved, commodity-driven, consumptive, neighborhood that only varies in density and the mode of transportation to your local coffee houses from Lancaster, Clarence, and Orchard Park.

Only in EV would you bitch about a KFC and a sh!tty street corner, get an improved building, and then complain about how about the methods of raise revenue to cover the overpriced gentgrified rents caused by a design scheme that is surpasses utility only for visual needs rather than economic needs. Or in other words, this is what you get when you get new infill that exceeds the cost of exist space... enjoy it.

> The question is, "Who deems what sort of ads are acceptable, or does anything go?"

Buffalo's sign code, which is largely unenforced. What's acceptable? Supreme Court litmus test: you can only regulate for time, place and manner, not content. You can regulate off-premises signs (billboards and signs containing advertising for products or events that aren't at the site where the sign is located) more strictly or even ban them, but you can't regulate the subject matter if they are permitted.

Crashed Ice is pretty ridiculously awesome tho. Better than 1999 Bills season tickets or 2007 Buffalo Music Awards.

Re: "Without looking at the charter, I'm almost positive that signs that cover the entire window surface of a storefront are illegal."

Really! If that's gospel, the owner of Tent City, in the heart of the Theater District, needs to be informed. The windows have been covered with advertisements for many years.

They are more noticeably out-of-pocket as new businesses are opening on the block.

Anyone who complains about this and doesn't complain about the abomination that now exists on the side of Jim's Steak Out is a blind hypocritical dope.

Any idea on who is renting the space? It seems like Elmwood is again become a bit stale.....I really wish a few of the storefronts between Utica and Bryant would move......In particular is a few that are some of the most appealing that have been sitting for years now......
Can someone also please open something in the space that was the chocolate shop across from Cecelias? The space is amazing and perfect for a number of things...A butcher, dance studio, kunfu studio, full blown bakery..high end wine bar.....

City of Buffalo Charter (Elmwood Village Design Standards)
§ 511-155 F. (5)
(m) Total area of all signs and posters on windows may not obstruct more than 25% of the view from the sidewalk to the interior.

So, whats the word on the streets.....about whats going in here? If I were to guess....pizza place? Why not add another pizza joint to Elmwood...Class it up a bit ....We could have per square foot the most pizza places in the US