Something like this?

"I am of the belief that if the City can help to identify fixes such as the one that we see here, and is proactive in its approach and dealings with these types of property owners..."

What is stopping you? Someone just send the owner a nice letter with some ideas. Or go interview the person to learn their story. We gotta break the habit of relying on the "City".

This facade WAS nice, then got ruined by a series of poor choices. When built in the early part of last century, it embraced the fact that it was for cars by using concrete and glass details that were subtly car-themed. Almost a miniature Chrysler Building in the details that were later hacked off to be replaced by concrete block.

But some of the worst looking parking ramps are the ones that try too hard to hide what they really are. I've seen ramps that are very well disguised as an office building, except for the glaring error that the floors are at an angle to the windows. Or the entire facade is covered over in some material that doesn't fit ANYTHING except to scream "I'm hiding something even uglier!"

Some of the best architecture includes buildings that are very honest. They don't try to be cathedrals, but they find a graceful way to indicate that there is a warehouse inside.

One of my favorite parking ramps is in Atlanta, it playfully puts the parking bumper right AT the facade and then extends a security fence out like a balcony. When you walk by, you KNOW it is a parking ramp because you can see the front and back ends of the cars hanging out, like people sticking their heads out the windows. That playfulness and honesty actually WORKS to the benefit of a building that would otherwise be drab or ugly.

No, not like that at all.

OMG, seriously? That NYC garage is god-awful-horrible. I'd rather leave ours alone as it is today than turn it into that thunderdome cage thing.

Just cleaning it up and re-install the ground floor windows would do wonders.

paint would help. offer some square footage to budding artists, get their work out there on display, show some of buffalo's culture and pretty the place up for a relatively low cost - free labor from the artists as they should be excited to be public and maybe set up donations for paint???

Buffalo parking garages are the WORST! (coming from an NYC resident)

This can't be real life? That NYC garage is horrible!

I have to agree- awful! Is that a chain link fence facade?

Yuck, that metal cage behemoth is just as bad.

Here's an article I came across of some interesting ramps:

http://www.thecoolist.com/parking-garage-design-10-modernist-masterpieces/

I'd like to see parking ramps hidden behind storefronts, or in the middle floors of taller structures, etc. to deemphasize them- they're huge, and they're everywhere. Most of them don't need to be in your face. But for the ones that are there, Facade improvements can go a long way. I think the art idea is clever. Plenty of options!

agreed..kinda silly...bad and worse

[deleted- more nonsense from Virginia]

I was spinning my wheels trying to find the example in google maps I was thinking of in Chicago, but a parking garage doesn't have to look like a parking garage... or ugly. And I'm sure it wouldn't be unnecessarily costly to achieve that.

That being said, I'd rather have an ugly parking ramp than an ugly surface lot.

The iconic twin Marina Towers Condominiums in downtown Chicago are an interesting example of parking garage design.
The first twenty floors of the buildings comprise the garages.
Forty floors of condominiums sit on top of the parking structures causing the apts. to start at the 21st floor level which provide all units with spectacular views of Lake Michigan and the skyline.
There is no screening on the walls of the parking areas, only steel rods to stop vehicles from driving over the edges.
The cars are fully visible from the street and somehow it all seems to work visually.
Obviously Buffalo has nothing on this scale, but the example seen in that complex could be adapted to many smaller structures that exist in our city.
As a previous commenter stated, this type of building is honest in showing its use rather than trying to hide it behind tacky looking screening.
Sometimes simple design is better looking than false facades.

the top picture is ok if you like a medieval chain mail look to your parking ramp.

WHY ARE ALL OF YOU COUCH POTATO'S WORRIED AND COMPLAINING ABOUT A PRIVATLY OWNED BUILDING ? MAYBE THE OWNER WANTS IT TO LOOK LIKE THIS !ALSO IF HE MAKES IT LOOK LIKE A MILLION BUCK , THEN THE CITY WOULD RAISE HIS ASSESMENT AND TAX'S. BETTER YET WHY DONT ALL OF YOU LOOSERS PUT ON YOUR WORK CLOTHES [IF YOU HAVE ANY] AND RENT A COUPLE MAN LIFTS , THEN SCRAPE IT DOWN. THEN GO BUY THE PAINT [YOUR CHICE OF COLOR] AND PAINT IT ! BETTER YET JUST DON'T LOOK AT IT !

Not sure about the structure of the building. But why not just remove those small windows and darker stone? and put a big window in each spot. Again idk how the structure of the building is but I think putting some sort of glass there instead would look nicer.. Just thinking of an idea though, not entirely sure how the end result would look. Not a fan of the metal fencing..

Well this gets down to asthetics and its a discussion the Buffalonians need to have if they want a city with a quality of life where people are willing to live, work, invest and patronize.

Its a proven fact that nuisance crimes, rudeness, litter, etc all happen in areas that have the appearance of being in decay, being unmaintained, etc. Neither do people want to invest in such areas.

And this is the dividing line...there are poor libertarians who say my rights and my property...mind your own business. Who speaks for the community? Not you.

And there are those who have a more communal philosophy, where people (including property owners, business owners, etc) have a responsibility to their community in exchange for the rights to participate in the wealth of the community. If you dont want to be part of the community then live and make your money elsewhere. If you want to be part of our community then you have responsibilities to contribute to it. The exploiter that takes or the participant that contributes.

Once Buffalonians were not shy about the world class art, architecture, music, parks, industry, etc. They wanted the best that the would had to offer. Today there are huge obstacles because government, unions, civil servants, businesses, ... they all want to exploit their own interest. Few hold them accountable to the higher standards Buffalo needs to succeed.

i dunno, i think esenwein or whoever designed it got it right the first time.

How about parking ramps that you don't even notice because they are on top of ground floor retail?

When I first saw the photo in this article, I thought the premise was "Buffalo's parking garages are bad, but at least New York has worse ones." Imagine my surprise when I realized the article was saying the NYC one is what we want. Absolutely not - at least the one shown here could be considered historic, if forlorn. if we must have parking garages, they should be above first floor retail (not just one store, a whole wall of first floor retail with the garage accessed from one small entry point, or ideally the rear or the side) and there should be real design to them or they should be hidden behind a layer of apartments or offices.

I think the owner should hire Christo to wrap this parking garage in saffron fabric.

Seems like a fine time to promote one of my favorite artists that I worked with in Toronto. SF based environmental artist Ned Kahn. He has done a number of works on parking structures all over the world. Here's one in Charlotte, NC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTSLLabsJ4E

http://nedkahn.com/

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