I’ll admit it. My Buffalove has been from afar. Not that far, just in Toronto, but far enough so that my love for all things Buffalo was culled more from what I have read than what I have seen.
That changed on December 17 with my trip to Buffalo for the first BRO writers and staff party (props to Queenseyes for a great event!). My visit afforded me the chance to see all the things I’ve been reading about for years, and the experience has left me with a much better understanding of Buffalo’s string of successes and its ongoing challenges.
As I walked the streets of downtown from Canalside to the Avant, my many observations of streets, buildings, amenities, etc. reminded me of the title of the 1966 film, “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.” That made me think of the things I saw around downtown that I found good and bad and ugly. To that end, based on my impressions, I provide my list of Buffalo’s “Good, Bad and Ugly.” I should add one more category, “Great,” because there were a lot of great things I saw too. Here it is:
THE GREAT
Cars on Main Street. A slam dunk in my opinion. Why? Because as I was walking up Main on Saturday Dec 17, all the parking spots on Main were full. Yes, to me that is a complete street. Because cars parked on Main mean people are on Main. And the more people that are on Main, the more businesses are busy. More businesses that are busy, the more other businesses might want to relocate.
Curtiss Hotel. Another beautiful building saved. Another downtown intersection resuscitated. I can’t wait to see this opened.
Harborcenter. I spent the overnight at the beautiful new Marriott, briefly spent some time in the teeming 716 restaurant and got a glimpse of the rink at Canalside. So many skaters on the ice, I thought I was back in Ontario!
“Furnishings” on Main Street. So great to see an upscale retail store on Main. A big shout out to Joe Incao for having the courage, confidence and vision to open a high quality emporium. May his forward thinking spirit be an inspiration for many other businesses to follow him.
THE GOOD
The refurbished Metro Rail cars. Clean. Bright. Modern. Streamlined. Exactly what the interior of a light rail car should look like today.
And speaking of Metro Rail…the refurbished station at Fountain Plaza. Compact. Clean and best of all functional.
Merchants Mutual Insurance Building. I never heard of it, saw of it or read about it. How come? It’s a beautiful example of mid-century commercial architecture. I love this building I love that it is still standing and being used… and would love to see someone in the know write a story about it.
THE BAD
The 400 block of Main. Perhaps ‘sad’ is a better word. Desolate. Lonely. Windswept. The block is screaming for activity. For life. For a people presence. It won’t be too soon until cars are returned to the 400 block. I just don’t understand why the next phase of the Main Street car sharing project is going to lower Main Street first.
Main Place Mall. It’s unconscionable to think what was torn down to erect this Soviet styled building. What were planners thinking in 1964? The place is at once…. Foreboding. Alienating. Virtually empty. How to resurrect it beckons a bevy of opinions. My take is that a supermarket would not only bring life to the building and a hugely needed amenity to downtown, but it seems the ideal location for a supermarket, given Main Place’s location right on the Metro Rail line….which would mean that downtown apartment dwellers can easily walk or use the rail to get there.
THE UGLY
I’ll lump two together: 1) Surface parking. As my bus from Toronto pulled off the Skyway to the Central Bus Station, I was shocked to see how much surface parking still exists. 2) The old non refurbished Metro Rail cars. Everything the interior of a light rail car should not look like today. I liked the idea that the seats were color coded with what was then the original color scheme of the Metro Rail cars – orange, yellow, brown. But that was the 80’s. I’m glad to see that eventually all the Metro Rail cars will look the refurbished car I referenced above.
OVERALL SCORE
Great – 4
Good – 3
Bad – 2
Ugly – 1
Final tally: Great/Good – 7 Bad/Ugly – 3
7/10 I think is a fair score for where downtown Buffalo is these days. And the best is yet to come. With the pace of development and renewal and resurgence we are seeing today, hopefully a better score is not that far away.”
Lorne Opler lives in Toronto and is a freelance writer. While visiting Buffalo this past December, he was also working on an assignment for the Toronto Star. The subject matter was The Hotel @ The Lafayette. The article was published on January 18, 2016. You can read it here.