By Michael Hargrave:
Homefront, Inc., a community development agency located on 780 Fillmore, is part way through a large community rebuilding effort on the city's West Side. For the time being, the agency is focusing on 19th Street, very close to several other projects by organizations such as People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) and a few private investors. 
What the organization is doing is far more ambitious than cleaning up a vacant home or two. They've gone and purchased

An expansion project at the Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum at Michigan Avenue and Seneca Street is winding down.  Spearheaded by museum founder James T. Sandoro, the $6.3 million project expands the existing museum by 35,000 sq.ft.

The museum celebrates the Pierce-Arrow, the Thomas Flyer and several other Buffalo-manufactured automobiles, as well as locally produced trucks, bicycles, and auto accessories. 

The Pierce-Arrow was once one of the most recognized and respected names in the automobile industry. 

If there was ever a way to get Buffalonians to rally behind a cause, it's by getting some well-know local celebs behind a bar. On Sunday March 25 the who's who of the theater scene will be guest bar tending at SOLÉ on Elmwood Avenue. The evening is being designed as a fundraiser in which people can get to know the real characters behind Buffalo theaters while all of the tips (no, not acting advice) go towards the Theater Alliance of Buffalo. 
This is a clever and creative way to raise money for a worthy cause. We all know that the culturals get the short

Waaay back in August, 2011, blogger Chris Smith had the genesis of an idea that has since spread like all over: the Cash Mob (Wikipedia).  Just months later, we're celebrating our very first International Cash Mob Day - celebrated locally by convening some Buffalo Love (and cash) at Ulrich's.  Details below.

As Cash Mobbing spreads across the nation - in a movement with interesting parallels with the

By Thea Hassan:
Trinity Place, between South Elmwood and Virginia Street, is a patient gem of a block, just waiting to be discovered. Every time I walk down it, it seems to be a little happier, a little brighter- perhaps because of the colorful wooden stars that now adorn it. 
The wooden stars showed up last winter. Instead of letting the community garden disappear beneath the snow, the Virginia-Edward-Trinity-Tupper-Elmwood Block Club (VETTE, pronounced Vetty), that manages the garden (along with support from Grassroots

Before I get to this reader submission, I will say that the subject at hand is one that has been on my mind a lot lately. With all of the progress that we are making as a city in places like the West Side the waterfront, Black Rock, etc., there are still some crucial fixes that need to take place - fixes that could be remedied if we can just get more officers out walking (and biking) critical parts of downtown Buffalo. Here (see below) we have a reader who is having some major issues with the 500 block of Main Street, and to tell you the truth I have friends who live at this exact spot who

Preservation Buffalo Niagara is again recognizing outstanding preservation projects and those contributing to preservation efforts.  The annual awards ceremony will be held May 30 in the Statler's Golden Ballroom.  Award categories were established to acknowledge distinguished contributions to our community through preservation activity. Recipients will be recognized in several areas including: preservation craft; rehabilitation/adaptive use; stewardship; neighborhood conservation; planning/reconstruction;

I know that it's last minute notice, but if you haven't solidified your plans for tomorrow morning's breakfast, then do consider heading over to Flapjacks for the Farm. Each year people come together to support the Growing Green Youth Farm - there is no better way to support an important organization than sitting down at a table and enjoying a quality breakfast. Not only are these some of the tastiest flapjacks around, you can eat as many as you want and they will keep cooking more.
Growing Green Youth Farm is just one of the Massachusetts Avenue Project's (MAP) crucial grassroots

Now that Nickel City Cheese and Mercantile has opened on Elmwood Avenue (see story), we can see how this new trend of specialty food purveyors is affecting the street. In an age when supermarkets are turning into mega-markets, it's almost unthinkable that the small specialized shops can stand a chance. Fortunately the opposite is true. Specialty stores selling cooking oils, spices... and now cheese are all the rage. One of the best benefits (for the Elmwood Village) that we are seeing with these recent successes

Hamister Group is utilizing historic preservation tax credits to put a mix of hotel, residential and office uses into the Tishman Building on Lafayette Square.  To be listed on the National Register, a property must be at least fifty years old and meet at least one of the four criteria for evaluation established by the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service.  Hamister's Tishman makeover, designed by Camina

As of April 1, two local organizations will be launching a collaborative effort to help keep the members of Western New York's cultural community in good health. The Amherst Chamber of Commerce and the Arts Services Initiative (ASI) of Western New York will be partnering to provide group health insurance to those who work within the cultural sector.
"One of the first things I heard from those in the cultural sector when I came to ASI was that they needed health insurance, but trying to find good coverage and competitive rates as an individual or small organization

The John R. Oishei Foundation has approved a $1 million grant to help fund construction of a 10,000-square-foot early childhood education center on Bailey Avenue.  The center, to be built adjacent to the Westminster Community Charter School, will serve as many as 150 neighborhood children, with a primary focus on preparing students for kindergarten.
 
"Research throughout the country talks about the need to reach children early to start them off on a strong educational path. M&T Bank's commitment to this

On Wednesday, Mayor Byron W. Brown and Department of Public Works Commissioner Steven Stepniak announced the start of a new round of upgrades at Centennial Pool, located in LaSalle Park along Porter Avenue.  The construction project, which was scheduled to start in April, includes improvements to D.A.R. Drive, which leads to Centennial Pool.

"It's very unusual," said Mayor Brown of the extended warm snap that has lulled people and plants into an early spring. "Everything, including the start of construction, is getting shifted around as a result of the mild conditions."

The

Common Council recently convened to review actions regarding the Acropolis restaurant and its ability to conduct business (see history) in a manner consistent with other restaurants in the city. Unfortunately that is not the case. Whereas the restaurant should have been given the opportunity to maximize its relatively major investment in the Elmwood Village, there are now a slew of restrictions attached to the business that range from "customers must be seated when on a patio" to "second floor is limited

Last summer's weekend vacation took the Steele Family to St. Louis for a little exploring.  As noted in my previous recent installment on St. Louis, this is a city much like Buffalo with an impeccable architectural pedigree and all the protracted urban ills of America's rust belt.  That means there are plenty of lessons these two great cities can learn from each other.  Lessons such as what you can do with a giant white elephant of a factory building other than tear it down.

When a friend from Orchard Park mentioned to me that a nightclub was opening on Delaware Avenue near Babeville, I tried to picture where the location might be. After all, it's commonplace for bars and restaurants to open on streets like Delaware and Elmwood, but they usually open in clusters.  It was only when I first saw Sinful Nightclub, located on the first floor of a 6400 square foot building right around the corner from where I live, that I realized that Buffalo would soon be home to an industrial club unlike any other in the city. 
I contacted Tom

It's not often that you get to hit up an event that incorporates food served up on top of original art. As unique as Plates & Pasta is, the dynamic of mixing the two pleasures is done in an even more masterful way that gives you the ability to finish your meal while keeping your plate. I'm not talking about any ordinary plate... I'm talking about a plate that was designed by a local celebrity artist. After all, that's what this Buffalo Arts Studio (BAS) event is all about - supporting our artists so that they can continue to create works

By Nicholas Tyler Miller

I find that many people have difficulty seeing past a given building's current state of repair to imagine what it could be. Therefore, given the Trico Plant's current condition, it is not hard to see why many find it easy to dismiss the building's architectural merits and redevelopment potential.  To enhance the Trico discussion, I made the renderings which accompany this post and a simple diagram to illustrate how the building could be broken up into residential, office, retail and parking.

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You've seen our recent coverage of the questions over the future of the historic Trico building on the Buffalo Niagara Medical campus. Here, here, here, and here.  And you've weighed in with your views in

By Joshua Bauer (Football Nation):
Just when you thought the Bills were through with free agency, they pull you back in.
DE Mark Anderson flew into Buffalo Tuesday night, meeting defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt and going out for a little dinner (they were spotted walking into Tempo downtown), then staying the night to do further interviews Wednesday. While most thought the Bills had begun and ended their free agent signings