Urban Roots, at Five Points is the premier "star" of the intersection where Rhode Island, West Utica, Brayton and Bremen meet on Buffalo's West Side.="mso-spacerun:

It's always nice to get some love (in the form of publicity) from our neighbors to the north. This time the publicity goes out as a culinary shout-out from one of the Canadian Food Network's blogs. They recently spent some time sampling a few of Buffalo's edible sweet spots and came away impressed, surprised and wanting more. Thanks for the coverage even though I'm not sure how to take the writer's closing comment, "I've just chipped an ice cube off of the culinary iceberg that Buffalo's quickly becoming and I can't wait to take a bigger bite!"

I'm not sure that we want to be

The Packard Building has been awarded the 2009 NYS Historic Preservation Award for "Outstanding Adaptive Reuse Project of the Year," by the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.  Completed by Regan Development Corporation (RDC) in early 2009, the original Buffalo Packard showroom

In answer to the question of what you can do to help the Olmsted Conservancy maintain a role in the upkeep of the parks,  David J. Colligan, chair of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy Board of Trustees, announced several "call to action" items the community can join, in an effort to encourage Mayor Bryon Brown to complete park contract negotiations.

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Hopefully by now you've heard of Wednesday Soups at CEPA. Apparently the soup night has been successful and that means that CEPA has raised approximately $750 that will be offered in the form of grant money to someone who submits a creative individual artist or community-based projects. There are no gimmicks or loopholes either. Just submit a one-page description by Friday telling CEPA what you would like to create and then hope that it's inspiring enough to claim the prize.

Meet Ed Hogle.  He's the owner of Atlas Steel and EB Iron Art.  Hogle either owns, leases, or has an option to buy over 30 acres on and around Tonawanda Street.
In the past, Hogle had proposed a home for sex offenders on Tonawanda, that was subsequently shot down by the City.  "Look," Hogle says, "I have ten kids, and frankly, the thought of child molesters sickens me, but the more I looked into it, and found out they were living all over the city, the more it made sense that parolees be kept in one supervised area, with ankle bracelets.  The way it stands

To paraphrase the legendary Buffalo newscaster, Irv Weinstein, "It was a raucous scene on Buffalo's West Side last night..."  And it was!  Over at Sweetness_7 Cafe, on the corner of Grant and Lafayette, the first of three Holiday soirees to raise money for the local less fortunate was recently held.  And, Mama Mia!, what a fete!  The themed evening, Thursday night's being the 70's, brought out the vivid orange velour hot-pants and white patent leather platform boots with a vengeance!  The Tramps "Disco Inferno" could be heard up and down the Grant Street as

The city's largest urban farm is growing.  A hoop house has been erected on Mark & Janice Stevens' Wilson Street Urban Farm in the Broadway/Fillmore neighborhood.  The plastic enclosed hoop house is an affordable alternative to a greenhouse.

The hoop house will extend the growing season. 

With Mayor Brown wanting to take back operation of the City parks from Erie County by the end of the month, the future role of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy remains up in the air.  The Conservancy has maintained six Olmsted parks, nine circles and eight connecting parkways for five years and most people agree the Conservancy has done a stellar job.  The Common Council agrees.

Yesterday the Common Council adopted a resolution sponsored by Council Members Michael LoCurto, David Franczyk, David Rivera, and

BRO Music Review By Greg Genco:

For music enthusiasts in the Buffalo area it is no secret that for the past 19 years The  Mohawk Place has showcased an array of high quality local bands ( i.e. girlpope, Pam Swarts, Odiorne) as well as national acts (such as Pere Ubu,  Mudhoney, The White Stripes). However, what is less well known is the number of international acts, especially those from Japan, that have been introduced to Buffalo compliments of the Mohawk. For example, Japanese garage bands like Lolita 18, the Neat Beats and The King Brothers have all graced the Mohawk

From your lips to President Obama's ears.  Mayor Byron W. Brown's local forum on jobs and the economy is set to go tomorrow, Wednesday, December 9th from 4:00 to 6:30PM, at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.  The local forum is designed to produce job creation and economic development ideas for the Obama administration.

Why wait for death before rebirth?  Though this concept isn't one his religion beliefs for humans, it certainly holds appeal for Reverend Drew Ludwig where his church building is concerned.  Ludwig, a regular BR contributor and reverend of Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, has plans for the reconfiguration and reuse of his church building, while his congregation lives on.
Simply put, Ludwig's congregation will be unaffected, while the 60,000 sq. ft. church will sustain its own costs through the renovation

By: Christa Glennie Seychew

Gingerbread...Gifts...Glitz, Gilda's Club of WNY's annual holiday fundraiser was held over the weekend and welcomed a record number of guests.  Held in the stunning Delaware Avenue Mansion, home to Gilda's Club, it's a fantastic holiday tradition for many.  Local artisans provided a warm and intimate holiday marketplace; the scent of hot cocoa and Christmas cookies filled the air, and children oohed and aahed over the luxurious miniature

By Giovanni Centurione

In case you didn't know, Lu Modern Classics moved from the Elmwood Village to the Ellicott Square lobby as of November 19th. They have the same great, quality made clothing from designers like Red Engine, Makers Jeans, Manni O.,

Chinatown has come to Buffalo in the form of Hu's Discount Store. When I first saw that the long-vacant Elmwood storefront had been filled with a discount shop I thought to myself, "Oh man, another dollar store?" Then yesterday my curiosity got the best of me and I walked inside to discover that this was the type of business that I've seen so many times in the past when visiting Chinatowns in Toronto and NYC - the gloves and hats, the cosmetics, the watches, the tools, the toys and games... it was all there.

I'm not against dollar stores per se. I'm just not a big fan of seeing them

Though delayed, the new Federal Courthouse in downtown Buffalo will soon be receiving its long awaited glass facade. Construction crews were working this past weekend to finish putting up large glass panels over the giant lantern on the tower's highest point, above the elevator shafts. 

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Back from a cruise, Sal Zambito and Tim Sick had a chance to catch up with BR concerning their wish to purchase the Fairfield Library from the City of Buffalo and restore it.  They are the private developers who were mentioned in last week's post on the Fairfield, but their names were withheld pending their return to town and confirmation.
Zambito and Sick say they are "certainly interested in doing business again" with regard to the former library.  "We're interested in making a single

Downtown, brace yourself. Pearl Street Grill and Brewery is in the planning and building stages of a 4500 square foot authentic NY style deli. I got a sneak peek last Friday and still can't believe the positive impact that this is going to make on people living and working downtown. I spoke to Earl Ketry, Managing Partner of the establishment, who told me that Brawler's Back Alley Deli will be housed in the basement of the Pearl Street building - the original part of the structure that dates back to 1841.

It's hard not to get caught up in Earl's fervor for the latest culinary addition.

Gardening can be expensive, and Garden Walk Buffalo's Beautification Grant committee knows it!  Past grants have helped to fund 52 garden beautification projects over the last six years, for a total of more than $20,000. But hurry!  Deadline for application="font-family:TimesNewRomanPSMT;

This New York Times article made us think about Buffalo and the way information is disseminated (or not) in order to enhance the lives of the citizenry.  We say "or not" because there was some flack last summer in which Margaret Sullivan, Editior of The Buffalo News was outraged that, after having access to crime reports, her reporters were suddenly cut off from information that Sullivan felt was pertinent and valuable