dare I beat a dead horse! approaching 50,000 daily riders with the extension of Light Rail to amherst/lockport approaching 6 million in Niagara Falls and with the expansion could it approach 12million? Buffalo Niagara International Airport approaching 6 million

whats it doing to take to understant that we are hemmorhaging blue collar factory jobs and if we dont connect the few remaining engines in this region then we are going to be devastated if this city/region takes a major hit economically.

Project that could single-handedly continue the Delaware Avenue rebirth: Marc Croce's 204 Franklin project. When will SOMETHING happen with this?

Snotnose is absolutely right, the city needs to hold these slumlords accountable! Here's more photos of Croce's property.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jas23/350865022/in/set-72157594468045421/

WCP actually has excellent contacts in the Development and Real Estate communities, and great intelligence on what is happening, and about to happen, in Downtown. Where he lives is irrelevant. What's important, and appreciated, is the time he spends tracking leads and writing stories. This is the 21st Century and whether you're calling or sending e-mail from the West Coast or the West Side makes absolutely not difference.

"Is it really acceptable for BR to continue to give major coverage of our local development over to a writer who admittedly lives on the 'west' coast. His 'perspective' would be perfectly quaint and mildly amusing were it pertaining to our charming and historic architectural past.....but really.....could we get some boots on the ground here already? Someone with a day to day knowledge of the city, developers, and possibly an inside track to news- rather than someone who is regurgitating satellite overhead images and developer press releases? Disgracefully insulting to BR readers..... well, strike that....insulting to thoughtful readers in general."

There's not a person here on BR that can tell me they have more contacts and more knowledge about ongoing developmnets, developers, and Buffalo than WCP, (in addition to Queenseyes). Since you are offended by his incredibly accurate report on Buffalo development, could you, a citizen of our city, write us troubled BR readers something better?

I just love a good laugh in the morning.

Any regular reader knows that WCP has more "day to day knowledge of the city, it's developers and THE inside track on news regarding local development than anyone in town or out of town. I rarely detect an opinion in his writing, usually just facts, and he often quotes developers, which leads me to believe that he actually CALLS them to get his info.

I believe that many of the "regurgitated images and developer press releases" pertain to projects that WCP wrote about BEFORE the actual press release. That would mean that he BROKE THE STORY! That's called NEWS. Writers sometimes get news from SOURCES. The telephone and Internet allow writers to contact those sources from such remote areas as the west coast or even THE SUBURBS.

Attack a writer if you disagree with an opinion or a false fact (like I'm doing now) but attacking them because of where they physically write from just makes no sense to me.

I am building an 82 story office tower in my back yard. I broke ground yesterday. It will be complete on June 3rd of this year. It is 100% leased. It will have underground parking with first floor retail. It will be mixed use with offices, a hotel, and condominiums which sold for $1.5mil each. It is connected to downtown by light rail....oh and there will be a UB campus in it as well. I am currently beind sued by Tim Tielman and the old lady next door and the Seneca Nation of Indians....oh and a flock of birds has threated a suit and has threatened to poop on me while I dig. My dog is mad at me too.

I may add a convention center and football stadium in 2009. WCP will keep you posted.

That's a daunting number of how's, will's and if's, does anyone else have a headache from considering all of those? And what exactly is going on with the Graystone?

JoeS - right on. Chris is a great guy and a true Buffaloian at heart. Yes, he's on the "west coast," but sometimes you have to go where the jobs are. I'm sure that if Chris had an opportunity to come back to Buffalo, I'm sure he'd be back, (although palm trees and orange sounds good right now).

THIS IS TOOOO FUNNY!

"I am building an 82 story office tower in my back yard. I broke ground yesterday. It will be complete on June 3rd of this year. It is 100% leased. It will have underground parking with first floor retail. It will be mixed use with offices, a hotel, and condominiums which sold for $1.5mil each. It is connected to downtown by light rail....oh and there will be a UB campus in it as well. I am currently beind sued by Tim Tielman and the old lady next door and the Seneca Nation of Indians....oh and a flock of birds has threated a suit and has threatened to poop on me while I dig. My dog is mad at me too."

Expect those same kinds of questions to linger well past 2008. The long term trends we're still experiencing make progress on many of those very difficult.

The life sciences sector is one possibility for helping to break out of those trends of economic decline and stagnation. It's far from a sure thing success, and countless cities worldwide are making very serious efforts with similar focus. Very competitive. Demo-ing the Trico will be fine if it's determined that a new modern specialized building is the most likely to fuel long term sustainable growth of the BN Medical Campus. UB should decide based on the merits.

At the risk of engaging in hagiography, I've always found WCP's posts a highlight of BRO. I still have a hard time fathoming how he can stay so plugged in to the Buffalo development scene at such a distance, and still remember how surprised I was to find out that for WCP 'West Coast' means *Pacific* Coast - not Lake Erie Coast.

The development coverage on BRO is outstanding - we have nothing remotely comparable in My Fair City - and I often find myself pointing planning and development folks here to the articles. The new year and today's article present a perfect opportunity to thank WCP and BRO for your thoroughly professional efforts to keep those of us who love Buffalo in the know. I have no doubt that 2008 will provide you with plenty to cover.

"sorry if I roused the ire of your small circle of loyal sycophants.

both of WCP's recent writings are like most of his others, a laundry list of information fed to him by developers with little probative value. Bass Pro being a great example, a solution in search of a problem, a juggernaut of urban waterfront planning that is a cozy and reprehensible deal cooked up after some rounds of badly played golf and too much liquor by a bate and tackle flim flam man, a faux food manufacturer, and a redundant city, state, and county government eager to spend our tax dollars on corporate welfare while crying the abuses of medicaid in new york state.

art space, touted as housing for 'artists' has broadly widened its criteria for application so that practically anyone can live there....another tax subsidized development deal, to the toon of 285,000 per unit!

{edited due to unsubstantiated, slanderous accusations}

shame on all of you for contributing the hot air to float this lead Zeppelin of self serving deception and chicanery."

what does any of what you just wrote have anything to do with WCP, and the quality of his article?

of course developers are going to feed writers what they want, but the fact is, he's writing what they're telling. go give carl paladino a call, ask him to lunch and ask about his plans for buffalo. ask iskalo how many floors will be on his "tower". call up bashar issa and have a drink while modeling underground parking ideas, and the cladding for city tower. if you manage to somehow get straight information out of anyone, and can write it better, please do so. WCP has written countless articles of great information and questions for buffalo.

it doesnt matter if it's positive or negative articles anymore..the fists keep flying.

There was an update to the BSC Group web site: http://www.bsc-group.net/

If you look at the "Global News" section it states about the Buffalo City Tower it give some vague details about the project and states that it is "expected to be completed in about four years" How true is this?

Chris69: in reference to your comments: "dare I beat a dead horse! approaching 50,000 daily riders with the extension of Light Rail....we are hemmorhaging blue collar factory jobs and if we dont connect the few remaining engines in this region then we are going to be devastated if this city/region takes a major hit economically. "

I have never read a post more off the mark and out of touch than yours. I am just thankful you represent a minority that I can count on my one hand. I say this completely outside factoring in the whole funding issue of your statement. Congrats.

Check out the cover and feature story of this week's Business Week, it features the future of the City and housing court violations: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/08_02/B4066magazine.htm

For me, it's no wonder at all why Buffalo continues to die slowly, painfully, writhing and stupidly, after reading these comments.

I'm usual as skeptical as the next person, but knocking WCP is just plain ludicrous.

I'm not in Buffalo either, but a big part of my (perhaps too-much-a-childhood) heart is there, too (exactly, right, Marilyn). WCP is one of the most thoughtful cyberfriends and informational sources of support and argument for this cranky, aging city-lover I have ever known. His contributions to this site are so many and so reasoned; I know he must affect all those he deals with in all the many phases of his life the same way. I am so sorry to feel as though I have to write this. It should be totally unnecessary.

nonono....cancelling your subscription to the News because you disagree with editorial decisions would appear to be rational behavior. Why not use the same logic here. You've made a decision you don't like certain things... why expend so much energy voicing your displeasure? We're all grown ups here (aren't we?), we don't need to be warned that we may be disappointed. We're from Buffalo, we understand disappointment. You seem to be a bit like a vegetarian standing in a crowded butcher shop, complaining about too much meat. We get it, your not happy, can we move on?

nonono:

First. You're on Buffalo Rising, essentially run by Newell. So, right there, if you have something against Newell, and all the hard work he puts out, just don't come here.

Second. Readers are always harassing BR writers about their articles, their facts, their this and that. It's a thankless job that brings people who may not live here anymore a connection to their roots while having their morning wakeup, or whenever they logon.

Third. The attacks on WCP are full of holes and are ridiculous. Since you're so eager to challenge him....about everything, why not do it? Be a man and talk via email, phone, whatever, and resolve your beef with someone who puts out countless hours for the readers. It's his article, which I'm sure took alot of time and effort, and your bashing it has gone far enough. Leave the guy alone, he wrote a blog about Buffalo, not you.

nonono, the simple fact is, can you prove his facts wrong? i dont think anyone here would be upset if you had said WCP this is actually this. many readers would probably have thanked you for finding that out. as far newell goes, his "cheerleading" pumps out 4-5 stories a day of concrete information about whatever. developers may manipulate our government, but last time i checked Newell and WCP are writers, not politicians

It pains me to do this, but nonono let's consider your 'points'. First, the issue of 'grossly exaggerate the positive aspects of development"...etc. I've reviewed the above article, and find lines like the following..."After two years of strong residential growth, is the rental market showing signs of cooling-off or is this just a breather until the next wave of projects comes online?" I'm not sure I'm seeing the same wild-eyed optimism that you are complaining about. Is there a specific line in the article above that is causing you such discomfort? If so, let's discuss it.

If you'd like to deal in 'facts', as your last post contends, then let's do it. Line by line if we must. But just throwing out terms like "thugs", with no other information, is wasting a good part of a Saturday morning. Making a point is one thing, whining is another. If you'd like to do the former, feel free.

I don't know the author's definition for 'strong', I would think demand above availability. If you look in the thread about Washington Market, you will see many people being critical of the business model, including myself. That seems the appropriate place for such comment. If there was an error in judgment about opening the business, the owners will pay for that by seeing a loss of investment dollars. I'm not sure how reporting on BR plays into that one way or another. When the business opened, the Buffalo News ran a positive artlcle, echoing the sentiments of the owner. Most of us realize that the end result of a business is not often as rosy as picture painted by the opening press release. Businesses don't open to fail, builders don't hire people so they can kill them. These are economic enterprises that do the best they can, with the limiited information and economic resources they have at hand. When things go poorly, as may well be the case in the examples you cite, I'm not sure laying blame with Buffalo Rising makes much sense.

Readers are always harassing BR writers about their articles, their facts, their this and that.

That's the name of the game, my friend. Whenever you put fingers to keyboard and produce material to be consumed by the masses, criticism is in the offing. I get killed routinely on my site as do writers at The Buffalo News, reporters on television stations, and everyone in between.

I find the circling of the wagons around writers here and on other web based media forums to be comical yet also quite interesting. The readers feel an ownership of the material and a relationship with writers they have never met. This is due to the intimacy of the medium. Personal attacks and fierce criticism are all part of the game, especially when you co-mingle opinion and reporting as we in the new media often do.

The writers here are big boys and girls and can handle criticism. If they can't they sure as hell are in the wrong business.

Investigated further, you'd find he's made other investments in the city that have paid off. Similar to Gerhardt, some work, some don't. To be balanced, financial decisions need to be looked at across the entire portfolio, and not a single investment. I think you're trying to say that an article in BR might make someone invest in an area? if that's your idea of due diligence, that might explain the small bank account you mentioned in another post. By the way, I'll gladly admit to missing your point, provided, of course, that you make one.

Sorry nonono, I thought you'd be able to tie your need for "more investigation" to my opening line of "Investigated further..." The "he" is in reference to Billy F, whom you reference above. If I need to go into so much detail explaining myself, perhaps this is a good time to end the discussion. For those coming to BR for more enlightened discussion, my apologies.

BuffaloGeek- I completely agree with your statement. You write it, it's out there, people are going to judge it. I was only mentioning that lately, Newell has been 'attacked', if you will, on some of his writings. In my opinion, nonono's accusations against WCP are based solely on his misunderstanding, or lack of foresight with the words, "strong" and his definition of "corrupt".

nonono - is now on my new favorite person's list

nonono you are such a toolbox. WCP keep up the great articles, and cheers to hopefully another prosperous year for Downtown Buffalo!

bjfan82 - thanks for stating something that I had on my mind.

Elena,

Well put and true. However, when criticism goes beyond facts and small grammatical and spelling issues, so as to verge on character assassination, we have a problem.

You're a talented writer and our cursory dealing have been nothing but pleasant., however, I wonder if you really understand this particular medium. Nothing written above should be considered character assassination of WCP. He is a great guy who I have enjoyed meeting on several occasions during BOHW.

If people wish to comment on his choice of residence or anything else, it's fair game. He's a public person (via his contributions to this site) and the medium is intensely personal.

I have been called every name in the book and had my character assailed on numerous occasions. It's all part of the territory.

For instance, people used to read Donn Esmonde's column in TBN and call him a douchebag while they sat on a barstool. Now, they do it in the comments section of TBN website. The same goes for all of us who put ourselves forth as a writer or expert on an issue. Be bigger than the insults, but let them stand else you look like someone who can't take the heat.

nonono consistently posts thoughtful and articulate responses to many of these pieces that really do turn into cheerleading sessions most of the time. Dissenting opinion is often useful, and it might be a good idea to consider some of nonono's comments rather than dismiss them so easily because they might hurt someone's feelings. WCP contributes optimistic articles to this site, and I don't think anyone ever really considers them to be exactly newsworthy. If they do, then that's a bit scary. I for one really appreciate the healthy dose of cynicism, if not realism, interjected into these articles by nonono. What I could do without, however, is the cheerleading squad rushing to Chris' defense because someone dared to raise a thoughtful (and not totally without merit) question about the writer's credentials. Chris is a big boy and can handle it I'm sure.