After having been in two city's (Nashville, TN and Columbus, OH) in the past 2 weeks for work, I can see how things are done and how things aren't. Nashville is a growing city with people downtown during the day - a lot of them that don't even work there - imagine that! There is a boom in the amount of people moving there and all the restaurants are packed. Columbus was another city that had a lot of exciting things happening. In there arena district (which would be our cobblestone district, in comparison) they already have businesses, a multitude brew pubs, bars, resturants, and best of all awesome architecture. They "built up" and developed their arena district much faster that Buffalo's. There is a lot to learn from these two city's, I wish I took some more pictures.

Now getting back to this article, the two city's I went to - Nashville has a river going through it, NHL and NFL downtown - no beach though. Buffalo has the upper hand here. Columbus has NHL and no water at all going through the city.

Buffalo needs to take advantage of it's resources, politicians need to stop sitting on there hands and work some magic here. Besides the waterfront issue - the two other city's also have businesses with MAJOR corporate headquarters. Columbus is home to Nationwide Insurance - everything in their downtown is Nationwide. Why isn't there more of a presence of M&T in Buffalo??? Nashville is home to major Bible publication companies and possibly At&T. These areas are growing. Buffalo needs to attract more major corporations to move here (M&T and Labatt's is a start, but it can't end there).

I'm going to repeat - Buffalo needs to make the best of it's waterfront. Every one I talked to from the other city's through that it was still snowing here; they did not realize that it can be a warm place - in terms of temp.

I could go on and on - but I think you guys get my drift. Comment back if you'd like to talk to me.

man two stars. I just can't win with you people ;-)

Might be an option for a seasonal downtown location for Teds or Anderson's.

this would make a better french fry stand. a bunch of round seating and the combonation of homemade frys with cheap labatt beer.

Can we put a Hooters in there?

Is that a birch tree? Has to be one of the biggest around if so. They typically don't get so thick in these parts. Do we have a winner for species to plant along the whole length of the basin. Would be kind of cool to see a long row or glowing white 'birch' trees.

Either way I do agree with you on this what if scenario. Putting a place to grab a beer after making the trek out to the tower would be fantastic. It is not always the easiest to convince people to make the walk out there because of the lack of shade and being such a big dead end. A place to chill, relax, grab a beer in some shade to overlook the water and maybe even grab a clam / snack of sorts would be perfect.

It is a long walk for many and the best way to get people to enjoy it is with a little reward.

The nocturnal migratory birds that nest in the birch tree could accidentally mistake a French Fry for a worm. The ensuing high cholesterol would surely kill them. Not to mention the carbs.

Sal - The mayor's renaissance scoreboard total is now over $4.522 billion. The astounding $4.5B as analyzed by the Buffalo News Sunday, plus the latest $22 million bus station upgrade for which the NFTA announced they're seeking funding. And yes the total should jump up even higher later today or tommorow as soon as City Hall can price tag all of QE's long range ideas for Erie Basin Marina and add in those. Stay tuned.

Buffalonians, esepcially the ones that have never traveled, need to understand that the vast majority of people in this country believe it is still snowing here and that it snows in Buffalo all year.

Their ignorance is beyond comprehension; most people are not trying to be funny or insulting, they sincerely believe that is snows here all year. the first thing outsiders think of Buffalo is snow and 4 super bowl losses.....in a row

It is our responsibility and our leaders to market this town better and change our image......

Yeah... a restaurant / bar there would be excellent. But it should be something a little more affordable and popular that a Clam Bar.

Question though - what was originally there? What was behing those doors after they originally completed the Marina in the 70's ???

when the Hatch made the seating area on the North side more stable and enclosable, I thought they should go onto the new roof area and open a bar- Happy Hour - type operation. Great to for the summer overflow that ocurs there too.

What is that place? A storage shed? Maybe it's part of the Mayor's $4.5 billion program.

Their residential growth is following a lot of private sector corporate growth there.

...Although Nashville is renowned as a music recording center and tourist destination, its largest industry is actually health care. Nashville is home to more than 250 health care companies, including Hospital Corporation of America, the largest private operator of hospitals in the world. As of 2006, it is estimated that the health care industry contributes $18.3 billion per year and 94,000 jobs to the Nashville-area economy.

The automotive industry is also becoming increasingly important for the entire Middle Tennessee region. Nissan North America moved its corporate headquarters in 2006 from Gardena, California (Los Angeles County) to Nashville, with corporate headquarters temporarily located in the AT&T Building until 2008, when the Japanese auto maker will establish permanent headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee.

Nissan also has its largest North American manufacturing plant in Smyrna, Tennessee. ...

...In 2009, the Signature Tower will begin construction in Downtown Nashville. Standing at more than 1,000 feet above the ground, it will be the largest skyscraper outside of either Chicago or New York City and will be the seventh tallest building in the United States....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville#Economy

When I was a kid, the area under the tower was a little ice cream stand where we bought popsicles. I don't know why it closed. It may not be the best place for such a snack bar after all.

I'm just waiting for someone to say that the snack bar would do better if the ring was closed and turned into a beach. This is the kind of thinking that drives me nuts - half the time we want to shut down roads to make people walk and bike, and the other half of the time we're saying cars need to be back on Main Street so people will go there. Pick one.

Yup, you guys got it - AtwaterLouse, gaustad, MiesvanderDoh. It's not to say good things are not happenings at all, but more development, private and public, is happening is just about every other city.