It looks as if Urban Roots, the West Side of Buffalo's garden cooperative, has opened to rave reviews from the locals. I stopped by this past Friday to pick out a tree for my mom and was thrilled to see close to fifteen shoppers walking about the yard. Not only were they perusing the selections, customers were filling up their handcarts with plants and flowers and taking their finds up to the cashier. This was the first time that I had actually made it over to the cooperative, so the sight of the yard filled with so many different plants was really something to see.
The idea of the cooperative is one that I refer to whenever someone asks me how to measure the different successes around the city. From the huge success of the Lexington Co-op, to the living cooperatives that have sprung up around town (look at all the work that Nickel City is putting in to their house at the corner of Elmwood and North), and now Urban Roots – cooperatives are taking root in the city. It's a healthy sign for sure.
The purchase of the Urban Roots building is now officially a done deal (as of a couple days ago they now own the building at 426 and 428 Rhode Island Street), which means that we will soon see the organization occupy the storefront (they are currently found in a small room off to the East side of the building). There are now three employees along with volunteers who are running the show.
Here are the hours: Sunday9-5/Monday10-7/Tuesday Closed/Wednesday10-7/Thursday10-9/Friday10-7/Saturday9-7