The architectural firm responsible for Baltimore's Inner Harbor will design Buffalo's Choice Neighborhood plan Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority officials said Monday. 

The $624,000 contract will result in a dramatic remaking and revitalization of the Commodore Perry public housing neighborhood by Philadelphia-based Wallace, Roberts & Todd (WRT).  The BMHA Perry Choice neighborhood is bounded by South Park on the south, Smith Street to the east, Sycamore to the north and Michigan Avenue to the

If you're a fan of worldly wines and beer varietals and you would like to pay a visit to the newly renovated Statler City, then Rotary Club of Buffalo and the Buffalo Rotary Foundation have an event for you. The event is called Wines of the World and if you know anything about Rotary, then you know that the organization has changed the face of Buffalo through its fundraisers and its contributions to this city. Just think of Rotary Rink and Rotary Park - just a couple of the most noticeable contributions. 
Each year Rotary of Buffalo hosts impressive events

By Chris Phillips - Occupy Western New York:
We are Occupy Western New York, we began in late December when a number of Occupy Buffalo protesters moved to Lafayette Square and were raided 5 days later.  
We decided it was best to move into the new phase of the Occupy movement and began occupying abandoned homes and foreclosed properties as a realistic way of addressing the WNY housing crisis. Some of us just returned from Niagara Square where they recently raided the camp with dozens of police officers and took everything

Ever since the Huffington Post article came out, showing the sensitive side of Buffalo guys, I have been irked about an image that went along with the article. While all of the other images showed pretty, colorful shots of respective cities, Buffalo was, once again, depicted as a cold, desolate place. Now I'm not saying that we don't have cold winters. We do. But that's

By Rachel Mathews:
I really had decent expectations going into Superbowl XLVI as a Bills fan willing to cheer for the Giants as my adopted, second favorite, home-away-from home team. Sure it was the lesser of two evils to cheer for the Giants, especially after last week's Brady hotel comment debacle, but I also have a strong base of NYC friends who are born and raised Giants fans. I wanted to see what a city post-superbowl victory would be like, and I wanted to see my NYC friends in, what I had hoped would be, rare form. In what may potentially be a more isolated

Buffalo has an amazing and important collection of magnificent historic churches. It is a collection of great architectural heritage that ranks up there with any city in America and surpasses most.  It is a heritage built mostly with the hard earned dollars and devotion of Buffalo's early working class residents.  Much of this irreplaceable heritage is now being thrown away by WNY's current residents.  I was scheduled to write this story back in December but somehow could not bring myself to do it.  With the closing of so many churches over the last two decades the problem

Super Bowl Sunday is a big day for hot sauce companies like Frank's. The chicken wing has become symbolic food for football lovers all over the world, and thanks to Anchor Bar (inventor of the original chicken wing), Frank's has become a huge sensation producing a highly addicting wing sauce that fans all over the world say is synonymous with the flavor of the wing. 
According to a recent /var/www/vhosts/buffalorising.com/httpdocs/index.html

On a day that is dedicated to the gruff, chicken wing eating, army jacket wearing, Super Bowl watching Buffalo guys, it should also be noted that despite how 'rough and tumble' Buffalo guys may want to appear, deep down there is a sensitive side to them. According to The Huffington Post writer Claire Gordon, Chemistry.com has "...scanned its male users' responses to a 56-question personality test

On the occasional Saturday I feature an obscure architectural element found in the city, to see if someone can figure out where it is. Buffalo is filled will all sorts of obscure architectural details and hidden items if interest. 
There are no clues - just a photo depicting the item. I'm sure that there are a lot of BRO readers out there who have scoured the city and have seen just about all that there is to see. Others might learn about some real treasures found in the most unlikely places. Either way, I'll keep mixing it up from week to week to keep you guessing...

I have long touted the sports strategy that Indianapolis used to revitalize its downtown as a model for cities to follow in terms of strategy led economic and community development. I really think it sets the benchmark in terms of how to do it, and it has been very successful.

Indy is hosting the Super Bowl on Sunday, something that is locally seen as a sort of crowning achievement of the 40 year sports journey. As part of that, the Indianapolis Star and public TV station WFYI produced an hour long documentary on the journey called "Naptown to Super City." I think it's a must watch for

The subjects of tagging and graffiti ares one that are oft disputed and although many people can't agree on the topics, the taggers continue to leave their marks on this city. Normally when I see a stop sign with a tag on it I don't get too upset (it's a an ugly blemish that can be easily fixed). Unfortunately, I know that that tag will most likely lead to other tags... in other places. Often times, derelict buildings are prime candidates for getting tagged. It's considered the Broken Window Theory - blight will attract more blight. 
In the past I have stated

As far as first year events go, echo Art Fair was a smashing success. Now, for the second year, art fair organizers will be highlighting an architecturally significant building by hosting artists of myriad mediums in a venue that is relatively new to the vast majority of Buffalonians. The object of the event is to shed a light on the structure while opening the eyes of Greater Buffalonians as they explore a world of art that might otherwise pass them by. 
The stage is being set to host this year's art fair inside

The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC)  is looking for some input regarding what sort of food, markets and restaurants you would like to see at Canalside. Over the years there have been talks about public markets under The Skyway, and rumors of Dinosaur BBQ and Ted's Hot Dogs poking around. At this point we have seen a couple of food-related initiatives surface in the form of Liberty Hound (coming soon) and Clinton's Dish (hamburger stand). Liberty Hound is scheduled to open this spring, while Clinton's Dish proved to be the perfect addition this past summer.
As

Urban Land Institute's Young Leaders Group of Western New York (YLG) is hosting a 100 Year Anniversary presentation at the historic Electric Tower. The party is taking place on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 6:00 p.m. Pre-registration and the presentation will be located across the street at newly renovated retail space at 5 East Huron Street.

The building is owned and operated by Iskalo Development Corporation and has worked tirelessly returning the downtown landmark to its original grandeur including

Exterior work is essentially complete on the $291 million Gates Vascular Institute located adjacent to Buffalo General Hospital on the Medical Campus.  The 10-story building will bring together Kaleida Health physicians and UB researchers in a collaborative effort to deliver state-of-the-art clinical care and produce major breakthroughs on the causes and treatment of vascular disease.  Cannon Design is project architect.

The building will house five floors of Kaleida Health's $173 million merger of its cardiac, stroke and vascular operations, plus a new and expanded emergency

Even though the Parkside Garden Tour is a long way off (Sunday, June 24, 10-6), preparation is underway to promote a Buffalo-style Garden Art Sale during that same weekend, with proceeds benefitting the National Garden Festival. The art sale will be held at the Parkside Lodge, and event organizers have begun to search for artists and craftspeople who have an interest in gardens, flowers, etc.
A recent press release stated that the intention is "... to solicit artists and vendors to participate. We're looking for original garden art in any medium, garden-related

By Kyle Gunn-Taylor:
Sports fans in Buffalo, NY now have a unified avenue to press their rights as fans of the Bills and Sabres.
The Sports Fan Coalition, the largest nonprofit fan advocacy group in the country has recently announced the creation of a Buffalo Chapter according to their website, SportsFans.org.
Spearheaded by former Buffalo Bills Media Relations staffer Matt Sabuda, the Buffalo Chapter's first order of business is to pressure the NFL's blackout issue

You may recall that last summer the Central Wharf was extremely close to landing an artists' market. Unfortunately there was just not enough time to pull off the initiative, and it was decided to shelve the plan until summer of 2012. As it stands now, the market has been fully approved and will commence this summer. Organizer Julie Leatherbarrow has been working behind the scenes to contact as many artists as possible, and feels that there has been a keen interest in the market. 
Although

By Nate Drag:
The latest chapter in the ongoing saga of Asian Carp is a report released Tuesday by the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes St Lawrence Cities Initiative describing three potential alternatives to creating a physical separation between the Mississippi River watershed and the Great Lakes watershed. The hope of this study, titled "Restoring the Natural Divide", is provide economically viable and ecological sound alternatives that will stop the flow of aquatic invasive species in both directions by physically separating the two watersheds