Erie County Executive Chris Collins, Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Brian Higgins announced the award of more than $28 million in federal tax exempt bonding to local businesses in Buffalo today.  The federal government allocated $17.1 million to Erie County and $7.2 million to the City of Buffalo as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, better known as the federal stimulus bill.  The town of Amherst also received a $4 million allocation, and Supervisor Barry Weinstein has committed to using the town funds to boost

CitID is a ambitious project aiming to gain global consciousness by giving a (type)face to every city worldwide; big or small, rich or poor, famous or infamous, well-known or unheard-of.  

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As we've seen from the many supported galleries around town and the hugely successful summer festivals in Allentown and Elmwood Village, it is evident that Buffalo has a thriving arts community. I recently heard that artists in Buffalo have more of an opportunity to grow and make a living off of their talents than most other places not only because of the aforementioned support, but also because our city makes art readily available for public consumption; meaning,

One of the first stories I wrote for Buffalo Rising was a highlight piece on one of my favorite buildings, the Buffalo Crematorium at Delavan and Delaware in Buffalo.  SInce then I think I have highlighted over 100 buildings in my "Favorite Building" series.  All of them have been in Buffalo until now.  Of course I have favorites in places other than Buffalo. One of them is this simple contemporary beauty on Roscoe Street in Chicago designed by Wilkinson Blender Architects.  Roscoe is a charming dense urban street that has experienced

The steelworkers erecting Kaleida Health's heart and vascular institute next to Buffalo General Hospital recently paid everlasting tribute to South Buffalo's Patrick Kane.  As seen in the entry photo, the steelworkers painted "(Buzz) Pat Kane Wins Stanley Cup" on the 6th floor steel beam.  Buzz was Kane's childhood nickname.  Many of the steelworkers working on the project are South Buffalo natives.
 
The $291-million combined facility will bring together Kaleida Health physicians and University at Buffalo researchers in a collaborative effort to deliver

By: Ann Marie Awad

The sweaty tidings of summer are upon us, and even with a wealth of things to do in our own locale, an hour drive north holds a whole other pile of happenings this weekend. Here's your travel guide, in case you forgot to make plans.
 
This entire week marks the North by Northeast festival, and this weekend is the Toronto Island Festival concert. I'll be telling you a bit about each, and then throwing in some neat stuff to check out if you decide to stay the weekend.

North By Northeast (6/14/10

It hurts. When a bigtime Harvard economist writes off your city as a loss, and says America should turn its back on you, it hurts. But Ed Glaeser's dart tossing is but the smallest taste of what it's like to live in place like Buffalo. To choose to live in the Rust Belt is to commit to enduring a continuous stream of bad press and mockery.

I write mostly about the Midwest, but whether we think Midwest or Rust Belt or something else altogether, the story is the same. From Detroit to Cleveland, Buffalo

It seems like you can't go anywhere these days without seeing bad development and cookie cutter sprawl. At the same time, far too few people talk about how to curb it, and those who do aren't usually the people who can do much about it.  See a wooded plot of land today? Chances are that there is a For Sale sign on it somewhere. The next thing you know the trees are clear cut and a McMansion is going up.

Who's paying for the infrastructure for these developments? The taxpayer. How many more will be built, and what happens to the struggling communities in the city, the inner ring

Sure, Buffalo Rising is city focused, but even the most die-hard city folk need to get out of town from time to time. I am sure even mega city booster Queenseyes enjoys a quick getaway (once he gets over the shakes as he passes the city line). If you live in Buffalo getting out of town can be wonderful experience.  That is not a backhanded slam on the city.  Quite the opposite actually.  Buffalo sits at the center of one of America's most dynamic, diverse, and accessible geographic regions.  A great and under appreciated asset of Buffalo is this setting packed full of places

THE  BASICS:
Always on the lookout for something different, the Shaw Festival has revived a fairly obscure Kurt Weill/Ogden Nash musical from the 40s for this summer's season. A cast of 21(!) fills the cozy Royal George Theatre with their exuberance. Venus runs, in repertory, through October 10th. The show clocks in about 2 ½ hours, with a single intermission.

THUMBNAIL SKETCH:   
Wartime NYC. Megabucks art collector/autocrat Whitelaw Savory has just discovered and imported a fabulous Venus statue

Congressman Brian Higgins cited continued improvements along the Outer Harbor project transforming Fuhrmann Boulevard and surrounding public spaces.  "With the warm weather we see the release of pent up demand as people come down to see and enjoy the exciting changes along the water's edge," said Congressman Higgins.  "After decades of waterfront desolation and disappointment community confidence is building because of projects like this and it's only the beginning.  Incredible progress will continue to happen over the next 36 months."

Congressman Higgins credited Gary

I stumbled on this internet site which allows you to place the Gulf oil spill anyplace you want.  Doing this gives you a better ability to understand the gravity of this disaster as you compare it to familiar geographic forms.  Move the spill to the Buffalo area to quickly reveal the massiveness of the spill.  It would cover ALL of Lake Eire and then some. 

It was not long ago that there was talk

I never understood what all the fuss over the Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum was about.  And, I was puzzled why millions of dollars in public money was earmarked for its expansion.  Why should public dollars support an auto museum?  I'm not much into cars- I can barely change a flat tire.  But I reluctantly agreed to visit when offered a chance to tour the facility recently.  /regional/index.html

There are many different meanings and definitions of the word "brand". It is used by people in different contexts to mean very different things. Often it is about marketing or tag lines or logos. But ultimately a brand is much more than that and includes two basic components at its core:
A set of desired internal aspirations, goals, character, culture, competencies, etc. that describe what a product, organization or person is or would like to be. A set of external thoughts, feelings, images, and associations that others have of that product,

So you thought the closing of the Statler was bad news for Buffalo?  In what could be a devastating blow to downtown and its commercial real estate market, HSBC is considering moving out of its iconic HSBC Center office space when its lease expires in 2013  While the rumor of the bank looking at its options has been circulating for weeks, The Buffalo News got the bank to confirm its space search. 

HSBC employees occupy 2/3 of the 38-story building straddling Main Street,

-by E. Frits Abell

I am frustrated, confused and in need of direction.  My quandary lies in the fact that while I care deeply about the state of architectural preservation in Buffalo, I am an "outsider," an "interloper" (I moved away from Buffalo in 1990) and I don't know exactly where to channel my feelings.

Interestingly, I met a woman in NYC recently who badmouthed Buffalo in one breath, and then immediately commented, "but I do hear Buffalo has amazing architecture" in the next statement.

Is anyone paying attention to this statement (other than

Green streets and complete streets have been a frequent topic on Buffalo Rising, but sadly -- to date -- some of the best examples we've covered have been from out of the area.  Well, those days may be over, thanks to a building trend in infrastructure planning in western New York that is beginning to come to fruition in a major way.  In a spectacular way, actually, resulting in the opening this weekend of a

Buffalo doesn't have a Walmart store, but could soon have its traffic.  A dilapidated plaza in West Seneca could be the home of a new Walmart Store under plans announced yesterday.  Access to the store will be from a driveway loacted in the city. 

The 2400 Seneca Street property has been the home of Twin Fair, Gold Circle and Ames stores in the past.  It has been vacant for eight years.  The proposed store would be 115,000 sq.ft. and employ 300.

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Work is starting on Union Ship Canal Commons today, a new public green space located within the Buffalo Lakeside Commerce Park.  Mayor Brown will be joined by New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation Regional Director Abby Snyder, Erie County Executive Chris Collins, and NYS Senator William Stachowski at 3 PM today. 

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Since I posted the very exciting news of a TEDx event in the works for Buffalo, I have received numerous emails and on-the-street responses from enthusiasts and naysayers. Granted some TEDx events are more successful than others--being granted the permission to host a TEDx event doesn't automatically ensure that the event will be profound or well-executed.

And in Buffalo--a city I love and would never consider leaving--it is doubtful that anyone could announce the erection of a lemonade stand without encountering some