Buffalo Rising Online

If you walk around Downtown Buffalo and then walk around other downtowns, then yes Buffalo looks very dead and still depressing. It certainly is'nt growing now is it?

Don't those development figures still include Bashar Issa's combined 400+ million dollar City Tower and Statler plans? I'll be the first to tout that this city is progressing. It's just happening a lot slower than the Mayor suggests.

Why is the 30 person marketing HQ that Labatt has in Buffalo claimed to be large?

"we are the proud home to many large, thriving businesses and their headquarters, such as Labatt USA"

I'm surprised Chris Collins would sign his name on that poorly written letter.

Buffalo: The infrastructure of a city without all the annoying people.

Great that some politician FINALLY stuck up for our city...the mayors office should start a law suit against Forbes for slander.

It is possible that we lost future business because of an article like this.

The truth is however, that Buffao is a sub-culture. Far from any kind of real city. Severely lacking in so many categories; most people who understand this left...those still here don't know any better

Well its great that a politician finally stood up for our city. I agree with that!

Masiello was incompetent...I dont think he even knew who worked for him...much less be able to formulate a coherent public retort.

But the damage is done..and Buffalo really has itself to blame. The city spends to much money on buracracy and to little money on infrastructure. The result is that this is a very neglected pothole ridden antiquated and largely demolished city that struggles with urban redevelopment.

Brown is all image and no substance like howard over at Buffalo State. These two are like {deleted}. Anyone ever walk in city hall that is so filthy that your shoes stick to the floors. Sure the image is there in pictures and paper but pull back the curtain and Brown is all about creating minority position while none of the city gets managed, invested or maintained.

Yea..I have choice words for Howard and Brown and their not kind.

But the letter mentioned all the jobs we have lost since 1999 or how many people moved away since and how we may be bringing in new luxury living spaces into downtown, the East Side continues to be bulldozed into an urban prairie, our school system is ever so corupted with Status Quo, a transgender is leaving City Hall (and the state )due to harrasment by workers in the building, yet Mr. Brown and others say "nothings wrong"???? Am I missing something?

"$4 billion in investment in recent years...."

The guys at Forbes are laughing at the water cooler.

I just came back from visiting my friends In Grand Rapids MI this weekend, and you would be suprised how much development there is in the downtown and surrounding areas. I know GR has a good mix of jobs, and they aren't dependent on a single sector.

Of course I also went to Chicago for the 3'd and I continue to be blown away with that city. I know it's apples to oragnes, but the water front is just awesome.

Here is a link to the latest projects file on the City's website. The references to jobs created, retained or project construction related is a new addition to this file. For additional information on these projects, follow the suggested BERC link.

http://www.ci.buffalo.ny.us/home/search?SearchKeywords=project+list&btnSearch=GO

GDC- Have you left your house in the past couple years? I feel bad for those of you who refuse to believe the progress being made in Buffalo. While I understand your hesitation at first being 50 years of neglect and broken promises- You must be blind or completely ignorant to not realize what is happening. Granted theres a lot more to do, however this city hasnt seen this much progress in decades. It wont happen with the flip of a switch. that being said....

Flyguy- We are still losing people and we will until we are completely back on our feet. We all know people that have left and they always come back. in my opinion you will see the people leaving slow down over the next few years.

I heard about this article and chose to ignore it and focus on all of the positives. Forbes has lost major credibility in my eyes. Its a shame that most of its readers will not realize how little research goes into some of their pieces. However if they keep this up, eventually readers will catch on. I myself will be sending a letter to the editor.

Finally- Good for you Byron for taking the time and fighting back.

Let me put my John Hancock on that letter. F Forbes Magazine

The vast majority of the development cited by Brown is government funded. That will just further drain the wealth necessary to spur real economic improvements.

Mike, I dont care if its Federally funded or state funded...heck...iif that money didnt get spent in Buffalo...(it wouldnt get saved or used to reduce our taxes) it would just get redirected and spent elsewhere for someone else.

Dont worry Mike....Byron Brown will just create more directors and VPs and other wonderful sounding positions to employ and boost the resumes of his minority friends

Meanwhile...one has to wonder why the city hall floors are sticky...filthy...I mean usually dirt is well dirt....but is someone peeing on those floors....whats making that building such a pig stye......[deleted].

If only we spent as much to repave our streets as we do employing burocrats in city hall then our city would really be different.....or our roads could be as bad as the hallways in city hall.....[deleted]

jstraubinger - Good job finding that list of projects.

MikeInWny is right that most of it is govt spending. Looks like about 12% is private sector projects completed or under construction.

Summary ($ in billions):

Private Sector Projects - completed since BB became mayor: 0.292; now under construction: 0.232; planned or proposed (might never happen): 0.868; subtotal: 1.389

Govt-funded Public Sector Projects - completed since BB became mayor: 0.642; now under construction: 0.697; planned or proposed (might never happen): 1.818; subtotal: 3.157

Private sector completed plus under construction: 0.292 + 0.232 = 0.524

0.524 divided by (1.389+3.157=4.546) = 11.5%

The $0.333 billion Seneca Casino is listed as public sector under construction - probably because the Seneca Nation is majority owner. If that's left out of the percent, then it's 0.524 divided by 4.213 = 12.4%

By the way, that project list jstraubinger posted is to a spreadsheet, so anyone skilled at Excel might find more interesting things in the numbers. Maybe the Buffalo News should take another look through it as they've done before. Anyone interested should save a copy though, in case the city decides to remove it from their web site.

Seems like Brown is so content with what little development there is.

Granted, I am all for any kind of development, but for Brown to gloat about our "turnaround" is a little embarrassing. Other cities, smaller and larger throw up buildings and hotels on a regular basis.

We have a few projects in the works and City Hall is so content with mediocrity.

Are some of you so ignorant to know that downtown development has been taking place for decades? The only thing new is the living spaces, only thing missing is Retail stores....And renovations are cute and all, but what about Brand New Buildings? or renovations that include 2008 WOW Factor's instead of the same style one after another in each new space. What about other developers instead of the same 2 guys (you know who they are) to step in with fresh new ideas? And what about PRIVATE Investments instead of borrowed money for Every freakin project? Did'nt Trump point that out years ago as the best way for a city to thrive is to have Private Investments, otherwise someone will lose out and ooops another Red Budget will take place someday soon.

Before all the Buffalo bashers work themselves into a state of high negative frenzy, let's put the latest episode of "Oh Buffalo, Woe Is Us" into a more calm and reasonable perspective. Whenever criticism is thrown or aimed at Buffalo, many Buffalonians react as though the criticism is 100% accurate and unique only to Buffalo because Buffalo is perfectly positioned at the bottom of America's shitshute. I've checked the newspapers and blogs of the other 9 cities on the list and Guess What? - the locals in those cities think that their city is perfectly positioned at the bottom of America's shitshute. And the folks in Cleveland are angry because they believe that their city tried harder than the rest to turn the situation around.

I posted the link to the spreadsheet because I wanted posters to see where Brown's numbers came from. This list is supposedly updated every quarter, although the updating isn't always as timely as it should be, and first appeared towards the end of Tony's last administration. Yes, the list shows heavy government expenditure but without various tax incentives or Pilot Programs (Payment in lieu of Taxes) or government funded capitol projects or Brownfield’s remediation projects, there would be zero private investment. Every municipal, county and state government in our country engages and utilizes the very same programs and incentives and some companies like National Fuel play municipalities against each other to get the best deal. And by the way, Mayor Brown's figures also assume that all proposed projects will actually be completed.

I'd like to add something personal to this discussion. I'm in my late 50's and have lived in the Boston, MA area since I ran away from Buffalo to go to college here. When I was younger, I made lots of fun of Buffalo and held the city in contempt, not unlike many of the Buffalo expats in their 20's and 30's that I have met around here recently. As I got older and visited my parents in Buffalo, I began to notice things about Buffalo that I hadn't noticed before because I was so consumed with myself, like its architecture, which I really like. I spent a lot of time in Delaware Park when I was a kid and I discovered that I liked being there even more as an adult. But overall, what really sparked and developed my current interest in Buffalo are the people who live in Buffalo and actively seek to improve it by their own actions. Without people like this that make a difference, Buffalo truly will die because we all know that the Buffalo area politicians have always been and will continue to be some of the most incompetent in the country. As for development, there has been more development in Buffalo in the last 5 years than in the last half of the 20th century. I find that extremely encouraging. For those who think development is not happening fast enough or won't be satisfied until there's a Pottery Barn, Gap, Banana Republic and Fuddruckers on Elmwood (Ugh, Fuddruckers on Elmwood? What a hideous thought), please be patient.

bufago- you idiot. The fact that you use main street as an example shows how clueless you really are. Yeah theres ways to go but there has been interest and improvements on main street and the rest of the city. AGAIN my whole point is its happening.. this much hasnt happened in decades and AGAIN does not make a new city over night but its a start. You can deny the progress all you want.. and when you finally wake up, you can jump on the buffalo bandwagon if theres room for you.

What a joke that letter is. Without reading everyone's responses and I apologize for duplication, but Labatt isn't a large company; a great deal of investment is public dollars, not private (not the sign of growth in anything other than that which grow exponentially here: our government and taxes); we're bleeding residents continually (both city and county); we lack significant and sustained growth in high paying whote collar jobs while our government continues to grow and maintain it's stranglehold on its place as our largest employer, which is complete not sustainable.

Sorry, but we're a dying city. Deal with it. Brown and the other clowns who signed that letter are trying to soften the blow Forbes laid across their collective faces but the reality is, Forbes was dead on and despite Brown's contention that we're not dying today, just go look at the recently released population estimates, which again show loss. When you loss people, that means your not sustainable and jobs are not plentiful. And we continue to bleed the 25-34 age group that we need to be sustainable.

Death of a City.

thinker is right, that letter is just really bad, start to finish.

jstraubinger is right to say there's a lot of cities with similar problems as Buffalo. However there's also a lot of similarly sized cities and metros whose economies have been doing much better. Shouldn't Buffalo want to be able to compare itself to some of those instead of taking comfort in misery-loves-company?

Nusch is right that despite the bragging about development there's essentially no overall growth in jobs. Federal-reported numbers for total employment in metro Buffalo over the past couple decades since 1990 it zig-zags right around the same level (550,000 jobs, up or down 2% or so), while the average U.S. metro climbed a lot. When job totals climb for short while in Buffalo from time to time (this year, for example) cheerleaders shout hooray, but then they quiet when it falls back down. In the long term it stays steady and keeps falling farther behind job growth in most other metros.

Mayor Brown's letter brags "Since 1999, over 200 companies have either relocated to or expanded in Buffalo and the surrounding area." Think about those numbers. He's saying over the 10 years since 1999, an average of 20 companies per year have either relocated to WNY or expanded here. 20 per year, either came here or expanded, in all of WNY.

Now maybe it really wasn't that low a number, but even so just for the letter to brag about a pathetically low figure like 20 companies per year shows real cluelessness. Left unspoken is how many companies closed, moved, or reduced in size over that time. I's skeptical that a regional economic development agency would be a big help. It's worth a try maybe, but the business environment Upstate is what it is, and I don't think any agency salesmanship efforts can change that.

OK, so I agree that the letter is poorly written, and it is extremely misleading to throw around that $4 Billion number when the majority of those projects are proposed (which probably includes some sort of duplication, where one could get built, but not another).

With that being said, let's stop being so negative. I think that most people would agree that the city of Buffalo is a better place today than last year, or 5 years ago and certainly 10 years ago. It is incremental progress, but it is still progress.

The University at Buffalo is growing and having a greater presence within the city instead of Amherst, the Medical Campus is growing and there is new development on the waterfront (public and private). So instead of whining about how things aren't moving quick enough on Main Street, we can be happy with the progress we have experienced on Elmwood, the medical campus and the waterfront.

"Governor Patterson this is your constituents trying to communicate with you from way out on the Western front; can you help make Albany accountable and make NY more business friendly and competitive or maybe you prefer to simply watch your state die city by city; nice long protracted death. Hard to beleive that people would opt to go prosper in Phoenix in the middle of the the Mojave desert rather then just get by here in beautiful WNY but this only goes to show you how fudged up this state really is. I hope to God Albany wakes up or else this bad publicity will start to move it's way Eastward towards them as well, Rochester should be next no doubt, Syracuse not far behind. Governor Patterson, NY State Assembly and Senate anyone listening......"

Best comment on this website in probably 10 months

The problem is, orlanmon, that NYS will NEVER get it. Tax and spend, tax and spend. How stupid. In order for capitalism and free enterprise to work you want as LITTLE government involvement as possible. Lower taxes, encourage private competition, and jobs, money, and prosperity will come. If lawmakers, union hordes, politicians could just get their heads out of their @$$es we would be much better off. People fighting to make Buffalo a great place to live are fighting a valiant losing battle, because every minute that this problem is not corrected more young graduates pack up their bags to leave. I can count 10 in the past month that I know of that did this. So as church and state must be separate, so must business and state.

Tonyarmani- We have seen what your unfettered capitalism has produced, the mortgage meltdown, American jobs shipped overseas, Enron and Adelphia stealing their employees pensions. Your ideas were tried and they have failed for the average American. I agree NY has serious political problems but oversight of business is unfortunately neccessary because of the tendency of greed to overpower judgement.

Hey, why don't we take a breath and look around a bit...then, stop talking, roll up our sleeves, and get to WORK. We've lots of good bones, let's put some muscle on and get Buff.

The letter is not well written, but its spirit is right; only sour pessimists would defend Forbes and its stupid metaphor of "dying cities." All of those cities will be alive in a hundred years with real people living authentic lives.

What baffles me in many of the responses here is how so many people people seem to spend their lives in statistics. Stats are only one half of a city's meaning. If you live in Buffalo, you live in an exceptionally handsome city: the most unique, pedigreed park system in the country, a city that serves an architectural banquet, a city with deep-rooted cultural scenes in music, art, theater and literature, with a salty and vibrant history that is leaps more satisfying than any Apple store on the corner. You have natural wonders and recreation, and a hospitable and affable citizenry. Statistics are dumb mutes when it comes to this, and a Forbes article too simple-minded to care.

You can lash at Brown's defense of his city, but in the end, the gods are on the side of the mayor who fights a little dirty against a pompous, half blind giant like Forbes.

The Forbes article was also poorly written, however nationally publicized.

I have always believed that the city of Buffalo needs to make an example out of one of the periodicals in order to show that if you plan to bad mouth Buffalo that there will be some kind of repercussion, a national response, legal action, etc.

It seems way to easy and too frequent for any news paper to further damage our national image. If you are a news columnist and you are a looking for a city to degrade, why not chose Buffalo?? everyone else does......and nothing ever comes of it. Everyone just seems to jump on the band wagon of our stereo type, snow, cold, rust belt, factory town, bad style, no sophistication, obese ugly people.

Time for this city to proactively and aggressively defend themselves, so we can start to cahnge that national image.

Eric - If your 2nd paragraph had been the mayor's letter, I would have at least respected it. Your outlook isn't the same as mine by any means. I don't see why having good parks, architecture, culture, etc. in any way means it's wrong for anyone to make comparisons to other cities on the basic of economic growth and job growth. Apples and oranges. Some people prefer apples, some oranges, some want both. Your culture-focused view and Forbes economic-focused view are both perfectly fine ways to look at things. I agree with some of what you say, and I respect yours as a consistent honest perspective.

What I don't repsect is the mayor trying to twist numbers and spin as he does so often. It's not an honest approach, it doesn't hold up to even a little scruitiny, and he's just not good at it. When Bill Clinton spins at least we can say he's going it well, but when Byron and his writers try, it's amature hour as shown by that letter. 'Fighting a little dirty' as you call it does no good if it's done so poorly.

TranspoGuy - I'm not sure I agree with what you say most people would agree about, that 'the city of Buffalo is a better place today than last year, or 5 years ago and certainly 10 years ago'.

Yes some parts are better - the parts Buffalo Rising focuses on - mostly around Hertel, Elmwood, Allentown, some of downtown/waterfront. Some people equate BuffaloRising Land with Buffalo. Other parts are worse than 5 or 10 years ago. Almost all of Grant St and many blocks to its west have worsened in that time, haven't they? And haven't some parts of University Heights started to decline a lot toward Bailey? Also, Riverside, Broadway-Fillmore, Bailey-Kensington, much of Niagara St. - are those better or worse over the past 1, 5, or 10 years? I think worse, unfortunately. Of the nine common council districts, how many are on the upswing (from perspective of most of a district's residents) in the past 1, 5, 10 years?

Side note to Eric - those aren't statistics.

Atwater, thanks for the response. I don't think it's wrong to look at stats, but I think what Forbes has done is as disingenuous as what Brown has done. There are many descriptive parts of the mayor's letter that are in fact true: geography, medical technologies, etc. He was right to mention every single thing he did, though he certainly distorted the presentation to make it shine. He omitted much, just as Forbes omitted anything that did not help make the horizons of these cities look so dire.

I respect your concerns. But I do feel, deeply, that what really gives a city its meaning is not relative job growth rates or private industry investment. Those are important aspects of a city's growth or decline, but they say little about the meaning of people's lives and the integrity of their experience, the complex tone of a city, or the experience of absorbing its beauty. I don't respect top ten lists or mega-trends or arguments that traffic in terms like "hip" and "cool, "or that worry too much about what is happening in Columbus. I don't believe those lists and attitudes do anything to help cities.

People in Buffalo need to apprise themselves of economic facts and do what they can to promote visionary leadership. But they have every right to resent Forbes magazine making pronouncements on their city-- pronouncements couched in hyperbolized metaphors and simplistic sketches of a complex city. With the American public as gullible and unsophisticated as it is, articles like the Forbes one can damage struggling cities' prospects for re-invigorating themselves. I think that's lousy journalism.

As for "dying," Buffalo and Cleveland will be around long after Forbes magazine has ceased publication.

blackrock - capitalism is the only way. Communism doesnt work. If you believe in it go live in Russia. Doctors do not want the same pay as McDonald's employees.

Yes greed sucks, but greed creates opportunities. If you see your boss taking a huge paycheck and say to yourself "wow I could do what he does for 1/2 that" then open your own company and put him out. that is the magic of capitalism.

Tonyarmani- capitalism is fine, with limits to protect the environment, citizens, and workers. Update- Russia is no longer communist.

People need to stop bashing Brown. The man did what any good leader would and should do - and that is defend his people and the city they represent.

Think of it like family - if someone spoke badly of your family to a large scale audience, would you not defend yourself and your family members?

It is the same concept.

Should he sit back and let national writers drag Buffalo through the mud? Would he not come under fire for that as well?

I admire his pride and his fire for the city - I wish more of you had it. From what I have seen, Buffalo's worst enemies are themselves.

- Here is an example. I am from Warren, PA - right across the border. I have never lived in Buffalo but I have a tremendous love for the city and for the Bills. I go there often to shop, Anchor Bar, Chippewa, Pearl St Grill. Sabres Games - etc. We went up to the airport one day to pick up some family and there was a huge line of people lined up in the lobby area because you weren't allowed to pick up people at the gates anymore since 9-11. There was an attendant guy there and I asked him if there were any restaurants/bars where we could wait since Burger King was closed out in the lobby. He said "Nope - this is Buffalo, what do you expect?" Now what the hell kind of answer is that?

Buffalo isn't ever going to die. We're an important border crossing with access to fresh water and a huge state university. We're not going anywhere.

The Forbes article is an example of the kind of thinking we need to avoid. It's true that we continue to lose people, and the gap between us and big cities continues to grow. But at some point, we need to stop trying to grow into being a big city again, and start managing things so that we're a successful small city. I think that point was a few decades ago, but better late than never.

Atwater,

Points well taken. I grew up off of Seneca Street, and it certianly has declined over the last 10 years, but in the same respect Abbott Rd has improved. I think that if you were to list the neighborhoods and determine if they have gotten better or worse over the past five years (or whatever interval you wish) that there would be more neighborhoods or streets that have gotten better, or seen more investment.

But you are correct, certainly there are neighborhoods that haven't progressed as well, or maybe have gotten worse, but if you look at the big picture, I think that the city is better off now, as a whole.

EricO, although I appreciate your love of Buffalo's architecture and culture, there are people that want more out of the city in the way of economics and finance.

Without a growing economy, Buffalo's other assets will never really be noticed.

Downtown still looks too Ghetto and your not going to get the suburbanites to come down on the regular when you have no place for them to go. A new boardwalk on the waterfront is cute, but it's not enough. Moving people from the one end of the city to another and calling it "Progess" is a freakin joke. You have more people moving out than moving in. These are the reality folks. deal with it.

So, one way "to deal with it," is to move into the City and be part of a revolution. Be part of a changing City, it's exciting.

GDC-" You have more people moving out than moving in" true for all of WNY. not just Buffalo

To all- I made a comment "I am surprised Chris Collins signed to because he shows little interest in Buffalo. He has ended the good plan to consolidate ECC downtown and has suggested redistibuting county tax revenue out of Buffalo to needy towns like Amherst." This comment has mysteriously disappeared . Anyone know how or why?

There are some bright spots here and there to the continuing saga of Buffalo's decline - but Mr Mayor, once again, misses the point. How much better off would we all be with a smaller, less expensive government that serves ALL of the city, and not just a select few? How much better off would we be if we didn't export large chunks of our skilled workers and university graduates? Or if unions, taxes, and anti-business lawyers released their stranglehold on the rest of us? We cannot summmon the will to even build a real, modern bridge across a half-mile of river. We are dying, and it is in large part due to self-serving, short-sighted actions in Albany and on the Franklin St - Niagara Circle corridor of thieves. Forbes has it right, pretty much. A few companies staying doesn't make up for everyone else leaving - nor for the awful consequences of fifty years of labor socialism - negative to flat growth, near double-digit unemployment, mushrooming urban poverty, and an arrogant government that ignores anything resembling sensible economics. Perhaps a mayor who denies the presence of his son on security cameras has other willful blinders on, as well.

blockrocklifer - I saw the comment you're asking about. You're right it looks like they deleted it either deliberately or accidentally. They should try to put it back.

About ECC, both Collins and Keane during the recent campaign opposed closing either or both of the ECC suburb campuses. Most county legislators oppose that too. So blame Collins if you want, but consolidating ECC into a single campus was never going to happen.

JSmith - While you're right the time frame can matter a lot when looking at job growth, any multi-year intervals (yes, any you chose at least since 1990) will show weak job growth for Buffalo compared to the U.S. average job growth over the same period.

A chart of that can be seen here in 2nd chart from top, the one labeled 'employment'. The zig zag up and down over the past 10 years puts into perspective the 2007-08 growth. If you change the graph start to 1990 on that page then click 'go', you'll see the up/down lack of growth goes back for the full 18 year data set. Over those time frames since 1990 or 1998, the U.S. average metro area had a lot of long term job growth. So for that, it's not a matter of critics choosing a time frame to make Buffalo look bad.

Atwater- Thanks for responding, I have never "lost a comment" and wondered if others had.

Two heads are better than one: four head should be better than two. Why couldn't Brown, Collins, Rudnick & Kucharski create a more substantial statement and a compelling story of Buffalo's potential. What a simple, albeit crappy, rebuttal to Forbes. Weak leadership is our legacy. :(