Buffalo Rising Online

Finally the people who demanded a down town UB campus will get their wish. I am excited about it. It will bring much needed life to the heart of the city. I have to jump on the band wagon. The rail needs to reach north campus. Lets all grab our shovels and start digging the tunnel. I know there isn't room and this is just a crazy day dream but how cool would it be if we had a new football stadium down town for both the Bills and the UB Bulls? A stadium with a convention center...oh and a Wegmans! I love Wegmans.

Any investment downtown is a plus for the community. However, any solution to the 'connectivity' issue that isn't built around the technologies of tomorrow (why move students when the teacher can be transmitted over any high bandwidth connection?) would seem like a step backwards. Create three campuses that each have an expertise, when communication is needed between the sites, use the electronic backbone that's already in place. Granted, that may not provide the economic stimulus of having more students downtown, but it could make for a stronger university, which is able to reach more students (electronically to their home), without having to worry about where they will park.

As a UB student who uses the UB Stampede to get from South to North daily, the issue of extending the subway is relevent, but raises questions. What street would the subway line follow into Amherst? Would it have stops in between South and North? I don't see how millersport would make use of a subway.

If you UB wants to show it is serious about connecting its "three" campuses, the students need to receive a metro pass ASAP. I assume many students don't know about UB's presence Downtown or even how to get downtown. It seems crazy that when promoting today's event UB had to offer shuttles from South and North to get Downtown despite a running subway line that even has a station right on South!

Yeah this was a great meeting and great news for the region!! 40% growth and the creation of a third campus means light rail is a necessity. There no longer can be a debate about yes or no but a discussion about how and where.

I think they need to start the light rail extension to amherst and Lockport now! UB could do alot by signing a contract with the NFTA adding Bus & Light Rail Passes to tuition just as the other local colleges campuses have done on the condition that the NFTA build the extension or they will pull their support from the contract along with their 35,000-40,000 students.

UB also needs to create more Centers for excellence than just Life Sciences like Material Science, Communications(Data, Voice, etc) and Supply Chain Management to name a few.

Dare I say this? Where is Buffalo States gender/minority patronage appointment and her master plan for Buffalo State? What are her commitments to growth, to educational partnerships with UB like complementing UB Engineering with Technology and Applied Sciences, where are her partnerships with local corporations, where are her partnerships with the surrounding community, where is her expansion of programs and student population that she is refusing 10,000 students per year! Where is Howards commitment to 40% growth? Where are Howards calls to reactivate the Beltline and connect Buffalo State to the other Light Rail Colleges and Universities?

*Comment cut short due to multiple flagging by commentors sighting racist remarks.

How about above ground tracks from South campus to North? Similar to downtown . It would be a LOT cheaper!

ChocolateShake

I understand what you mean. This website is great, but what I have noticed as a recurring theme is that many people keep wanting to do things "just because".

The thing is, I disagree about this being seen as a 'silver bullet' for Buffalo. I don't think that anyone is thinking "if we do this Buffalo will be great again". On the contrary, I think that lots of things like this that have a small impact in Buffalo are what will fix it and bring it back to being great. I definitely don't think that this will HURT the city. If anything it will create more jobs. Albeit mostly for the educated people in the area, but they are still jobs.
If UB were to somehow to use it's weight to expand the metro rail, this could start an over all expansion that will finally connect the suburbs to the city. There is such a divide between the suburbs in this community and the city that anything that helps create common ground and connention between the two is great.
So in 10 years in Buffalo, if things go as they are we could see these things all be done or in the works:

1. Lots of more people living in the CBD in all of the new condos opened
2. The 198 torn down Agassiz re-created and Lincoln Parkway re-connected
3. The Skyway torn down making room for commercial development & waterfront development
4. Bass-Pro forming the start of a downtown commercial district
5. A Casino (I know I hate it too) working with the commercial district in Cobblestone
6. Perry-Mississippi building done
7. UB intrenched in downtown
8. Metro rail extended to UB N. via Grover Cleveland & Millersport Highway.
9. The "Buffalo Tower" built and filled
10. The Statler finished
11. The new Court house complete
12. The block south of the golddome building turned to condos
13. The buildings on Genesse & Chippewa done
14. Cars back on Main Street
15. More students living in the University District as UB expands and "embraces the community". 16. Students living in Allentown/Masten/Fruit Belt that work and go to school at the Downtown UB campus. 17. Condos in Gates Circle.

These are just things that I though of in 10 seconds. With all of that development I don't think that it is impossible to think that we will find some new companies to want to move in here that want to hire people with low education that you are worried about.

Wow after typing all of that, it made me think of what our little Elmwood Village will look like in 10 years. Interesting to think about!

Chris69
Just a small tidbit about The State University of New York College at Buffalo (AKA Buffalo State College). They do have plans of their own, but not on the scale that The State University of New York at Buffalo (aka UB) does.

When trying to expand their campus by knocking down their "backer" building (the one with the big smoke stacks) and building a new technology building in its place, they found out that it was mortgaged many years ago in a plan to grab some money (not by BSC BTW, but by a local government, forget if it is the city or county) and it will never be paid off. This has caused a HUGE hold up as this NEVER gets paid down, the government just keeps paying the interest!!

I would like to have someone honestly explain just how this will improve the lives of the average Buffalonian. Other than a position in the cleaning crew, what does someone with a h.s. diploma from Buffalo public schools, no college degree and no skilled trade have to gain from all this?

Chocolate Shake - Probably not much directly to improve lives of the average Buffalonian considering there's about 250,000 or so of those. Nor is it likey to directly create jobs for a lot of people with H.S. educations. But: (1.) Who ever said it would do either? (2.) How many things by themselves could ever meet those definitions of success?

Indirectly, how it might help Fruit Belt, Masten or Allentown to some extent over time shouldn't be too hard to envision if you think about it. If the biomed research work really takes off, you could see some growth in a range of businesses deciding to locate around that area who wouldn't have otherwise. Some might be companies related to biomed. Others could be service businesses such as restaurants or others attracted by the presence of well paid employees of UB and the biomed cos. Both type of businesses would add to the city's property tax base, neighborhood stability, and would creates some jobs. Also, some portion of people working at the campus and nearby companies might decide to live in the city who otherwise wouldn't have. This would also add to the city's property tax base whether by owning a home or helping a landlord be able to succeed in the city, and could help improve the stability of some blocks.

Silver bullet thinking is unwise and this won't be a silver bullet. I agree some people might be expecting too much from this, but it seems very possible there can be some positive impacts so it sounds to me like you might be going to the opposite extreme if you're implying it's useless.

The best thing UB can do for the city and the area is to do the best job it can at its academic and research missions. That's what will grow the quality and quantity of people it attracts to Buffalo (and to the burbs - even that helps the city to some extent, believe it or not).

I dont blame UB for the failure of light rail being extended.....only for not openly championing as incremental to their University. Its the NFTA's responsibility and to some extent the GBNRTC which then translates to Albany. All UB can do is provide the same pressure and open support necessary to get it on the local agenda.

As far as Buffalo State, they have made some positive steps toward growth but its simply not enough for a president with Howards supposed credentials to have failed to accomplish! She has no legacy and she must be called to task on it. Im sorry but until Howard announces the same 40% growth plan as UB then she deserves to be called out on why she refuses to do so.

Im make no apologies in this regard because my comments come from the betterment of Buffalo and WNY.

Dumpster. I agree that parking does suck at North Campus but I have to offer a word of caution. Be careful when you bring up parking on this web site because the readers tend to be a bit sensitive about it and will jump down your throat to the tune of "North campus was a huge mistake and must be completely relocated to down town Buffalo and parking lots/ramps are satan's dance floor!"

I think we all agree that the rail needs to be extended. In my opinion It should extend (above ground) North to Lockport and South to Hamburg. A fairgrounds station as a southernmost point would be cool.

That's only because parking breeds more parking and congestion. Just like adding road lanes only brings more congestion with out proper far reaching planning.

The more parking you have the farther apart everything is, the more people that have to drive, creating the need for more parking in a never ending loop. Our zoning laws have created the mess that pretty much dictates the need to own cars. Every single one of us. The more of us that get them, the more the system feeds itself to making them even more necessary. The freedom to drive somewhere is great. The slavery of having to drive pretty much everywhere sucks.

The metro would give students the easiest connectivity between all three campuses. A student could even choose to not bring a car and choose to live anywhere along the line. Create some smart bus routes (loops) down Sheridan, Hertel, Amherst, Allen, etc and you have a great system. The more you have living a long the line the more buisnesses that would develop along it knowing that a good amount of customer's are using it. Even if having to attend North Campus, a student could choose to live in cool lofts DT very easily with a monthly pass.

ChocolatShake -- UB's $30 million project to construct an expanded Educational Opportunity Center, as well as house operations of its UB-Buffalo Public Schools Partnership in the M. Wile Budiling, are two projects that should directly benefit local residents with only a high school education. The EOC is about contining and vocational trainining for people who need more skills in order to land better jobs and the UB-BPS partnership is about making sure not as many kids drop out of school in the first place.

prm- I am not implying that the rail system should be free to use. I think a commuter pass for students and others would be reasonable and necessary. I hesitate to use this comparison because i realize that the scale is much different but when I imagine the rail extending to lockport and to the southtowns I compare it to taking the train from my friends home in syossett to NYC. It gives those who live away from the city an inexpensive and convenient opportunity to get down town. I agree with the you that the transit "experiment" has been a failure but I have to think that if it reached more people it would be much more successful. I am not an engineer and I honestly can't fathom the costs but wouldn't it be much more expensive to build the transit system underground vs. above? Your aside is a great idea. That scenario would be awesome. Being able to travel from venue to venue for different events would be a huge draw to this area for both students and families.