Buffalo Rising Online

Queenseyes...having lived in North Buffalo ('Nobo') for most of my adult life and currently residing in the Central Park neigborhood since 1999--I'd like to deliver some candid observations...

The businesses on Main Street in the University District have a tremendous opportunity with the new curbing and sidewalks to follow the lead of other businesses like O'Connell's...The Steer...Amy's Place...Shango Bistro..and even Jim's Steak Out to take a PROACTIVE role in keeping up the frontages of their respective businesses to make this business district even more attractive.

Sadly--there are many exisiting businesses that do not step up to the plate to pitch in and keep things cleaned up. Having walked this section of Main many times--several of the businesses there do not take the time to sweep up trash, cigarette butts, or to maintain the soil around the freshly planted trees that line the new sidewalks. There are several that don't even bother--and 'wait for someone else to do it.'

Some even contribute to the problem. There are several examples...and I'll call it like I see it...so get ready for some angry rebuttals here! I pass the intersection of Main and Englewood almost every day--and have observed the owners and or employees of the tattoo parlour tossing their finished cigarettes onto the street our sidewalks in front of their own business. C'mon! The frontage of the new residential development you picture in this thread is, frankly, a mess. It's a waste of beautiful greenspace. Who is responsible? The City...the developers...or the residents? The curbsides are consistently loaded with paper trash...and the grounds are not maintained. The owners of the Keystone business next door to the newly renovated Bennett High School leave a lot to be desired in maintaining the frontage of their business...as well as their neighbor Midas Muffler. I could go on...but take look for yourself. Walk the street--it's there for all to see. There are several more examples I could cite.

Where is the University of Buffalo? The ORIGINAL Main Street campus should be the focal point of the University--as it's in Buffalo! The University should find ways to 'partner' with the City and business owners to promote maintenance and beautification efforts for the district. Even student assocaitions could play a role.

Beautiful new curbsides...sidewalks...crosswalks...and tree plantings will not make the difference alone! The City and business owners have to take a proactive role in making it happen! I have zero faith that the City will take the lead or take part...but use examples like Elmwood Avenue and the Elmwood Village Association. It's the business owners who have been at the forefront of building a successful and thriving neighborhood.

Hertel Avenue which is very close and is 'on it's way'--is still falling short in some respects. There are several businesses that do not do enough to maintain their respective frontages and/or curbsides like they should. All of the components are there...a wonderful selection of restaurants...new shops...the new lamp post 'Welcome to Little Italy' signs....etc. The Hertel Avenue Business Association should take the lead in promoting and or policing the same.

Just imagine the increased 'energy' that would be created between the University section of Main Street and Hertel Avenue if everyone stepped up and made a proactive contribution to these beautification efforts.

RonR...

Interesting feedback...

I agree that Main Street is the real 'dividing line' between the East Side and the Central Park and University Districts. Streets that were once loaded with college rental properties (Minnesota, Lisbon, etc) are now--quite frankly--loaded with run-down, unkept rental properties that house lower-income African American families. Take a drive down these streets..and you'll recognize the what they've morphed into. That's not the fault of the tenants to a degree--but moreso the landlords. The City of Buffalo Department of Inspections would probably have a field day with many of these landlords!

This is also an indication of the negative impact that 'UB Amherst' has had on the Main Street Campus--which should have been the focal point of the University. There is no question that UB bears the brunt of a lot of criticism here. Canisius has delivered where UB hasn't--with substantial reinvestment in the heighborhoods that surround their college. They have clearly outperformed UB.

This creates an interesting mix of businesses--but a real 'identity crisis' of sorts--as far as Main Street goes. I will make note of the surge in African-American owned barbershops and/or salons on Main Street--with a few on Hertel Avenue as well. This is positive--but are there too many for all to survive? More college (UB) housing developments would create critical mass that would support the growth of service-oriented businesses (more cafes, bar-restaurants, etc) that could tap into multiple audiences that surround Main Street on both sides.

Is this a pipe dream?

RonR...

Interesting feedback...

I agree that Main Street is the real 'dividing line' between the East Side and the Central Park and University Districts. Streets that were once loaded with college rental properties (Minnesota, Lisbon, etc) are now--quite frankly--loaded with run-down, unkept rental properties that house lower-income African American families. Take a drive down these streets..and you'll recognize the what they've morphed into. That's not the fault of the tenants to a degree--but moreso the landlords. The City of Buffalo Department of Inspections would probably have a field day with many of these landlords!

This is also an indication of the negative impact that 'UB Amherst' has had on the Main Street Campus--which should have been the focal point of the University. There is no question that UB bears the brunt of a lot of criticism here. Canisius has delivered where UB hasn't--with substantial reinvestment in the heighborhoods that surround their college. They have clearly outperformed UB.

This creates an interesting mix of businesses--but a real 'identity crisis' of sorts--as far as Main Street goes. I will make note of the surge in African-American owned barbershops and/or salons on Main Street--with a few on Hertel Avenue as well. This is positive--but are there too many for all to survive? More college (UB) housing developments would create critical mass that would support the growth of service-oriented businesses (more cafes, bar-restaurants, etc) that could tap into multiple audiences that surround Main Street on both sides.

Is this a pipe dream?

the section of Main from Amherst heading south is just plain depressing. excluding churches, schools, banks , funeral homes.....I can only think of a few businesses or building owners that really seem to care about the neighbohood. Who owns the fomer Stuffed Mushroom / Shawn B's? That place looks horrible.........the Avenue Pizza in the same stretch of buildings... disgusting.....at least there are now a few businesses in between the two that appear ok. I always think of the proximity of the Parkside neighborhood to this section of Main heading towards Canisius, and why it sucks so bad.....I guess it's becase there is nothiing to draw people.....Lake Effect Laundry can't do it on its own and honestly I'm pleasantly surprised its still open......most students who live nearby, live in dorms which already have facilities...most of the Parkside residents don't have a need.

So UB should focus the South MAIN Street Campus on it's graduate programs--and deliver housing developments to support the same. That would deliver a student body that would be more focused on studying than partying--not to mention an age range that would support local service-oriented businesses. Can someone forward this blog to President/Mr. Simpson? Let him see what people think.

RonR and Rome,

Although the medical school and health-related grad schools are already on South Campus (Main St), to move "grad schools" in general away from North doesn't sound feasible. Most academic departments serve both undergrads and grads, with shared faculty members and resources for research, offices/facilities, etc. And many grad students serve as teaching assistants for undergrad courses. For example, trying to locate the Chemistry grad school in the city somewhere and Chemistry undergrads on North would cause many difficulties and inefficiencies. Likewise, various engineering depts have expensive specialized buildings on North for their facilties and labs. Those aren't moving anywhere.

If I'm not mistaken, the architecture school (grad and undergrad) has always been on South Campus, and plans are underway to move Pharmacy (grad and undergrad) from North to South. The law school could be a good candidate for moving to downtown some day, but there's no current plans to do so. It was downtown many years before moving to North in the 70s.

But for most everything else, there's a lot of interdependence and North is where they'll be for a long long time, except for medical and health-related stuff. I think any future moves that do happen would be on a department basis rather than grad vs undergrad.

hashma, You're mistaken about engineering being on South. It's all on North (Furnas, Bell, Bonner, Ketter, and Jarvis Halls). Almost everything other than medical and health-related is on North. The only non-medical, non-health dept I can think of that's on South is Architecture. There might be others but very few.

Neighborhoods that are thriving do not need band-aids such as this, so regardless of cosmetic improvements you still have a majority of the housing in the Univ district being part of a student slum or properties rented to tenants who couldn't care less about civic pride or aesthetics. So the bottom line is make all the improvements one could want but much of the stretch of Main from UB to ??? jeez, I guess to the theater dist, has peripheral neighborhoods that are blanketed in povert and/or apathy. So the scars like the photo of Main & Amherst is just a symptom of the problem/s & hardly the cause.

zen...agreed! Ultimatley it's about civic leadership--and demanding support from UB and/or the 'Shitty"...I mean City.

Atwater...good information. UB should determine which other grad programs (UB LAW would be a great start!) could be moved to the South Campus (MAIN!) and develop/ build to accomodate the same.

Local government should hold the NY State University System accountable for delivering the goods! The problem is we have no capable leadership in City Hall...all career politiicans who don't have the stones to stand up and fight. The Common Council has to move everything through Mayor Brown's underlings. It's a joke--starting with the Mayor!

This is where Chris Collins could make a difference--he doesn't owe 'the machine' anything. Here's hoping!

Rome, I wouldn't get hopes up for much of UB moving from Amherst to Buffalo any time soon. There's a lot of common sense reasons for most of it to stay right where it is, regardless of political considerations from any direction or wishes about what might have been. As I mentioned, the Law School would seem a potential logical exception to that, because it has less interdependence to other departments than most, and because a good argument can be made that being downtown near courts, govt, and lawyer offices could be beneficail to its educational mission.

About Collins, I think people who listened carefully to his campaign would say his philosophy is to focus on finding ways to make county govt itself more efficient, not to spend a lot of time and effort proposing big projects and/or telling other organizations what they should do - as Giambra often did. That may disappoint people looking for a super hero, but it's what he said he'd do and he seems to me very focused.

Even in the 1970s, Main Street between University Heights and downtown was rough. There were prosperous blocks scattered here and there, but for the most part it was a strip of nondescript vehicle-related businesses; hand car washes, auto body shops, auto parts stores, auto accessory stores, and so on. Lone businesses such as Brand Names, CPG, Sears, Bond Mens Store, The Stuffed Mushroom, and Record Theater weren't the anchors of a prosperous business district, but rather islands in a corridor of dominated by the likes of Buffalo Speedometer, Main Auto Sound, and Three Minute Car Wash, not to mention the many social service agencies and zero-star motels. Many Main Street businesses fondly remembered by the nostalgic old fart crowd, such as Freddie's Donuts, really left a lot to be desired in their maintenance and contribution to the urban fabric.

In the 1970s, the ABC Plan -- Amherst Buffalo Corridor -- proposed a transformation of Main Street into the Buffalo equivalent of Younge street; a busy neighborhood corridor anchored by very high-density high-rise residential buildings at Metro Rail stations. Today, Buffalo is perhaps the only city that never leveraged its new transit system to boost residential density and create transit-oriented neighborhoods. Instead, local politicians looked to Clarence for inspiration; witness the very low density William Price Drive development at LaSalle Station, and the fast food chains that were built around Utica Station. Even today, in a supposedly more enlightened time, the recently installed landscape improvements in the University Heights area are being neglected; last time I was home, weeds and Ailanthus altissima (better known as "ghetto palms") were growing from the medians on Main.

Main Street is sad proof that the motto for planning in Buffalo isn't "create a great place", but rather "better than nothing".

I drive from Canisius to UB North about 3 times a week and I normally take Main St. I think the worst part of my journey is at Main & Amherst. I look at the existing buildings and on parking lot in particular and think of the enormous potential for this neighborhood. Fixing up the street and sidewalk could be a start. And what is the deal with the mid-western redlights that are horizontal not vertical. I think theirs two, one of them at Main & Depew. They make it look like the city just threw them up because they didnt have anything else

I have read through these comments with great interest. As a current and former owner of property in North Buffalo and University Heights I have seen the dramatic changes that have taken effect since the early 90s. Up to that time, the majority of non-dormitory student housing was located in the University Heights or the surrounding neighborhoods. Houses were easy to rent, and the ones closest to the Main Street bars were the easiest. Things have changed in the past 20 years along this stretch of Main street. The residents of the area grew tired of the college students, in the late 80s and early 90s, the Buffalo Police, at the request of local residents, cracked down severely on under-age drinking and house parties. There were several, highly visible, police raids on college parties that resulted in arrests and disciplinary action for not only the students but also the property owners. There was also a very serious rape and beating of a college student on Lisbon Ave that left her brain damaged and unable to finish school. There was also the beating of a UB Football student on Main Street, the armed invasion of a fraternity party on Custer, and several other attacks that were brought to the attention of the Buffalo Police, UB Public Safety, and most importantly the parents of college students. At around this time there was also a shift in the nightlife for college students, they started frequenting the burgeoning 'Chip Strip' instead of the local bars like PJs and The Steer. In the mid to late 90s, the University Heights was becoming less favorable for students, which opened the market to families looking to flee the East Side. I rented 4 houses to 6 families from the East Ferry / Jefferson Ave area. They all knew each other and they all were fleeing the violence and decline of the inner city. It was around this time that UB started opening new housing on campus, and Amherst / Tonawanda started welcoming college students to traditionally residential areas along Sweet Home and Maple. UB also moved the mathematics, Chemistry, Theater, and Biology programs from the South Campus to new buildings on the North campus. I am not sure which was the tipping point, but they all added up to a perfect storm for the University Heights.

I was having a difficult time finding dependable renters for properties on Minnesota and Lisbon, the only interest expressed for one property in 1997 requested Section 8 status and insistence that I wouldn't inspect the house without 72 hours notice. One of the other houses remained vacant for 18 months, it was broken into and robbed of plumbing fixtures and a refrigerator during that time. I offered a 'rent to own' program to two families on Lisbon and Minnesota, both families were able to buy the property within 2 years of moving in. The remaining properties were sold to a slumlord and that was painful given the work and upkeep that I had put into the properties up to that point. Three of the houses are real shitholes now, one has plywood covering the second floor windows the last time I checked. It is more than one single cause that lead to the decline of the University Heights, and it was a similar pattern that lead to the decline of Main Street. The market isn't there for many bars and restaurants, even many of the stores have closed or changed hands numerous times. I feel bad about cutting bait in the University Heights, but I am relieved that I saw the out and took it.

I have been to a number of meetings with UB over the past few decades, they have a solid strategy for relocating most of the undergraduate classes to the North Campus. They also have an interest in protecting their students from the crime in University Heights, they have made this clear on countless occasions. They do not have jurisdiction to protect students on the surrounding streets; yet they hold the liability and damage to their image if someone gets hurt.

The growth of the University Heights and Main Street corridor will need to come from the community, the residents who live there. It is easy to blame one or two institutions or events; however there were a number of factors that lead to the decline of Main Street. It is going to take more than a few undergraduate programs, new medians, and a few stores to turn this area around. It is going to take a concerted effort from all involved. In my opinion UB has reached out to the City of Buffalo too many times without reciprocation. It is time for the City to step up and make the area livable again.

Excellent summary by Urbanesque.

A few comments:

- A lot of the students renting in UH these days are international students who can't afford rents in Amherst/Tonawanda, and sadly these students are the most vulnerable to street crime - and criminals seem well aware of this. I realize the University Police can't practically (or perhaps even legally) patrol the Lisbons, Merrimacs, and Minnesotas. One way for the city to encourage less bleeding of students to Amherst/Ton would be to raise priority of Buffalo PD partols for such crimes (especially first few weeks of school year) and to find ways for more aggressive city court prosecutions against criminals caught doing this. And as I typed that, I realized of course the same advice applies for all streets in the city and all vulnerable citizens such as the elderly as well. Generally, instead of trying to keep thinking of the next "big idea" to improve the city as many people (and politicians) love to do, just telling the politicians to focus on truly safer streets would be a better appraoch IMHO. Sam and Byron - speaking for myself, I don't want any new parks we can't afford to maintain anyhow, or new cool niceties, but I do want longer sentences for those convicted of street crimes. Too much to ask? Guessing answer is yes.

- About "they have a solid strategy for relocating most of the undergraduate classes to the North Campus", I think that's referring to what's already happened over the years as construction on the Amherst campus was essentially finished. I'm not aware of any future planned moves of undergrads or anyone from South (Main St) Campus to North (although there might be some small number), and as I mentioned before there is a significant move planned in the opposite direction (Pharmacy, for which there are plans to upgrade the former chemistry building on South Campus - that work might be underway, not sure).

- Dan's points are good too, except I'm not sure if I agree Buffalo is "perhaps the only city that never leveraged its new transit system to boost residential density and create transit-oriented neighborhoods". I wouldn't be surprised if same thing happened in any shrinking city that adds a transit line. Those hoped-for boosts were probably never realistic, given our declines in population and job market in decades since metro was built. Also, roughly the same numbers of people were already going to those locations before the metro (for busses or whatever), so why anybody would predict all of a sudden a lot of ecnonomic growth would happen just because trains stations are there seems strange in hindsight. Might have been wishful thinking, or those "expected" boosts may have originated as some politician justification for building it in the first place.

Atwaterlouse - The Buffalo Police did step up patrols and presence in the University Heights. The NFTA has stepped up patrols along Main Street, especially after recent burglaries around the Lasalle and Amherst St. stations, and the University Public Safety officers do have jurisdiction over the streets immediately surround both campuses. They do patrol Main, Bailey and Winspear throughout the day and night; however they typically leave the real work to the Buffalo Police.

excop, thanks for info.

Good to hear BPD increased partols in UH. Hope it continues, and as important, hope there's enough consequences from city court to discourage future offenses. Most houses are at least few blocks from campus, so Univ Police jurisdiction on immediate surrounding streets can cover only small portion of relevant areas.

By the way, Amherst today was announced as 4th safest out of 378 "cities" in the U.S. Buffalo is 355th of 378. Oh yeah, anything too positive about Amherst might be unmentionable on BR - so I'll add disclaimer the Buffalo News used: "The American Society of Criminology issued a statement attacking the report as 'an irresponsible misuse' of crime data."

Full list of rankings here: http://tinyurl.com/26g3qg

Study ranks Amherst No. 4 on list of safest cities Updated: 11/19/07 9:07 AM The Town of Amherst was ranked fourth among the safest cities in America, according to a private research group's controversial analysis of annual FBI crime statistics. The 14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America" was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. It is based on the FBI's Sept. 24 crime statistics report. Amherst was ranked the second-safest city in the United States last year. Erie County's biggest suburb has ranked first seven times during the past 13 years. In 2005 and '04, it came in third.This year, Quitno Press compared FBI crime figures for 371 municipalities with populations above 75,000. Buffalo, meanwhile, ranked 24th on the list of most-dangerous cities, which was topped by Detroit and St. Louis. Buffalo was 34th on the list of most dangerous cities last year. ...

Article: http://www.buffalonews.com/258/story/210277.html

Joshua:

The plans for the old Amherst Bowling Lanes is for it to be torn down and replaced with subsidized housing. The housing will replace the mid-rise on Main and Humbolt, bought by Medille.

The previous owners were going to convert it into self storage, but had financial troubles. They could not keep up the building and it deteriorated very quickly to its current state.

Sorry, Section 8 housing, not subsidized housing.

Hoss -- I'm pretty sure that Locurto campaign HQ on Hertel is a temporary rental, so the state of the building is on the owner, not Mike.

BFLORome -- I'd love to see it happen, but how can local government make SUNY do anything when they have no oversight and when SUNY is more powerful?

Colin...I think it's time we all stopped sitting back...waiting for things we'd like to see happen...and just assume our elected officials 'might get involved' in the process.

'Leadership' should include stepping out of the box and working to build partnerships that have the potential to deliver real opportunities to better our city and the surrounding region--and they should be doing this with the SUNY system. UB is is a big part of the untapped potential this town has. Who else is going to do it? Should we just sit back and let them do whatever they like? Moving the Law program would be a great start--and makes perfect sense.

In addition to reforming county government which is important--the new County Executive could play a role. Congressman Brian Higgins and select others should get involved in the process. Mayor Brown? He's a 'Spitzer puppy'...unlikely he'll step up. He doesn't wnat to ruffle any feathers in Albany. And as far as Hillary goes--and what she promised to deliver to WNY...Upstate New York...no comment.

Rome -- I'm with you, but the problem remains that SUNY is not accountable to local political pressure. UB is bigger than any political body in WNY. Maybe we could get our state or federal delegation united aroud some plan of action, but . . .

The more likley scenario is that activsm within UB can get them to budge. I know there are early efforts to get the law school out of Amherst -- it's a start.

Colin - I disagree that UB doesn't respond to local political pressure. The entire move to Amherst was the result of local political pressure, the decision to build the new football stadium in Amherst was the result of local political pressure, the on-campus housing on the North Campus was the result of local political pressure, all coming from the same Common Council members and Representatives of the University Heights district. UB's inability to extend the Metro system to Amherst is the result of local political pressure. UB does a lot of outreach that has a positive impact on the community, from Social Work to Architecture, Psychology to Interdisciplinary studies; students are involved in programs that benefit the community. In my perspective, the residents and property owners of the University Heights were fed up with the students in their neighborhoods. They were fed up with parties, drunk drivers, theft, and noise. They are not alone in this, the residents around Georgetown University in DC recently passed three new ordinances that directly target the college students in their neighborhoods.

It is easy to blame UB and SUNY; however (as stated above) the residents have an equal or greater share in the decline of the University Heights. We got what we asked for without fully considering the trade-offs involved, and that is unfortunate. If you want activism, start with the residents of the University Heights.

urbanesque...right on! much of the blame for where things stand today is the direct result of poor political leadership--and the subsequent apathy it's created amoungst our residents. The 'can't do...won't do' attitude still prevails today--and it's evident in some of the comments we've seen on this blog alone. It is what it is--but when will it reach the 'tipping point' for real positive change? What's it gonna take in addition to fiscal control boards and getting rid of politicians who simply aren't qualified and fail to deliver on most of their promises.

I think it's up to the University Heights business community to get things rolling. They should be united in an effort to get the 'noise level' up--via meetings with local and/or state government officials and the University. As far as the residents of the University Heights District go--what percentage of them really have a vested interest in this? A significant percentage of the residents are lower income level renters on the east side of Main. If anything--it would be up to the residents on the streets branching off of the cobblestone section of Niagara Falls Blvd.

I wish the drinking age was still 18 - then Main St would have NO problem filling UHeights storefronts with businesses...