Buffalo Rising Online

QE..Thanks for the update!

Looks like it should be a great park, and I love the fact that they incorporated boat slips into the design. Even more should be done all over our waterways to encourage boaters to come downtown, tie up, and enjoy the city.

This would be a very cool project. The location has so many elements to it, it could really spark some development in this industrial area.

Great project that could help to reintroduce a lot of people to this part of the city. Still, the project could be satisfactory or outstanding and cost is not necessarily the deciding factor. They should collaborate with the UB Architecture Dept. and recognize the opportunity to create something that can exceed the local standard for public spaces. Its exciting to even see the proposal illustrated above, but we know thats only because our expectations are fairly low.

this is the exact type of thing that the Niagara River Greenway project is all about. Making these types of destinations and then attempt to string them together into a cohesive system from Lake to Lake.

This area badly needs a destination and then a connection to Smith Street \ Seneca Bluffs \ Outer Harbor all start to fall into place...

Bass Pro's decision has NOTHING to do with whether we have a casino or not. would people please stop claiming that now canalside is somehow dependent upon the casino.

all the casino partrons would have been sunbathing at the "park" on the casino site. ;)

My uncle owned this property up until a few of years ago. 20 years ago he tried to build a similarly-sized marina there and was blocked by the then Friends Of The Buffalo River. Their beef was they had plans, but no funding (unlike my uncle), to have a riverwalk all down the river and the marina "could" make it incongruous. Whoever represented that district at the time stepped in and made sure the permit was denied. He fought it for a few years and eventually gave up disgusted that a dream with no financial backing usurped a funded, viable business.

If I could make a suggestion, how about some more trees. Imagine this site as the image suggests, then imagine this site with a mature canopy of trees. Trees can make a world help to improve many different aspects of this project and the city as a whole.

I can't picture where this is. How far from the inner harbor is it?

Ex WNYer...

Here you go http://tinyurl.com/5lky78

they need to add more realistic attributes to these CGI's of the city, like trash everywhere ( beer bottles and the occasional drug bag) - overflowing trash bins -broken light fixtures - odd ball people walking in circles or passed out on the bench - dead flowers/plants - weeds 3 feet high - and of course my favorite "gang graffiti" on everything. I hope they place a few cameras in the park like we have on the streets. I think safety needs to be the main concern in these parks... People with any common sense will not bother to go to these parks due to all the news on random violence in the city. The parks cleanliness is important as well especially to many people with a family, no one wants their kids injuring themselves on heaps of garbage and broken bottles. I hate being negative about these projects but thats the reality! Safety and cleanliness needs to be a priority or dont do it! look at the various parks that have turned into crime ridden hell holes because of the issues I have pointed out.

Most of the violence in the city isn't random at all. It's connected to the drug trade. Even the truly random stuff tends to happen in a few locations. Avoid those locations and you're fine. Your rhetoric harms the city.

While I understand your reluctance to hear GDF81's comments Colin, we also have to look at reality. I for one don't want to see great things done in this city, only to have them not kept up. As development ramps up in the city - the focus on maintenance (aka quality of life issues) needs to be emphasized. New and shinny doesn't last long if there isn't regular upkeep.

Sure, upkeep is important. But I don't see anything to suggest that this park would be neglected, let alone become the dystopian nightmare that GDF imagines the city to be.

It isn't addressed either way but it is a fact that what gets done does not always get maintained - Veteran's Park is a good example. It is only a few years old but is suffering from neglect issues. Better to make sure it is part of the long term plan than an after thought once it is built.

Colin, I may have been a little unclear or just a bad choice of wording, but I am talking about random violence like a mugging with a weapon or something or even worse case a rape (very rare). These are crimes that have nothing to directly due with drugs maybe in the sense of a person mugging someone to get drug money. Anyway the point is that its a cycle, it all starts with prevention - how to prevent something that is nice turn ugly/bad. You need to start with up keep of the park, nice parks attract good people (chaping park - bidwell park (my neighborhood) ) police tend to drive by once every 20 or so minutes because there are people all around doing healthy normal things..When things take a turn for the worse, no will go there attracting people that like that enviroment or look at as a place to do all the illegal things they need to do. No one is going to be spraying graffiti, starting trouble, commiting crimes when the place is well known for being safe and clean (with a high police presence) Police rarely even bother to go into those hell hole parks because they know what to expect..they wont be helping any good citzen in need there. the reality of a park in buffalo doing well is slim, thats why i think its not even worth doing! put more money into delaware pak or the bidwell park instead of these bad ideas