In just over a decade, the Garden Walk has become one of Buffalo’s most popular annual events. This weekend over 250 local gardeners will show off the results of their hard work to thousands of visitors from all over Western New York and beyond.
The Garden Walk wasn’t always such a big deal. West Side residents Marvin Lunenfeld and Gail McCarthy approached the Norwood-West Utica Block Club back in 1994 with the idea of a Buffalo Garden Walk modeled after a similar event the couple had attended in Chicago. They believed Buffalo would be receptive to the idea, and they were absolutely right. After the block club approved their plans, Marvin and Gail spent the winter of 1995 spreading the word about the Walk and recruiting gardeners to participate. There was some opposition, mostly from homeowners who feared vandalism, but most people were supportive. On a July weekend in 1995, after months of planning and hard work, nineteen city gardens opened their gates to the public and the Buffalo Garden Walk was born. Reaction was immediate and positive. Marvin and Gail watched with delight as new gardens popped up all along their block, and people began to take more pride in their homes. A transformation had begun, but little did they know it was only the beginning!
Twelve years later, the Garden Walk still has that power to unify and transform an entire community, and it’s often a revelatory experience for visitors. The two most common remarks are “I had no idea this kind of living was possible in the City” and “what’s that?” The Garden Walk is a marvelous opportunity for Buffalo neighborhoods to shine, and organizers are proud of the fact that several Walk visitors have gone on to purchase homes in the City (including one that was vacant for five years prior). In fact, home values have risen in every neighborhood that participates.
The rest of the country has noticed. This year’s Garden Walk has been featured in several national publications such as People Places Plants, Garden Gate and Country Gardens, and Better Homes & Gardens will be here the weekend of the Walk scouting out locations for future articles. The Buffalo Garden Walk is now an official 501(c)(3) not-for-profit entity with three co-chairs (Jeffrey Tooke, John Hochadel and Jim Charlier) and a steering committee of 20 dedicated volunteers. The Walk attracts over 10,000 visitors yearly and encompasses three miles of Buffalo’s West Side. It’s one of Buffalo’s proudest creations and a smash success any way you measure it. Marvin and Gail live in Florida most of the year these days, but they always come back for the Garden Walk, to see their seed of an idea blooming into its dizzying full-flowered glory.
Buffalo Garden Walk
Saturday, July 28 & Sunday, July 29
10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
www.gardenwalkbuffalo.com
Link to 2007 Abridged Version of Map
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