That’s what the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle is asking (see here). The D&C has picked up on Elon Musk’s recent developments along the Buffalo River, as well as the waterfront advancements that are being made currently.
There’s also a hat tip to the refugee community that has done so much for Buffalo’s West Side and other parts of the city – apparently refugees have not found success to the same degree in Rochester.
If only Buffalo’s City Hall could somehow come to grips that it needs to be friendlier to small business. Buffalo is making headway in the larger business sector but is still scoring low grades with the small business community.
And not to sound like a broken record, but we need to ditch some of the giant parking lots in Downtown Buffalo and across the city. Think West Ferry near the corner of Grant for example, where there appears to more surface lots than buildings.
Whether it’s raising the taxes on parking lots or working with the parking lot owners to decrease the size of the lots, something has to be done. Even if there was a buffer between the parking lots and the streetscapes (micro parks, dedicated parking for food trucks, etc), that would make a huge difference until more thorough infill plans are implemented.