I stayed at a hotel downtown while attending CNU22 last week. That was the convention that brought in 1300 planners, architects, developers, and municipal leaders from around the world for the annul Congress for the New Urbanism meet up. My hotel and every other hotel downtown was filled to capacity. They were filled with people in town for the convention but also many other things like business dealings and vacationers. The impression of Buffalo that these visitors leave town with is the impression that they will bring back home and which will be spread to others. I could not help think of this every time I walked between the Buffalo Convention Center and my hotel. Each day I walked back and forth past this dumpster sitting ingloriously on a Mohawk Street sidewalk. What does this say about Buffalo? It says that Buffalo does not give a f#ck. Is this the impression Buffalo should present to the world; to its own citizens?
Why is this acceptable? It shouldn’t be? I am not even getting into the stray boards and plywood scattered around as well. How can you run a business like this and not be embarrassed? How can you not have more pride for your own city? City Hall is just a block a way. Is there not one city official who has seen this and thought, maybe it was not such a good idea to have crappy looking dumpsters and stray plywood lying around on downtown sidewalks? It makes Buffalo look like a third rate dump. Is this actually allowed by city code? You don’t see this in other cities. It should not be seen in Buffalo either.
Welcome to Buffalo!