What kind of city does Buffalo want to be? Certainly Buffalo doesn’t need to be one thing. It can be many things. As our city rebounds, the development appears to be somewhat hodgepodge, where people are still grateful for any building getting built or rehabbed, or any parking lot getting filled in.
At this point, no one is raising questions like:
Can/should Buffalo emulate places like Beacon Hill (Boston – see photo) or Queen Anne (Seattle) or Druid Hill (Baltimore)?
Do the architectural codes allow the city to become an actual tourist destination, with ‘historic districts’ such as the ones that we find in other cities?
Think of The Midway on Delaware. The series of buildings is stunning, and a significant asset to our historic building stock. To a lesser extent, but equally important are the row houses that we find dotting the West Side. Look at Bryant Street, and Lafayette (toward Niagara Street). These are the types of developments that are the real eye-catchers, and serve as reminders as to what city living is all about.
At one point, colonial brick townhomes/rowhouses were actually quite common in Buffalo. We have lost a number of them, but a few remain. Those that do remain create the building blocks of neighborhoods. These are the types of projects that we should be looking at as we move forward with redeveloping our city.
If you think about it, the Larkin District and the Old First Ward are becoming significant ‘warehouse districts’. As you poke around those neighborhoods, you can see that they are perfectly positioned for row house infill. Another neighborhood that could use this sort of development is Masten, and around MLK park.
Does the future of Buffalo bode well, if the whole city looks like cheap suburban/strip mall infill? Is a city that has no cohesiveness and continuity actually beneficial? A city benefits from having historic districts, warehouse districts, modern/contemporary infill… is anyone in Buffalo even considering what parts of the city are best candidates for x, y or z?
I am of the opinion that cities do not benefit from a hodgepodge of cheap infill. Cities benefit when there are real destinations to visit. If we begin to plot the right courses, I can see that Buffalo could have some sections of the city that would be considered world class. To me, that all depends on what we start filling the gaps with – smart urban growth or cheap dreck.
People choosing Buffalo over other cities when considering where to live will always consider the unique neighborhood/business districts. The same applies with public statues and artwork, boulevards, and historic memorials that tell the story of our city and provide a sense of place. Much of ‘new Buffalo’ is getting built without any thought regarding a sense of history and a sense of place. I sense that this place matters, and I would hope that others who are in control of our built environment feel the same way.