The Central Terminal Neighborhood Association (CTNA), a block club reestablished this year, has released its Broadway Fillmore 2032: A Vision for Neighborhood Restoration. The timing is good. The State has made East Buffalo revitalization a priority with two neighborhood anchors receiving money to kick-start renovation plans: $37 million for the Broadway Market and $61 million for the Central Terminal.
The document, available here, is the result of a visioning workshop conducted by the Central Terminal Neighborhood Association on March 26, 2022. “Broadway Fillmore 2032 is a community-based blueprint to restore our venerable neighborhood,” said Chris Hawley of the CTNA. “It is intended to be a guidepost for decision-makers as unprecedented resources are being committed to our neighborhood, as well as for our own projects and initiatives.”
The plan aims to focus on making the community:
› More walkable, livable, and beautiful, while remaining affordable to all;
› A desirable neighborhood and place of opportunity for working class and immigrant people;
› A revived historic district with regenerated landmarks and new parks and open spaces;
› A rejuvenated hub of art, culture, and public life; and
› Once again, a second downtown for the city
“Planning by doing” is the motto of the Central Terminal Neighborhood Association. Accordingly, the organization is already at work implementing the vision with its own projects.
With help from Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski, the organization commissioned Jake Moslow of JM Hand Painted Signs for what Hawley dubs “the nicest block club sign in the City of Buffalo.” The CTNA unveiled the sign at its welcome garden at 60 Memorial Drive on June 11.
The Broadway Fillmore 2032 vision is an example of citizens getting to work planning their own neighborhoods. The plan focuses on the following:
1. Economic Development
2. Anchor Projects
3. Placemaking & Public Life
4. Historic Preservation
5. Public Infrastructure
6. Transportation & Access
7. Parks, Open Space, & Access to Nature
Ideas and priorities run from sidewalk maintenance and street tree planting to a Memorial Drive cycle track, revived Sears Paderewski Park, and Central Terminal Great Lawn. These actions are often small scale and incremental, understanding that rebuilding Broadway Fillmore’s density and vitality will take time, but can start now with modest steps.
“We felt an urgency to get our ideas and priorities on paper so that decisions are not simply made for us, but with us,” said Hawley, a resident and founder of Eugene V. Debs Hall. “We envision a better Broadway Fillmore for the working class, for immigrants, and for people of average means.”