Just after posting on UB’s car share RFP, Buffalo CarShare held a press announcement today regarding its newest hub situated near the corner of Utica and Elmwood. The parking pad is being provided by Horizon Realty, the city’s leader in green living (that’s their tag line). The partnership between Horizon and Buffalo CarShare was hatched months ago when Horizon reached out to various green organizations, including Green Options Buffalo, Riverkeeper and Buffalo Carshare. Since that time, Buffalo Blue Bike racks have appeared in front of Horizon Realty buildings, low flow toilets have been installed and to add to the momentum,…
Author: chao li
Tomorrow marks the grand opening of an impressive floral boutique on Main Street. The business is located in the equally impressive Granite Works building, and adds to the dynamics already established by neighboring commercial entity, Just Vino. Bloom Floristry Creative Director Orlando Diaz is energized with the notion of bringing a full service special event floral boutique and urban living center to the Medical District. He’s been busy arranging the cut flowers and bouquets, along with the vast home accessories, in preparation for Thursday’s visitors.Along with the colorful arrangements and vases, Orlando is also showcasing a line of Votivo candles…
What does this mean? According to Kitty Lambert (OUTSpoken for Equality) it’s a great step, but at the same time it’s not enough. And why is it not enough? Because there are still politicians who continue to deny equal rights to the LGBT community. From Kitty: First, I want to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of both Councilman Rivera and Councilman LoCurto. Progress in our city has been slow and arduous. We are the LAST major municipality to have this benefit offered to it’s employees in NY State.Initially it was just the registry that had been approved, but now…
When Buffalonian4Life (that’s his real name, but he also goes by The Rake), posted on a 700-block construction watch back in June, people got a good taste as to what The City can do to beautify our streetscapes (the right way). There appeared to be more room for trees to grow within street islands, there were bike lanes, and more mature trees were added (in the islands) instead of the saplings that never make it through a winter. Finally a street looked like it should… or at least it was a great start. After that post was published, Buffalo Place…
Kicking off the city’s various summer-long waterfront celebrations is the uniquely Buffalo event Boom Days (April 15-17, 2010). By now we all know what the ice boom is (here’s an interesting discussion), but have we all experienced, first hand, this event that marks the arrival of spring? Since this is a relatively new event for Buffalo, I thought that I would share some of the highlights. Most people are not aware that kick-off occurs the Thursday (April 15) before the celebration. That’s when organizers and officials from both sides of the river head to the top of the Peace Bridge…
Each spring, the Buffalo Police Department takes all of the bikes that it has amassed (through one form or another) and gets them back out on the street. These bikes can range from real clunkers to quality fixer-uppers to just add air rides. I spoke to Green Option Buffalo’s Justin Booth who went to one of the auctions a few years back. He told me that about 40 people showed up to bid on the bikes, and that bidding started at $1 for each. The majority of the bikes sold for $10 and under, though a few of them went…
University at Buffalo has an interesting dilemma on the table that will have a big effect on a local business no matter what the final decision is. UB has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to land a car sharing service on campus. When it comes to car share, there are few heavy hitters in the industry. Some of those companies are placing bids to land the deal. One local company has also entered the ring – Buffalo CarShare – a company that was founded by seven UB students and was a finalist (while all seven were at the university,…
This past Saturday we made a trip to the Tri-Main Center to check out Apple’s Haberdashery. It was the first time in a long time that I had found myself visiting the building on a weekend. It was also an instant refresher course regarding many of the amenities that can be found when wandering the halls – some well-known, and others completely obscure. The trip reinforced thoughts that I have had for a while regarding the Tri-Main – an incredible building with a variety of fascinating amenities, but to the casual observer it can be out of sight, out of…
The storefronts at Convention Towers on Court Street are looking pretty good these days. This past Friday I arrived to Taki’s for an early morning meeting and was shocked to see that a series of tastefully branded awnings had been added to all of the storefronts. The entire look of the first floor had been transformed into a uniform welcome mat for visitors. “We all signed new leases,” Taki Kyriakopoulos told me in regards to the dramatic change. “As a way of thanking us, the owner of the building put up the awnings.” These types of beautification efforts can go…
If you could re-imagine Elmwood Avenue, would it be the type of street where, instead of just being able to visit the hi-profile commercial locations, there were others storefronts that you had to search out? Some stores and shops were surprisingly found in basements, and on second floors… a bit hidden, but when you got there, you would find all sorts of unique furniture, artwork, home accessories and chill music. Wouldn’t it be neat if the owners of these urban boutiques were young graduates from hometown colleges, who decided to stay and contribute to the city’s urban fabric and the…