North Coast Online

On Cutting Off Noses And Spiting Faces

Momentum for tearing down the I-190 along the waterfront continues to gather, but its proponents are ignoring the economic importance of the highway to the entire Western New York region.

We also visited the Riverfront neighborhood [in Milwaukee] near the former Park East Freeway, an elevated highway much like the Buffalo Skyway, which was removed and replaced with a surface boulevard. Since its removal, property values have climbed and mixed-use projects are common. Current Mayor Tom Barrett met with us and assigned two of the city’s economic development specialists to showcase the development of neighborhoods, housing initiatives and business strips.

Look, I think the 190 is a monstrosity, too, and I've little doubt that its removal would be a boon to the neighborhoods it passes through.  But we can't simply place a lovely boulevard there and expect it to handle the traffic currently coming into and leaving downtown.  Milwaukee had the luxury of an interstate highway very close to the one torn down,  I-94/I-43.  We don't.

50,000 people work downtown and presumably we'd like to see that number grow, but I've yet to hear any solid plans to provide an alternate route into downtown from the south once Route 5 is converted into a parkway and the Skyway Bridge has been torn down.  And now, the new urbanists are proposing another monumental bottleneck for traffic coming from the north as well.  Do they expect everyone to take the Kensington?

The most vocal advocates for tearing down expressways don't really care about the problems of suburban commuters.  They want to imagine that they'll either move into the city, take public transport or simply put up with a leisurely one-hour morning commute into the city on a stop-and-go boulevard.  They're wrong on all counts.

At a time when it appears that downtown Buffalo is beginning to redevelop, it seems foolish to cut off easy access to it.  This isn't very "regional" thinking.

Let's not also forget that the Peace Bridge is one of the most important border-crossing points in North America.  And ironically enough, its primary access is via the 190 -- the very stretch that would be replaced by the lovely boulevard.  Trade with Canada is still one of our great future economic development hopes here.

For years now, the advocates for a new Peace Bridge (who are by and large the same people who want to tear down the 190) have been justifying it for just that economic development potential. Well, force a few  tens of thousands of trucks each year to travel through choked city streets for an extra hour to get to New York or Pittsburgh and see what happens.  Or better yet, make them head north to the 290, east to the 90 and then back south for 10 miles and we won't even need the old Peace Bridge.

Maybe we could steer them onto the 198?  Oh, that's right -- we're going to make that into a parkway, too.
 

Industry will simply cease using Buffalo as a border-crossing point.  Milwaukee and Chicago (as well as Toronto) aren't border cities.  Their waterfronts can be entirely devoted to recreation and clever urban streetscapes.  At least part of ours will still have to work for a living.  This idea has not been thought through.

200 Delaware

I don't know how many more boutique hotels, Class A offices and $300,000 condominiums downtown Buffalo can support, but I can't help but be impressed by the plans to renovate the old Federal Building on Huron Street.

I'd like to think that development down there is reaching the proverbial critical mass where one new project helps feed the next.  But I'm still skeptical -- excited but skeptical.  As long as these aren't government projects, though, have at it.

A Victory For 'Modernism' In Downtown Buffalo

It turns out that the A.M.&A.'s building is suddenly not for sale anymore.

Fakiris said the AM&A’s complex was apparently placed on the selling block in error. He was looking into the matter Thursday but speculated that the “mistake” might have occurred when he was in Europe.

I hate it when that happens.

“I own the building, and the building is not for sale,” he said.

It's probably good news -- if he follows through on his plans to put a couple hundred apartments in the thing.

[UPDATE:] If you wonder about the 'modernism' reference, go here.

A.M.&A.'s

The battle over what to do with A.M.&A.'s is ready to heat up again.

Two prominent local developers are calling for the demolition of the long-vacant AM&A’s department store on Main Street downtown.

And they want the city to take the lead role in razing the deteriorating former store to create a “prime, shovel-ready” site.

“It’s a major eyesore, a blight on downtown,” said Ellicott Development chief Carl P. Paladino. “The time has come to knock it down.”

They're right, of course.  When it looked as if a big New York City developer was going to convert it into apartments, everyone was happy.  But now that the deal's fallen through, expect the preservationists to try and stop any attempts to tear the old pile of bricks down.

They'll claim that it's an excellent example of late 1940's modernism -- well, read for yourself.

The   former J.N. Adam department store, one of the best pieces of modernism on Main   Street, has been a major component of downtown streetscape for half a century.   It presents a masterful play of abstract form, interconnecting horizontal and   vertical elements with the sophistication of a Gershwin arrangement. Unified   horizontal window bands and layered horizontal monochrome materials: travertine-like   stone, buff brick banded with glazed buff tiles, subtly reinforce the linear   precision of the composition. The crowning glory of the whole complex is the   Washington Street elevation three earlier components designed by Buffalo architects:   E.B. Green, 1892 and 1896, and Esenwein &Johnson,1909, are well-preserved.

That's one way of looking at it.  On the other hand it's also a motley collection of very old and very inefficient buildings which have been disguised by a unifying facade.  And that facade, while admittedly created by "the designers of Saks Fifth Avenue,   Bloomingdale's Lexington Avenue and Lord &Taylor's Fifth Avenue", is just that -- a fake covering.

Don't be "guilted' into thinking that tearing it down would forever erase an irreplaceable part of America's architectural history.   It just isn't so.  The building's old and deteriorating and sits on, if we ever can agree to return cars to Main Street, a valuable piece of property. 

Now, I'm not saying that should be in any great rush to raze it.  We can wait a bit -- no reason to have a city block sit empty.  But we should agree now that if a solid proposal comes along like the one that would have seen HealthNow locate there, it'll be promptly demolished.  And an enlightened city planning department might even require that the facade of its replacement echo 1940's modernism.

Hey, fake now is as good as fake then.   
 

Only Politicians Would Make A Decision Like This

$225,000 for houses on Sycamore Street?  And the city's the developer?  I'd say this bears watching.

High Hopes For The Richardson Complex

Donn Esmonde lauds plans to restore the Richardson Complex.

We just got more evidence that saving great buildings in good neighborhoods is not just a matter of aesthetics, but economics.

In the case of this building we have no such evidence.  We have the opinion of a bunch of preservationists and a State Assemblyman that it will be a "bridge" between thriving Elmwood and crumbling Grant.

Don't get me wrong, the Richardson building is entirely worth saving; it truly is monumental architecture.

But trying to justify the expense by claiming it will help to revitalize the Grant Street neighborhood is just wishful thinking.  Just next door is Buffalo State College and we know that colleges can be tremendous economic generators.  Amherst around UB and Hamlin Park next to Canisius are illustrations.

But Grant Street's problems of blight and crime have grown so serious that 15,000 nearby students simply steer clear of it and head to Elmwood for shopping and fun.  The hundred or so condo owners and hotel guests at a restored Richardson Complex likely will too.

Now To Find The Money

I've had great fun mocking all the various and sundry ideas for museums that locals have coughed up over the years.  But I've got to say that a weather museum as described in the Buffalo News today would be very cool. 

Imagine an architectural masterpiece on the downtown waterfront that includes an Imax attraction where people become armchair storm-chasers.

If advocates can find the money to build a high-tech weather museum, they’re convinced that it would help draw visitors from across the continent.

Picture tourists from Tallahassee bundling up in borrowed parkas to experience a simulated winter storm, Buffalo-style, on a muggy August afternoon. Or visitors from a desert region peering through a massive window that overlooks Lake Erie, listening to a scientist vividly explain the link between ferocious storms and bodies of water.

I like it because it's significantly different from most of the museum suggestions we hear which typically involve exhibiting relics of Buffalo's past in the expectation that tourists will be motivated to come here and see them.    This idea is good.

Electronic Snake Oil?

Would one of you in City Hall please ask Mayor Brown to read this?  He's intent on blanketing Buffalo with free Wi-Fi.  There's a general consensus (not proven at all) that universal Internet access is the road to economic development -- especially for the poor.  But Wi-Fi's not as developed a technology as some seem to think and cities across the country are experiencing cost overruns and unhappy customers as the networks don't meet users' expectations.  Buffalo can't afford many costly mistakes.

Across the United States, many cities are finding their Wi-Fi projects costing more and drawing less interest than expected, leading to worries that a number will fail, resulting in millions of dollars in wasted tax dollars or grants when there had been roads to build and crime to fight.

More than $230 million was spent in the United States last year, and the industry Web site MuniWireless projects $460 million will be spent in 2007.

Without revenues they had counted on to offset that spending, elected officials might have to break promises or find money in already-tight budgets to subsidize the systems for the low-income families and city workers who depend on the access. Cities might end up running the systems if companies abandon networks they had built.

The worries come as big cities like Philadelphia and Portland, Ore., complete pilots and expand their much-hyped networks.

"They are the monorails of this decade: the wrong technology, totally overpromised and completely undelivered," said Anthony Townsend, research director at the Institute for the Future, a think tank.

Municipal Wi-Fi systems as the "monorails of this decade" -- hmmm.

Maybe we'd be wise to think about it some more.  The latest "great thing" often turns out, as did the monorail, not to have been.

Legislature In Favor Of Weather Museum

Will its logo be a politician's finger in the air?

There's Still An Economic Heartbeat In Buffalo

Finally! Someone's talking about real economic development in Buffalo.  You know, the kind where people can make money -- not the fake stuff where lofts for artists and subsidies for the theater district with a dollop of park space are supposed to cause outsiders to break our doors down for a chance to get in.

Bass Pro Shops has gone from “quarry” to “bait,” as Buffalo leaders look to lure other retailers for the proposed Canal Side project in the city’s Erie Canal Harbor neighborhood.

Among the targets: home furnishings giant Ikea and a powerful urban investment group led by former basketball great Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

Mayor Byron W. Brown is joining forces with Benderson Development Co. to pitch the $275 million mixed use project — to be anchored by a Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store — at the International Council of Shopping Centers annual convention this week in Las Vegas.

“When Bass Pro is part of a project, other retailers sit up and take notice,” Brown said. “Having a commitment from Bass Pro and a physical plan for Canal Side puts us in a very powerful position to sell Buffalo.”

I love it.  Mayor Brown's my new hero -- as a well-deserved poke in the eye to the meddling preservationists this is better than Fred Thompson's video was to that fat film-maker.

Canal Side will be anchored by a waterside Bass Pro store housed in a period-style building along the Buffalo River, flanked by a public market and museum. It also will include an additional 600,000 square feet of retail/ office/residential/entert a i n m e n t development on adjacent blocks.

The mix of retail, residential and commercial projects will sprout up on the sites of the idle Memorial Auditorium and vacant Donovan State Office Building, as well as the Webster Block, which is currently a surface parking lot. Neither Brown nor Benderson officials would disclose their full list of retail, restaurant and entertainment targets but did confirm they will sit down with Ikea, the popular Swedish seller of sleek furniture and contemporary home decor items. Ikea’s closest stores to Buffalo are in Burlington, Ont., Toronto and Pittsburgh.

Ikea would be a great catch.  Remember all those city-types who pooh-poohed the idea of a "bait store"? Well, I can see them now rushing down to the waterfront in their ubiquitous little Scion xB's to stuff them full of sleek, packaged faux-Scandinavian furniture.  I might even join them. This might be one big-box they could learn to love.

Like every other business proposal (anywhere, not just in Buffalo) this one will probably be scaled down substantially before it gets built -- if it gets built at all.  But it's the best indication I've seen in this town that there are still some people who "get it" when it comes to development. 

And wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall at the next Preservation Board meeting?  Expect great second helpings of shame-on-us from Donn Esmonde, too.

 

Build Bass Pro

The Buffalo News speaks out in favor of a waterfront Bass Pro.

Here’s the biggest false choice being offered in a heated harbor redevelopment debate that’s rife with misinformation: Buffalo has to choose between a historic park and a retail development. It doesn’t. The harbor can have strong elements of both — and getting the balance right is the chore faced by this community, the officials it has elected and the agency and commission members hired or appointed by those elected representatives to get the job done.

And balance there must be. For this rebuilding city, it is vital that the new waterfront not only honor the past, but work for the future. It can.

Hear, hear.

Another Museum Alert!

The museum caucus weighs in with another waterfront "solution."  This time, it's an aviation museum.

Complementing the Naval & Serviceman’s Park and clear of the “historical site,” the museum would provide an attractive display of early Buffalo aviation: the products of Curtiss-Wright and Bell Aircraft, military and experimental airplanes, engines, gliders, parachutes, instruments, models and the beginnings of modern and current rocketry in space.

Would an aviation museum not be exceedingly more fitting to the harborfront setting, and a more appropriate use of taxpayer money than another sporting goods store privately owned by an out-of-state company?

We do have an amazing history of aviation achievements here.  I remember traveling to Buffalo on a high school field-trip in the mid-sixties.  As the buses headed up Route 5 towards the Skyway Bridge, we were amazed to see the Bell hovercraft in tests at its old hangar near the current site of The Pier.  The thing was mesmerizing to watch as it skimmed inches above the ground -- and loud!  The buses vibrated from the roar of its engines.

And other great aviation developments and experiments had their roots here, from the rocket belt to the X-3.   A Buffalo aviation museum is certainly an important and valuable institution, but as a replacement for Bass Pro?  Not so much.

Not, that is, if you are hoping that Inner Harbor development can spur downtown's economy.  Another museum down there which might attract a couple hundred thousand visitors each year cannot compare to the economic impact of several million shoppers. While I believe that the proponents of maintaining the waterfront as historical tableau are sincere, I also think that they're naive.

It's perhaps regrettable, but the Erie Canal terminus will attract large numbers of visitors only if there's a huge and popular retail attraction nearby. This won't be colonial Williamsburg, folks -- it won't stand on its own.  Once people have visited the Canal Slip, that'll be it.  They won't be back.  It will take an attraction like Bass Pro to get them to return.

The historical preservationists will assure you I'm wrong, but think about it.  We live 15 miles away from one of the natural wonders of the world, um, that would be Niagara Falls.  When's the last time you went up to see it?   Be honest now, and taking Aunt Martha from Nebraska on her last visit doesn't count.

Look, the Canadians figured it out a couple decades ago.  People visited the Falls once in a blue moon, rode the Maid of the Mist, spent the afternoon and went home.  There was something else needed to not only get them to stay longer (and spend more money), but to get them to come back more often.  And they proceeded to turn their side of the gorge into a gambling, shopping and entertainment destination.

You need only cross the bridge to Niagara Falls, NY for a stark example of what it looks like when a town leaves its fate up to "naturalism" and historical purism.  The Inner Harbor needs Bass Pro (or something like it) if it's to be a financial success for Buffalo.   Without something fun to do down there, it will be a very pretty and very empty place.

Low Bridge, Everybody Down

Another opinion on "preserving" the waterfront.

Buffalo was the terminus of the Erie Canal, which is why it became the Queen City of the Lakes. The Erie Canal Harbor historic site project will give Buffalonians something they can take personal pride in and celebrate for centuries.

For generations, Americans have learned the history of the Erie Canal, and future generations will, too. It was a transportation hub, the gateway to the West and a stop on the Underground Railroad. Buffalo should capitalize on the Canal District’s storied legacy.

The Erie Canal Harbor project theme calls for highlighting Buffalo’s history and heritage by re-creating the 19th century buildings to contain shops, restaurants and apartments. This consensus plan was made with public input and a mind toward an authentic experience. Planning, unearthing and re-creating the Canal District began three years ago and is progressing.

Now Bass Pro is given half of the Central Wharf and 25 million in tax dollars? Sounds like someone is selling Buffalo down the river again. Buffalonians should not sacrifice their rich heritage for this terribly inappropriate investment when they already have an award-winning, citizen-approved harbor project well under way.

Karen Hopkins

Tonawanda

If we truly wanted to "re-create" Buffalo's history, we'd be building factories, warehouses, horse stables, flophouses, brothels and bars -- all of which would be fine by me.  But few of us really have the stomach to relive our past that realistically.  History isn't the issue in this debate; that ended with the excavation and reconstruction of the Canal Slip. 

Whatever gets built down there from now on will be a Disneyfied version of the Erie Canal terminus. Whether we want a Bass Pro with surrounding shops and restaurants or whether we prefer development without the big corporate  -- 1823 has nothing to do with it. We're fighting over different visions of our future, not our past. 

This much remains true.

You'll always know your neighbor

You'll always know your pal

If you've ever written an op-ed on

The Erie Canal

The Statler

Bashar Issa starts to show some proof that he may be "for real."

Oh No, Not Again

Charrette alert in Lockport!  Lock your doors and keep your loved ones home.  Charrettes mean only one thing -- nothing will ever happen.

Will NIMBY Rule The Day On Gates Circle?

Plans were announced today for the proposed apartment tower at Gates Circle and so now, the fight against it can begin in earnest.

“I don’t think it’s at all attractive. It’s a tall, homely, commercial- looking building,” said Park Lane resident Carol Collard, who has collected about 2,000 signatures on an anticondo tower petition.

Why do I have the nagging suspicion that it could be an exact duplicate of the Taj Mahal and Carol Collard would still find it homely?

The residents have retained Buffalo attorney Richard Lippes and plan to take legal action to block its construction. Their key objection is the height of the proposed tower, which they claim will block views, sunlight and air flow to their adjacent 10-story building.

“Once they file their plans with the city, we’ll begin an action. This building is environmentally and aesthetically inappropriate,” Collard said.

I'll be fascinated to hear where the preservationists and the local new urbanists fall on this.  Hint: their silence would be telling.  You'll recall that high population density is the mantra of modern urban design and this building will certainly increase density.  On a footprint not much larger than any one of the huge homes that line adjacent Chapin Parkway, it will provide space for 68 apartments accommodating 100 to 150 new residents.

100 to 150 very well-off residents by the way.  That's important because even Gates Circle isn't safe from the creeping blight that's eating away at the West Side.  Not one block away to the east, the neighborhood tails off quickly into poverty, crime and deteriorating houses.  An injection of a substantial new population would help the struggling, little business strip at Delaware and Delevan stabilize itself.

I can understand the dismay of the new building's neighbors, they probably bought their apartments content in the knowledge that their views were safe because nothing ever changes in Buffalo, does it. But let's hope they were wrong.   

We Know What You Should Do

Vancouver is in the midst of a planning-frenzy to end sprawl by increasing population density.  As part of the plan, it has divided the city into nine "communities" and required each to come up with its own mini-plan to meet the larger city's goals.  The Anti-Planner has noticed that the plans are all remarkably similar -- in fact they're virtually identical.  How could this be?

How were these visions written? It turns out that the city planning department wrote all of the visions ahead of time. They then went to each community and asked some of the residents how they felt about each part of the vision. Of course, they didn’t say things like, “Do you want to let your neighbours rent out a part of their homes to transients, including potential burglers and drug users?” Instead, they said things like, “Do you want to let your neighbours rent out a part of their homes to help them pay their mortgages and provide more affordable housing?”

Even with such favorable wording, some of the communities rejected some of the planners’ visions. The Victoria-Fraserview community, for example, didn’t like the idea of rental units in single-family neighborhoods. That’s okay, the planners said. They will keep these questions as “topics for more public discussion,” meaning they’ll go back later with a different spin on the question and ask a different set of residents how they feel.

He goes on to point out that Vancouver's planners and politicians have succeeded in creating some of the most expensive housing in North America.  That's what happens when you limit the supply of homes that people would like to buy and concludes:

In one sense, Vancouver represents undemocratic town planning at its worst. Yet this flawed process is inevitable whenever you give someone the power to plan someone else’s neighborhood.

The Plan, Boss, The Plan

You've heard of and I've posted about the proposal to create yet another bureaucracy in Erie County -- one that would promote regional planning and "sustainable" development.  "It" would stop the nasty sprawl that's eating up our rural areas and spewing all that CO2 into the air by dictating to us how "it" thinks we should live.   

TJIC sees the same phenomenon in Boston.

Some might argue that the purpose of governments is to deal with the choices that individuals make. If individuals open a lot of jewelry stores, and jewelry thefts go up as a result, then perhaps the government should deploy cops where they’re needed. If individuals start riding bikes, then perhaps the government should create bike lanes.

Having government figure out what it wants, and then dictate to us how we have to live to be in conformance with the plan…not so much.

Very well put.  Read the whole thing.

Cockeyed

We're continually told that our local universities will provide us with the advanced knowledge to rebuild the city and our economy.  I sincerely hope this project isn't a harbinger.

Ethanol Plant

The Buffalo Planning Board has declared that the proposed ethanol plant has passed its environmental review.

A proposal to build an $80 million ethanol plant on the Buffalo River took a big step forward today when the city Planning Board determined that all environmental issues have been addressed.

   Despite pressure from project opponents, the board determined no further environmental studies are needed and that the plan should move forward. The board adopted a "negative declaration," meaning members are convinced the plan to turn a dormant cluster of grain elevators into a plant that will distill corn for use as fuel will not have a harmful impact on the community.

Board Chairman Frank A. Manuele claimed the project advanced by RiverWright Energy has already been subjected to exhaustive studies.

   "They really did their homework," Manuele said of the developers. "Everything has been addressed."

Of course, as we know, nothing in Buffalo gets done without the well-known "opponents."

   But some residents in the Old First Ward neighborhood disagree, insisting there are still unresolved issues involving fire hazards, pollution, noise and odors. Several residents attended today's City Hall meeting, including Julie Cleary of Hamburg Street.

   "I think it's big business as usual," she said. "I pose this question to [Planning Board members]: Would they want an ethanol plant in their neighborhoods?"

I'm not a planning board member but my answer to her question would be "damned right I would."  I live in a collapsing neighborhood, too, and some light industry over here would be very welcome.  Once upon a time, manufacturing plants were commonly located in city residential neighborhoods -- just as retail still is.  You can see evidence of it in long-abandoned buildings all over the East and West sides.

It's part of the mixture of uses that make a city a vital place  Even urban-guru Jane Jacobs realized its desirability when she wrote of a large, commercial bakery located in her Manhattan neighborhood of the 1960's.  Not only does it create local jobs, its employees often patronize neighborhood taverns and stores.

Now, I doubt that the opponents of the ethanol plant will meet with the success that, say, the anti-casino gang has.The latter has lots of money to continue its eternal lawsuits and this group doesn't.  But anti-development sentiment runs very deep here and there's still plenty of time for one of the local  philanthropic organizations to toss them a few hundred thou.

So, the ethanol plant must remain on the list of things we can't get done here -- until the very day it opens.  Finger-crossing won't hurt.

Progressives

The roots of progressivism.

"The Progressive movement, which dominated the American scene in the years from the turn of the century to United State entrance in World War I, was not primarily a liberal movement," writes Arthur A. Ekirch Jr. in his magisterial work The Decline of American Liberalism. "[I]n contrast to former American efforts at reform, progressivism was based on a  new philosophy, partly borrowed from Europe, which emphasized collective action through the instrumentality of government."

Hmm, regional planning framework?

Framework To Manage Regional Stagnation Is More Like It

The proposed Framework For Regional Growth is probably the wrong answer to a problem that many of us don't believe is one.

This area’s proposed new Framework for Regional Growth, headed toward a possible vote today in the Erie County Legislature after a five-year study, offers a good vision of how to guide development over the next 15 years. It also makes a strong case for a regional planning board to take this area into the next phase of the 21st century.

County legislators now have the opportunity to show convincing support for the framework. This comprehensive effort included a broad range of players from throughout the region who offered critical observation and expertise. It’s not just another layer of bureaucracy. It’s a needed blueprint.

But, as the News helpfully points out, it is, indeed, another layer of bureaucracy, and it will be a highly-politicized bureaucracy at that.   Now, development in Erie County is already politicized to be sure but at least the politics are kept close to home and presumably reflect the desires of residents.  Local development strategies range from the serious restrictions placed on growth by East Aurora to the famous anything-goes Amherst ethos of the last decades.

And judging by the people who are pushing this plan, I'd expect that the entire County would end up shoehorned into East Aurora's model.  That's a nice luxury for an area where demand to live and do business is high, but it's no fit for a county that's shrinking.  Proponents will insist that their idea is not to create a one-size-fits-all plan, but their biases are known.

They will insist that development in Erie County needs to be discouraged in the outer suburbs and growth encouraged in the city and its older surrounding towns.  Those are goals I agree with, by the way, but top-down government central planning is not the way to accomplish them.  It has not worked for our economy, and there's no reason to think it would work here either.

Erie County residents know where they want to live and they can figure out for themselves where it's sensible to open a business.  I'd love to see thousands of people pouring into Buffalo to live and work, but they'll only do that if Buffalo continues to make itself more attractive a place to be.  They won't come here because their suburban options have been artificially reduced.

There's been a lot of criticism in the last few years about all our layers of local government.  Well, they were created for a reason. The creation of a regional planning commission is a huge power grab, one that could end up determining where billions of dollars are invested. We cannot afford to turn responsibility like that over to a single, small group of people with a "plan."
       

A City Of Docents And Chambermaids

The left loves to portray supply-side economics as "trickle-down" economics or even the more colorful "piss-on."  But their alternatives make you wonder if trickle-down isn't so bad after all.

The Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier applauds the announcement in The News that the Richardson Center Corp. board has secured the Urban Land Institute to work with the community for one week in May to help produce a design blueprint for the complex.

Buffalo is evolving into a city that offers a high quality of life for its residents as well as a destination for art, architecture, history and nature enthusiasts. [emphasis mine] Many of our local sites are national and international treasures, including the Richardson Complex, so engaging a recognized organization like the Urban Land Institute positions our decisionmaking process on the right track.

The Landmark Society believes the Erie Canal Terminus site is also a landmark of global interest and deserves equal consideration. We recommend that all parties involved in the development of this area continue to build upon the community input summarized by the Erie Canal Harbor Master Plan. Bass Pro is a welcome addition to the waterfront, but its final location must be agreed upon in a transparent manner honoring the previous efforts of our community as well as the historic nature of the site. Respecting both is the foundation for reimagining Buffalo in the 21st century.

Dennis Galucki

Executive Director, Landmark   Society of the Niagara Frontier

Buffalo is actually evolving into a city where the middle class now assumes that moving out is their children's surest route to economic success. And it's evolving into a city which is one of the most poverty-stricken, crime-ridden and socially-dysfunctional in the country.  While local art, architecture, history, and enthusiasm for nature are certainly worth preserving, to claim they'll do much if anything to improve the lot of the city's residents is, in my opinion, naive if not outright dishonest.

Buffalonians will not benefit measurably from the meager spill-off of heritage-tourism, though our appearances on the Travel Channel may, indeed, increase. 

Give Us Something To Do After We've Pondered the History

Donn Esmonde is still opposed to the new plan to bring Bass Pro to the waterfront, but he does present his case calmly and rationally.

Instead, we offer Bass Pro $25 million and a prime piece of downtown waterfront. On it is the western terminus of the Erie Canal, currently being restored. A hard-fought, state-approved consensus plan was already in place. It eventually included shops and restaurants in smaller, 19th-century-style buildings, to enhance the site’s historic integrity. Bass Pro would kill the plan. The only question is when the first lawsuit gets filed.

The problem as I see it is that "eventual" retail isn't good enough -- the waterfront needs retail now!  I don't particularly care whether it's in the form of a "big-box" Bass Pro or a more thoughtfully conceived marketplace with small shops and restaurants, but shopping is crucial to making the Inner Harbor into what everyone envisions.

People don't flock to Faneuil Hall only to look at the history -- perhaps that's unfortunate -- they go there to shop and to eat, by the tens of thousands.  And if you've ever ever been to Baltimore's Harbor complex, you've noticed the same phenomenon.  I last visited it on a sunny, but quite cool April afternoon and there were quite a few people around.  But the shopping pavilions (not particularly attractive ones, by the way) were full to bursting.

And the shopping at the Inner Harbor is not upscale or anything different, for that matter, from what you'll find in any suburban strip-plaza:  Sunglass Hut, various and sundry fast-food counters and schlock souvenir shops.  Faneuil Hall's shops are a bit more upscale but the down-market is well represented there, too.

I'm not suggesting we go that route here, but it does indicate to me that the fact that there are already a lot of sports stores doesn't mean that one on the waterfront won't draw, big-time.   Look, maybe there's a compromise position, if that's possible given the people protesting the plan.  Scrap Bass Pro, but by all means get the retail component going now.  It's important.

My beef with the Bass Pro naysayers isn't that they oppose Bass Pro, it's that they have adopted a puritanical, anti-commercial attitude toward anything near their precious Erie Canal terminus and that they'll likely fight any change to the end.  They've already demonstrated that with the casino.  When the Senecas proposed saving the H-O Oats grain elevators and incorporating them into their plans, that wasn't acceptable to the preservationists.

And when it was proposed that the casino could perhaps be located on the upper floor of the D.L. & W. terminal, the same objections were raised.  We found out that not only do they wish to preserve Buffalo, they insist on dictating to what uses it will be put.  Here's their chance to prove me (and most of Buffalo) wrong.

Buffalo's Inner Harbor needs to be more than an historically-themed park if it's to accomplish its goal of helping to revitalize downtown.  It needs visitors; history will get us only part of the way.  There was arguably more excitement generated by the recent announcement of the latest Bass Pro deal than there was over the discovery of  the Commercial slip.  History buffs may have been dismayed, but most of us were excited.  After we've all been there once and inhaled the history of Buffalo's origins, why would we go again unless there's something fun down there to do?

And, no, sorry, concerts and historical pageants on a pristine open-air plaza won't cut it.

To borrow a popular local tactic, let me suggest that if we don't include some retail and entertainment on the waterfront, the whole country will laugh at us. Or how about this? One day our children will come back from a family trip to the Inner Harbor and ask, "but why didn't you ever include anything to do down there?"  And we surely don't want that, do we?  I mean, how embarrassing.

   

SIG's Our Downfall

Special-interest groups are killing all progress

I just can’t believe the Bass Pro article in the April 8 News. The issues are so mundane. We have leaders to make decisions. Let’s keep individual interests out of the equation. Having been in downtown Buffalo and viewed the 12 acres that the preservationists are worrying about, I think the protests are ridiculous. It’s not even attractive. The entire cobblestone area is not worthy of the delays that they have caused. Our elected officials should not have to answer to every special-interest group that ultimately stops progress in any endeavor in Western New York.

I also read the article stating that the hotel plan for Elmwood and Forest avenues is dead. The three houses that were “saved” are certainly not worthy of being called landmarks. Stop worrying about lawsuits. Maybe they will go away if we have the nerve to act in spite of them. It really gets embarrassing to explain to people the lack of action in Buffalo — for example, the bridge, the casino, the Aud.

Geraldine O’Brien

Tonawanda

We've begun to wonder why "we" can't ever seem to get anything done in Buffalo.  But, it isn't "us" that's the problem these days, is it.  It's a relatively tiny group of elitists who consider themselves far wiser than the government we elected to represent our interests, and they have the financial backing to thwart most anything they don't like.

You've Got To Study The Numbers

Thought I'd thrown in a reminder, for those of you who might not be keeping track, of the progress our favorite "role-model" cities are making.  I've compared the Census Bureau's 2000 population for each city and its estimates for 2005.  Hey, if we're looking to emulate someone, let's pick a success story at least.

 

City	2000	2005	% Change
Pittsburgh	334,563	284,366	-15.00%
Cleveland	478,403	414,534	-13.35%
Baltimore	651,154	608,481	- 6.55%
Milwaukee	596,974	556,948	- 6.70%
Buffalo	292,648	256,492	-12.35%

Well, isn't that a surprise.  All our favorite cities, the cities with the grand plans, the downtown stadia, the renovated neighborhoods, the eloquent former mayors and the missing waterfront expressways are all shrinking.  Who'd have thought?  Why, Pittsburgh and Cleveland are shrinking even faster than we are, so I'd say we cross them off the "cities to be emulated" list right now.  And between Milwaukee and Baltimore, it is the latter which is shrinking slower.

So, I guess Baltimore will serve as our official shrinking-city role model this year.  Hey, if we could manage their measly 6.55% shrinkage rate, it would feel almost like growth around here.   I always say that these things should be analyzed by the numbers.  It's fine to throw out anecdotes about urban development in Pittsburgh or Cleveland but that doesn't always mean that they've accomplished something. 

And, of course, they haven't, LOL.  Now that we've studied the statistics, we can set about to emulating a beautiful town that people are leaving at half the rate they're leaving Buffalo.  I'm sure we'll learn a lot.

"Backwards" Buffalo

Main Entry: fe·tish
Variant(s): also fe·tich /'fe-tish also 'fE-/
Function: noun
Etymology: French & Portuguese; French fétiche, from Portuguese feitiço, from feitiço artificial, false, from Latin facticius factitious
1 a : an object (as a small stone carving of an animal) believed to have magical power to protect or aid its owner; broadly : a material object regarded with superstitious or extravagant trust or reverence b : an object of irrational reverence or obsessive devotion  : PREPOSSESSION c : an object or bodily part whose real or fantasied presence is psychologically necessary for sexual gratification and that is an object of fixation to the extent that it may interfere with complete sexual expression
2 : a rite or cult of fetish worshipers
3 : FIXATION

Example: The belief that every single square inch of waterfront land in Buffalo must be dedicated to public parks and bikeways.

Yesterday we explored the mounting objections to locating retail buildings next to the Erie Canal terminus. 

Today the topic is mounting objections to a proposed ethanol plant in the Old First Ward -- one which would not only provide a market for local farmers but which would create as many as 69 well-paid jobs.   Here's a statement from one waterfront fetishist.

Town of Tonawanda resident Tara Ende grew up in the Old First Ward. She claimed building an ethanol plant on a waterfront that planners are scrambling to revitalize would be as big a blunder as building the Skyway a half-century ago. The city would be the nation’s “laughingstock,” she warned.

“It would be ‘backwards Buffalo’ again,” Ende said.

Arguments against development in Buffalo used to be of the "well it won't fix our economy" type.  The idea was that if any one project wouldn't turn the city around, it wasn't worth doing.   That's been fading out of use lately as people realize that no one single endeavor will "fix" us -- it will require hundreds.

Lately, though, I see this one popping up more and more.  I call it the "fear of disapproval" fallacy. One casino opponent was quoted as worrying what we'd tell our children some day when they demanded to know how we ever let a casino be built.  And this woman claims to fear national ridicule because Buffalo, still thought to be an industrial city in most of the country, actually built a manufacturing plant along a river -- gasp!

This ethanol plant would have a significant economic impact in Buffalo.  No, it wouldn't turn the city around but the wealth that it would create would support 69 families and increase the city's tax base.  We can't depend on education, health care and arts tourism to sustain us -- we need some manufacturing, too.  We need good-paying jobs for people who don't care to go on for a college education.

An ethanol plant will create spin-off work, too.  It will open up work for truckers and provide business to local railroads.  As I mentioned above, it will provide local farmers with another market to sell their crops which will provide needed income to the rural areas around Buffalo.  The plant also has the unexpected fringe benefit of re-using three abandoned grain silos.

I really can't believe the rest of the country would laugh at us for building it  -- I'd sooner think they'd shake their heads in amazement if we didn't.

 

No Business Please, We're Buffalonians

The Buffalo News summed it up quite well this morning in its article about the soon-to-come lawsuits opposing the Canal Side project.

Here we go again.

All the usual suspects, the preservationists, the deep-pocketed lawyers, and the local celebrities with a megaphone are getting in line. In their zeal to turn Buffalo into a living museum, they're vowing once again to stop any development that the rest of us unwashed might actually enjoy visiting. The theme for this crusade will evidently be "must prevent suburban-style development."

“There’s nothing wrong with putting Bass Pro on the water, but it is essentially a large suburban store being plopped down on the most historic urban site in the city,” said Richard Lippes, board member of the Preservation Coalition of Erie County.

Mr. Lippes has a short memory.  I can recall when downtown Buffalo contained several huge retail establishments:  A.M.&A.'s among them.  And I seriously doubt he would condemn Macy's Department Store, sitting in the heart of Manhattan as too suburban for its surroundings. There's nothing "essentially suburban" about a large store downtown.

Other critics are voicing concerns over the parking garages planned for nearby. 

One business executive said planned parking spaces — a 300-car ramp at Erie Canal Harbor, 500-car parking ramps on the nearby Webster and Donovan blocks, and a 1,000- car ramp on the site of Memorial Auditorium — were too close to the site.

“Parking structures are death to an urban landscape,” he said. “There is no vibrancy, no street activity, no visual appeal. It is like driving a stake through the heart of downtown.”

Rubbish and poppycock.  Properly designed parking garages with space for retail and residential units on the street-side of the lower floors can provide parking for thousands of waterfront visitors as well as contributing to the street's vitality.  If the parking's the problem, that can be addressed easily.

But the "too-suburban" argument is just a smokescreen for this group's real concern.  After all, the last few years have seen many prominent suburban-style buildings go up in the city -- all to some acclaim.  The HealthNow headquarters is the embodiment of a suburban-style office park and the Hauptmann-Woodward building would look much more at home along the 290 in Amherst than it does downtown.  The soon-to-be constructed federal courthouse will sit back from the street pompously and suck any remaining life out of Niagara Square and don't even bring up the ghastly Burchfield-Penney art gallery under construction even as we speak on Elmwood -- though it turns a blank wall towards it.

No, it isn't creeping suburbanism that bothers the Bass Pro critics, the real problem in their eyes is commercialization.  They detest the idea that the merchant class will make money near their just-emerging museum and that a lot of us rubes who know no better will heartily approve.

One letter-writer in the News today expresses their sentiments clearly.

Wonderful! Our myopic “leaders” have done it again, selling our unique claim to fame, our most important historic treasure — the Erie Canal terminus — to retailers and strip-mall developers.

I guess it was too much to hope for that the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp. would actually do the right thing and keep that one small area true to its history. And to top it off, for the honor of having a sporting goods store and other retailers on this sacred ground, we get to pay them!

True to its history?  If we were to keep the Inner Harbor true to its history, we'd make it filthy and crude; we'd build coarse taverns in the shadow of smelly, smoky factories; we'd throw in a few whorehouses and we'd dump garbage into the water each day just before opening time.  The terminus of the Erie Canal was a bustling, gritty place where people came to make their fortunes by any means possible; it was by no means the Norman Rockwellian exhibit under construction now.

A few years back Buffalo commemorated the  100th anniversary of the 1901 Pan-American exposition, and we held parades, dutifully traipsed off to museum exhibits and wrote books that celebrated our prosperous and influential past.  We marveled at the "City of Light" of our ancestors and longed for those days when Buffalo was an important place.

But the centenary carefully avoided what had actually led to the Exposition's being held  and instead treated it rather like the virgin birth -- all of a sudden it was just there.  We celebrated what Buffalo looked like in 1901 as the fastest-growing city in the United States, the first city with electric streetlights and gave little thought to why it was growing.   We were paying attention to our history, to be sure, but we almost consciously avoided studying it to learn how to create a better future. 

I remember chuckling at the sight of society matrons in cleverly-sewn, period dresses (daintily clutching parasols of course) riding down Lincoln Parkway in horse-drawn carriages.  It wasn't history at all, of course, but theater, a play whose cast members would have been horrified at the brute capitalism that made their play-acting possible.

The immigrants and entrepreneurs who flocked to Buffalo on the Erie Canal didn't come here to create a museum for us to preserve, they were too busy building a city -- a city based on trade, manufacturing, opportunity and above all making money.  Commercialism created Buffalo and to deny that is like claiming that that the glaciers never existed and their melting didn't give us Niagara Falls. Commercialization of the Erie Canal terminus won't ruin it -- if anything it will illustrate how Buffalo became great in the first place.

A lot of us here are still trying to build that once vital and growing city.  We respect our past, but we don't fetishize it.  We support preserving our history so we can learn from our mistakes but also so we can celebrate and learn from our successes.

Our self-elected waterfront protectors want to create a sanitized and romantic representation of the Erie Canal that fits into their vision of what modern Buffalo should be. That's what's playing out now on the waterfront. The Canal Side opponents would have us believe that an interpretive center and a plaza which never existed represent historical accuracy which profit-making businesses would corrupt -- but it's their little Disneyland-by-the-harbor that's the real fake.

The Buffalo Disease

It didn't take long to hear from the first opponents of the proposed new Bass Pro project.

Those voicing opposition include Julie Bartlett O’Neill, executive director of Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper.

“There’s a great plan for the site that had full community support, and took many years and millions of state dollars to complete,” O’Neill said. “They have no right to give away a public park to the highest corporate bidder.”

Full community support?  I, for one, have never heard of it, and if I had I'd have opposed it.

What Buffalo needs desperately are places where people want to go because there are things to do and other people around to do them with. We certainly don't need any more parks that we can't afford to maintain and which remain virtually empty all the time -- as this one undoubtedly would for lack of anything else to do down there except go to another park.   

Park-envy ranks second only to museum-fetishism amongst Buffalo's elites -- though statistics do show that casinophobia has been on the rise lately.

Very Nice

Having seen the artist's rendering of the proposed "Canal Side" project (which will include Bass Pro,) I like the concept even better.  It becomes clear from the picture that this will add something else that Buffalo's been lacking -- somewhere for people to go in their boats beside Harry's Place, The Pier, the hot dog stand at the marina on Fuhrmann and whatever the name-of-that-place-is that replaced Crawdaddy's.  I suggest lots of docking spaces.  This might turn out to be a pretty cool place.

[UPDATE:] Though the past several years have been frustrating, I think this is much, much better than the originally-proposed Bass Pro store.  It will have turned out to be a fruitful delay.    

Bass Pro -- Maybe?

I'm pleased to see that the Bass Pro project is underway again.  We'd have survived without it of course, but I think that area needs a good retail draw.  When the weather's lousy, people will still have a reason to go down to the waterfront and when the weather's nice some nearby shopping may encourage them to stick around a bit longer -- and spend some money.   

The new plans reportedly feature space for additional retail which was missing in the original.  And it all only complements a proposed market for the railroad terminal -- though I'd bet that never happens for fear of hurting the Broadway Market which would be a shame.

OK, How Many Are In Favor Of A Marina Here? There Maybe?

Public input certainly has its place but I hope the waterfront doesn't end up suffering from death by charrette.

Museum-mania

If there's one thing that Buffalonians are good at, it's coming up with ideas for museums.  Over the years I've heard so many suggestions for them -- all intended to "help the economy" -- that I can't begin to list them.  But the idea that was floated today, a weather museum, isn't actually a bad idea.

Capitalizing on a concept that has been touted by some community leaders, city lawmakers say an interactive weather museum would promote tourism and make downtown more family-friendly. They say it could become a people-magnet on Buffalo’s emerging waterfront.

The region’s top tourism official agreed. Richard Geiger, president of the Buffalo Niagara Convention and Visitors Bureau, said if done properly, the center could draw visitors to the Erie Canal Harbor area.

But Geiger said the museum would have to be state-of-the-art, featuring virtual reality attractions and hands-on exhibits.

“To just go and learn about weather won’t excite kids and their families,” Geiger said.

He's right and as long as we're going begging (once again) to Albany and Washington for the money to build it, why not go whole hog and figure on moving the Science Museum, too.  We know the existing one is in dire need of modernizing and the weather component would be a natural complement.  The two together could draw a lot of people.

Now, I realize that moving the Museum of Science from its East Side home might end up a political nightmare.  So, plan B would include Bass Pro's (remember them) idea for a Great Lakes museum.  At any rate, the site of the Aud is the logical spot and once that's been razed, we might as well dig down and put an underground bus station and rail terminal underneath. Can you say Intermodal Transportation Center funding?  Though'cha could.

[UPDATE:] I am serious about the above suggestions but it occurs to me how much damned fun I had dreaming like your average Western New York tax-and-spend politician.   It's a little scary actually.

Yes, But . . .

Robert T. Coles has the germ of a good idea.

Watching passengers moving from the Main Street light rail to the NFTA intracity buses is often painful, as they lug loads of luggage. And then there are the railroad passengers who arrive or leave by Amtrak at the little railroad station on Exchange Street, in a location few people are aware of.

The crossroads always has been the site of our railroad stations and, at one time, three were located there. Why not renew the area by bringing the railroad back downtown? Abandon that concrete block Amtrak station in Depew, whose location is an insult to our city, once the third-largest railroad center in the nation.

The Aud lies at the crossroads of our transit system, with both the Metro Rail light rail and Amtrak passing through. It is large enough to house shops to serve the many people who would use the center, and more. Intercity buses could be introduced to the facility to better serve passengers. It could also serve as an indoor storage garage for the intercity buses that now clog downtown streets at night.

It makes good sense to consolidate the various and disparate public bus, private bus, Amtrak and light-rail systems into one downtown location. And God knows there's plenty of money available for intermodal transportation centers, a topic I've had great fun with in the past. But while the Aud's location is well-suited to that purpose I'm not at all sure that the building itself would work better than tearing it down and starting fresh.

Amtrak's lines do run next to the Aud -- conveniently underground which is always a plus in our climate and the light-rail does pass the front door. The NFTA's bus terminal is growing long in the tooth at 30 years plus and so Mr. Coles's suggestion bears some thought.   But given its location just steps away from the soon-to-open Inner Harbor, I have to wonder what its advocates would think about dozens of Greyhounds stinking up the place with diesel fumes. 

It's not a bad idea (except for the Aud preservation part) but as always there are other "issues" to consider.  One of which is the actual number of Buffalonians who use the NFTA and who travel by train or commercial bus.  That figure is never mentioned and I suspect is rather minuscule.  That doesn't mean we should ignore them, but it might inform our decision on how many hundreds of millions to spend to make their travel more convenient and efficient.   

The Glass Sore Thumb Lives!

That on-again, off-again Buffalo federal courthouse is on again -- thanks to Senator Schumer if you're to believe, um, him.  It's slated to open in 2010 and if we're so blessed as to have a Republican President that year I humbly suggest that, to celebrate its completion and as a salute to Mr. Schumer, he fire the local U.S. Attorney and put in a new one -- just because he can.

Condos On Utica Street

A 12-unit condo complex proposed for the block just west of Elmwood Avenue is welcome news.

The 3 1/2-story building would feature units ranging in size from 1,700 to 2,700 square feet, with price tags from $350,000 to $500,000. Underground parking for 21 vehicles, fireplaces, highend kitchens and bathrooms, and energy-efficient green construction methods are planned for the site

This neighborhood has suffered a drop in population and median income that has contributed to high retail turnover and a large number of empty storefronts in the 500 block of Elmwood Avenue. Besides adding a couple dozen high-income residents to the neighborhood, it might also spur some upgrading of the surrounding homes.

Part of the reason for upper Elmwood's success is the high density of population living between Delaware and Richmond Avenues.  A project like this that can pack a few more people (with money to spend) in farther down the street can only help.  Now, just cross your fingers and hope it doesn't end up in court.

BNE

The Buffalo Niagara Enterprise is asking for patience.

Buffalo Niagara Enterprise Chairman Randall Clark is preaching patience to investors in the economic development and marketing initiative.

Eight years into the BNE's ongoing campaign, officials said the effort is narrowing its focus to concentrate on business sectors that hold the most promise for the Buffalo Niagara region and is showing steadily improving results

Eight years ago the BNE set itself the goal of attracting 50,000 new jobs to Buffalo-Niagara in five years, but with three extra to grow on, they're about 60,000 behind.  Now, I don't really blame them; the business climate in New York is just too dreadful for anyone to overcome.  But if I were paying their bills, I'd think twice about re-upping.

The whole thing's actually starting to look like a useless way for a few people to make a good living and when you think about it we've already got the government for that.  And this is a poor town; I don't think we can afford the duplication of services.

Wheels On Fire

The new courthouse on Niagara Square will be under construction by the end of this year.  Now, I've often criticized it because I think it will do nothing to liven up an already-dead area of downtown.  But in the end I'm as pleased as anyone to see another big building (and unquestionably a striking one) built in the city. 

The announcement was, as you might expect, greeted with universal enthusiasm, but I'll admit to being perplexed by the reaction of one local judge who, when asked for his opinion, inexplicably blurted out the title of a popular 90's British sit-com.

U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, who had been leading the judiciary's effort to get the new courthouse built, termed the news about the construction "absolutely fabulous."

Given that the courthouse will be part of the federal government, I'd have thought Fawlty Towers the correct analogy.

Imagine The Possibilities: Little Ireland, Little Africa Little San Juan, . . .

I'm a little surprised over the hubbub generated by the proposal to promote Hertel Avenue as "Little Italy."  The Buffalo News even lent its support today.

When someone new to town ventures into Buffalo and wants to know where to get authentic Italian cuisine, more than likely Hertel will be mentioned high on the list . . .

Oh yeah, that happens all the time.  When my out-of-town guests show up, "where can we get good Italian" is almost the first thing out of their mouths.  And if they did ask, I'd likely suggest the Italian Village on Grant Street -- after I got over my shock that we wouldn't be dining at the only place any out-of-towner actually wants to see, the Anchor Bar.

Look, it's no big deal and I'm not going to crusade against it.  But I do think it's silly, unimaginative and will probably flop without anyone's noticing.  Hertel's an already-moving train and politicians are jumping out in front of it in hopes we'll believe they're the locomotive.

Why waste the money?

Let's Tighten The Noose A Bit More

Michele Brozek cites the pending demolition of the Atwater House (next to Pano's) as an example of Buffalo's lack of preservation laws.

By designating a property or district as a landmark in Buffalo, the Buffalo Preservation Board is required to review exterior modifications to listed buildings, including demolition.

In short, if the Atwater House had been listed as a landmark or as a part of a local district, the City of Buffalo, through the Preservation Board, would have been required to review the request for demolition. The board would have had to take into consideration the Atwater House's historic significance, and would have had legal grounds to prohibit demolition.

Well, that's just what we need in Buffalo -- another list of buildings that aren't economically feasible to save but are just too dear to the preservationists' hearts to give up.  And consider the opportunity for political chicanery.  If the members of the board disapproved of the proposed use of a particular property (gambling for example,) architectural and historical significance could be invented.

Anyone - individuals, nonprofit groups or block clubs - can nominate buildings or districts to the National Register of Historic Places or as Buffalo landmarks, and help eventually to come up with a preservation plan for Buffalo that will guide the protection and revitalization of our valued historic buildings.

As a result, everyone will be assured that buildings that we all agree are important to this city are at least given a review process before they are forever lost - and are turned into another empty lot covered in snow. [emphasis mine]

This process certainly would not save buildings that "we all" agree are important.  "We all" wouldn't have a say in it.  It's a system rigged to favor activists who prefer preservation over development.  In a city starved for development, those are also likely to be the citizens least in need of it. 

We have quite enough laws in place already. Consider how many years Pano's has been trying to expand since the first time this subject came up.  This thing has been reviewed, charetted, litigated, meetinged and picketed enough.  Pangiotis Georgiadis has kept going through all that to meet our already-stringent regulations and finally has.

We don't need any more preservation laws, we're perilously close to strangling on them as it is.