Ah the beauty of blogging is to be able to wear your heart on your sleeve/computer and not lose your job for it.

So the bounced check story isn’t true after all?

Maybe Termini’s crew were in accordance with their permits the day the construction worker died?

Maybe. I’ll lay off the story until its solved.

Still…tragic story on a few levels.

Well I don’t think I like Mr.Termini too much anymore. According to Channel 7, work on the Webb Building has to stop now because…

Termini’s checks for paying off the permit fines bounced.

Oyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy veh.

Its’ shameful that after repeated efforts to stop the project for not having the proper permits that Termini told the cops to call Steve Casey and after one phone call it was all settled.

Read today’s piece in the Buffalo News and I’d be surprised to see if you still have a high level of respect for him. The blood is on his hands. Its’ on Steve Casey’s hands. And I am searching for something to reassure me that Buffalo isn’t the same connection-oriented, behind-closed-doors dealing city that is the source of embarassment to many.

Pathetic.

Say what you will about the crime on the East Side of Buffalo, but never once did someone try to break into our house or cause any harm or steal from us.

Whereas today I awoke to an empty wallet in my “safe and secure” Amherst dorm. w00t.

After the Sabres game, MSG had some locker room interviews and for most of them you could hear some tunes from the Goo Goo Dolls latest album. Not necessarially the kind of music professional athletes listen to after a win…needless to say… “Only in Buffalo”.

This article is a small reminder of what we will see and miss out on in Buffalo at least until state and even federal policies change. Also, check this out. Because Canada asserts urban planning from the top to the bottom instead of letting municipalities do their own thing, we’ll see Ontario really take on rapid growth by the horns and make sure for every Toronto, there is a Hamilton and a Barrie and a whatever growing in a smart way with appropriate density.

As the trickle down effect of Toronto’s rapid growth extends right to the border with the Buffalo-Niagara region, we continue to slowly shrink with very few solutions to the problem.

EDIT: Our side of the lake’s population decline is discussed in today’s news.

I’m writing an Architecture paper, comparing the new National Airport to the Buffalo-Niagara Airport.

I took the metro from my Maryland suburb, through DC, over the Potomac River, and right smack in front of National Airport in 25 minutes.

Imagine a time in which after a vaction we land at BNIA, and then hop on the train to downtown.

Imagine a time in which the outer harbor is developed (maybe even a Bills Stadium) and we can take the metro over Lake Erie to get there.

Awesomeness. Sheer awesomeness.

Last Friday I got off at the “Erie Canal Harbor” Station and I had my back facing the new Inner Harbor project.

I saw the untouched Aud, two brown/yellow/orange trains at the rusted over, bird-pooped over, old Aud station, the same surface ‘ol surface lots, and still, the Donovan State Office building standing.

And I realized…downtown really doesn’t look much better or different that when the HSBC Arena opened up in 1996. And that was quite the downer.

With that said, my DC vacation has been quite relaxing and I’ll have pictures once I find the cord for my camera.

I’m in DC for a brief break from all that hustle and bustle up in Buffalo ;). Went to the Smithsonian Museum of Art and came across a pleasant surprise…Ralston Crawford’s “Buffalo Grain Elevators”. The vibrant, simple colors to accompany the simple shapes really looks amazing. Here are some of his other works
other works …good stuff.

Congrats to all the good people of Pittsburgh, your Penguins are saved.

Obviously we can all relate to what the Penguins fans have been going through the last two years, especially this season. Even though the Steelers are #1 down there, the Pens have a pretty good, loyal fan base.

Imagine an NHL team in Vegas?! Or another reincarnation of a Kansas City hockey team? Eww.
Casino and state of the art arena in downtown Pittsburgh with insentives for developing surface lots too…I’dlike to see the surface lots between our Casino and Arena get developed as well

Broadway Market. East Side. Oh boy. As you can see on Pundit, its quite the issue.

Here’s my take on it. BM can’t expect to be a destination 365 days a year until it becomes a great place for its’ own people to shop there. Its a quiet, dreary place with a good meat, poultry, produce, and pastry selection. Nothing amazing, but pretty good. Its started to welcome new tenants that don’t sell food and it reached the point where congresswoman Slaughter had to withdraw funds for the BM. If it can become a vibrant, cool place for its own residents to go to, AND if the Broadway-Fillmore neigborhood stops its constant decline, then the BM can be a year round destination. Nothing about it or its’ surrounding appeals to typical people who live in the Buffalo-Niagara region and until that changes, it will be an Easter-only draw.

The CTRC has put so much effort into the Central Terminal to stabalize it and have started to reap benefits. But only for specifically scheduled events. Why is the CT not rehabbed into a wonderful place to live/work/play?

Location. Location. Location.

You can’t draw many businesses to do work out of a declining and fairly dangerous neighborhood 2.5 miles from downtown. You can’t draw residents to pay $1500 a month for the same reasons. You can’t get people to visit (outside of architecture, train, or extreme Buffalo enthusiasts) for the same reasons.

The efforts of the select few who bust their asses off to make the East Side a better place is borderline saintly. But it takes more than a handful of common citizens. It takes an entire neighborhood, an entire society to take on the burden and make it a better place to live.

There are good plans in store for the BM, Central Terminal is breathing and that is something few of us could have predicted 5 years ago, but no matter how optimistic you are you have to realize that anything off Filmore is getting worse all the time. Large portions of the East Side just keep getting worse.

No we don’t bend over and take it, we stand up for it and do something. But that doesn’t mean we should expect society to care and therefore make the East Side a cool place to be. Step one, make it livable and safe for the people who live there. Step two-hope and pray that things get substantially better.