I have NO idea why this picture turned out TOTALLY X-TREME PINK shade but it was the 1st time I got a good look at this side of the Naval Park museum. Its an interesting contrast from the very traditional-looking side facing Main Street. These two buildings next to each other will make more sense when they lay down the street inbetween the two buildings which I also believe will be cobblestone.

The BassPro/retail side of the whole project might take four years to accomplish but this little corner already faced its’ day in court, so we’ll see this part pretty much done when the fall comes around.

Got a closer look at the new pub coming up in the Cobblestone/Parking district. I really hope it works but until the condos/casino get(s) done I don’t see much foot traffic going on here. Should be an awesome place and I think its a really sweet re-use of an old loading dock.

I really have nothing to say about this. The action speaks for itself. Huge downer.

ROADTRIP!!! Or not. Me and my Polish friend headed over to the Dyngus Day festivites at Central Terminal to get that authentic Polonia experience that we significantly lack on a daily basis. I attempted an awesome skyline photo but as you can tell, the window got in the way.

Soooo many cars at the Terminal. I’ve never seen more than an ambulance stationed there. Even the Padwerski/Memorial traffic circle was super busy. What kind of bizzaro world are we experiencing?

I finally got to get inside the main lobby for the 1st time in my life. When I first stepped in and saw “TO TRAINS” on the wall I felt a bit of a rush being the dork I am. Such an amazing building. Beyond words.
It was a unique event. Some drunken dancing going on, and groups of people gathering around heated areas. I saw the 3rd string weather guy for channel 2. I was staring at him trying to figure out where I knew him from, he caught me staring…it was awkward.
My Polish lady bought herself some pussywillows and gave me a few wacks on the back of the knee on the way out (which makes me OFFICIALLY fertile) and we called it a night after about 45 minutes of soaking it in.
After seeing a busy and happy Central Terminal we headed out towards the decaying streets of Broadway-Fillmore and after a few minutes of asking ourselves why CT is in such disrepair, we were quickly reminded of why.
Kudos to everyone at the CTRC and good luck in raising the funds to repair the gem that is the Central Terminal. Everyone loves having a reason to go to the Terminal for events, and hopefully the unofficial convention center of Buffalo gets the full restoration it deserves (Hello Mr. Spitzer/Albany)

As expected, this happened…

Craig at Northcoast sums it up perfectly…

This “suburbanization” thing is a complete myth. Every building is going to be built right up to the sidewalk. EVERY SINGLE ONE. The parking garages (at least one of them) is going to have 1st floor retail. From what I’ve heard, the Aud Parking Ramp could have a residential component.

When you look at the Canal Side plan, and the entire waterfront, Bass Pro doesn’t dominate the waterfront at all. It’s what we call “an anchor”. A big retailer that attracts smaller retailers around it. Without an anchor, smaller stores simply won’t come to the Inner Harbor and take the risk, it has to be a shopping destination to work. Not a park with some little mom and pop shops.

The cobblestone streets will still be there, the sidewalks will still be there, urban design and a respect for the architecture of the time it is recreating will be respected in accordance with the Canal Side plan.

I won’t yell at preservationists as a whole because its people like them who are the only reason today why we still have the Guaranty Building, Shea’s, and the emerging commercial slip and 1800’s ruins at the Inner Harbor.

But this is Elmwood Hotel type stuff right here. A fear of big change. A fear of the mainstream coming into town and adding a certain element of life that we’re just not used to in this city. Perhaps its a self-fulfilling prophecy…of never evolving and maintaining our national reputation of being a boring dump of a city (and yes, most people who actually visit Buffalo feel that way).

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bass Pro get annoyed with the lawsuit and just bailout. Leaving Benderson with a devil of a time to recruit attractive retailers.

The current Canal Side plan is impressive and thorough and could put Baltimore’s watefront to shame…yeah its that good.

We’ll see how this works out, but based on history I don’t see this looking so good for progress on Buffalo’s waterfront but hey…at least we’ll have another really nice greenspace on the waterfront that could maybe have like…people…and like…some local art events and like…maybe a summer concert…

Ah yes, life in the ol’ time capsule we call Buffalo, New York.

As the battle for the 8-seed went on, plenty of good story lines came up

If we played Carolina, it would be a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals. A series win would be sweet revenge, especially after sweeping the season series.

Just saying Toronto means drama to the minds of any Sabres’ fan. Playing the Leafs in the 1st round would have an intensity level parallel to that of a typical conference final. Maybe Peca would have come back…making it more exciting for us to really hand it to them and the thousands who show up in town

Instead, we get the Isles. A great story in itself. Miroslav Satan coming back to Buffalo for a playoff series! We know he struggled to perform at his best in the postseason…it’d be interesting to see if anything has changed in his post-season effort since coming to Long Island.

Don’t forget Ted Nolan. His 1st season coaching in the NHL after a 10 year hiatus. His last year in the NHL he won the Sabres most recent Division Title until the 06-07 squad got one of their own. Now in his 1st year back he’ll go back to the same arena where he jumped up and down in excitement with the rest of the Sabre faithful after Derek Plante’s legendary game 7 overtime winner versus Ottawa.

The Isles are exhausted after an improbable stretch to clinch the final seed. Goalie Rick DiPietro is still out. If Buffalo has to go to six games in this series, it’d be a shock.

Can’t wait!

For those of us (probably all of us) who only anticipate bad news on the employment/economic front of the Buffalo-Niagara region, today’s Biz Journal will make you smile (and then some)

Western New York ranks among the nation’s 100 fastest-growing job markets for the second straight month.

The Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area added 4,000 jobs between February 2006 and February 2007, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That puts it in the upper quarter of the latest rankings of raw job growth — 91st place out of 367 U.S. metros.

Spin that anyway you want…that’s frickin great news.

Amongst the long list of things my dad tried to warn me about Buffalo was the spring time weather…

That whole “Hey look! Its 60 degrees! Time to embrace the spring!” and then “Oh look, its time to be windy, below freezing, and snowy”.

I love snow, it just has to be at the right time. Its’ driving the out-of-area kids here crazy. I got the urge for some Bisons baseball but this weather isn’t letting me get my fix.

Always good times when you look at the local craigslist personals. Great one here…

Put out for playoff tix? Ohhhhhh Buffalo, you’ve got some special people.