Went to the Galleria Mall today to check up on how all the new stuff is coming along…actually just went there because I heard Urban Outfitters finally opened. The company is obviously urban minded and this is the first mall location I’ve ever seen although when open in a smaller region they usually just mall it as a rule. I’m curious to know if they ever considered Elmwood or Canal Side.

But anyways, if you go there be sure to pick up a copy of their soundtrack. I’m not a complete indie-snob so most of the music on there was unknown to me but absolutely great.

The rest of the new wing is starting to really take shape. Bebe, Oakley, Coach, Lucky Brand, Metropark and Bravo are open and it looks like the rest of the stores will be done before December. We’ll be seeing a lot more Ontario plates when word gets out over the border about the completed Galleria…that is for sure.

The more retail evolves in Cheektowaga and Amherst I become more and more concerned about what kind of retail Benderson could possibly bring to Canal Side in a shrinking region that is already well represented in the retail world.

But they say Bass Pro is an anchor…

When you own a dog or a cat, its important to lay newspaper around certain designated areas for them to urinate on. But its also important to lay newspaper down for when one of the many homeless/mentally derranged men get on board our fair light rail in Buffalo.

Because you never know when he needs to urinate in public.

The man just sat down on the paper…lifted himself from the chair and swung around for a bit, and the next thing you know…yeah.

This would/should sicken me. But I think I’ve taken the train so much that I’m not even surprised…just amused.

The man got up with a very peaceful smile upon leaving the train. Give him some credit, he used the newspaper.

My friends enjoyed it though!

I have a more detailed picture but I’m afraid I’d lose most of my readership if I put it up.

I always look forward to an article about Buffalo in the NYTimes. Thanks to FixBuffalo for the heads up/link to today’s piece on how Buffalo is trying to tackle the endless problem of abandoned structures.

Look at the graphic the Times provides…

We’ve demolished thousands of vacant structures in this decade but driving around the East Side you wouldn’t know.

I appreciated this quote the most…

“Half of Buffalo looks like New Orleans after the storm,” said Mark Goldman, author of “City on the Edge,” a history of Buffalo. “The city needs to turn the whole area into a great forest. We can’t afford to keep the infrastructure.”

If the money was there I would really like to see entire blocks just demolished. Most of the East Side just big green fields within a grid. Its happening in Detroit and its happening here…the urban cores are becoming accidental green space as the ring around it becomes more dense and starts to face the same damn problems that made people leave the city to begin with. 30 years from now Lancacaster and West Seneca will be known as ghettos the way the things are going. But at least the City of Buffalo will be an awesome agricultural zone.

New Buffalo.

Donn Esmonde hates chains. Dilusional Buffalonians who think Buffalo can so easily just be an awesome/bustling city with nothing but indie stores also feel the same.

But what about the people who are going to work for these stores? Try getting a job at Stache or ShoeFly on Elmwood. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say they have 8 employees max? Prolly pay new employees minimum wage? I don’t know. I’ve never been hired by an indie chain…since they’re rarely hiring. Who hires more than three people? Barnes and Noble or Talking Leaves?

If you work retail, you always go for the chains first. Why? Because they hire more people. And because of their high profile they offer pretty decent benifits (well…in some cases). Example: The Gap I work at staffs over 20 people and they all make above minimum wage and after a fairly short time period-start recieving paid sick/leave and if a certain age 401k.

So you can be obsessed with indie stores all you want but remember, its been proven time and time again that people like shopping/eating at places they’re familiar with. Thats the only reason I can use to justify why anyone would eat at Applebees or Friday’s. Thats the only reason I think anyone would want to wear Hollister or Abercrombie. If you see it a lot-you gravitate to it. And if you’re in the hell that is retail work-you want to work with companies you’re familiar with.

The world has spoken and the world likes Starbucks and Gap. Whether they’re spending money there or earning it. Deal with it.

I covered the construction so now it was finally time to try out the place. The interior is really high quality in case you haven’t already heard and the service was very good (my friends and i were one of only a handful of customers so I would expect so).

The Irish aren’t known for cullinary masterpieces so I wasn’t expecting too much. I had the fish and chips that had a great dark beer batter, the fish itself was pretty good and the fries were good too. The coleslaw was awful though.

My friends ordered a reuben and a pannini and both were content-not amazed-with their choices.

So decent food, good service, and really good ambiance. Not bad for what was an abandoned loading dock a year ago.

Oh by the way: They show all the Notre Dame games from a large flat screen TV on Saturdays…although this might not be the year to watch Notre Dame football. But it is the year to try out Morrissey’s.

SEPTEMBER 12 / 301 Crosby Hall @ 5:30 pm

Studio Luz is based in Boston and was founded by Anthony Piermarini and Hansy Better Barraza in 2002. In 2006 the studio was highlighted by Architectural Record as one of America’s notable emerging practices and in 2007 received a citation in the Architecture awards for their proposal for the Campus of Hope in Haiti.

Hansy Better Barraza earned her first professional B.Arch. degree from Cornell University and a Master’s of Architecture in Urban Design from the Harvard Design School. She received the 2004 Young Architect’s Award from the Architectural League of New York.

Anthony Piermarini earned his first professional B.Arch. degree at Cornell University and post-professional M.Arch. degree from the Harvard Design School. A registered architect, he was nominated for the National American Institute of Architects’ Yound Architect’s Award.

Anthony and Hansy received the 2004 Young Architect’s Award from the Architectural League of New York. They both teach at the Rhode Island School of Design and have served as Visiting Critics at Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard, and at Yale University.

UB School of Architecture & Planning
Hayes Hall 3435 Main Street Buffalo NY 14214
Update your subscription preferences: sap@ap.buffalo.edu

Don’t forget that tomorrow and Wednesday at The Ashbury Church you can see Ani Difranco return home-almost literally since she’s the mastermind behind the venue.

Her fans scare me but she’s the antithesis of mainstream radio music lyrically and musically, so attending should be well worth the price ($38.50).

Also, she’ll be releasing a career retrospective album tomorrow.

One of my local pet peeves is when locals try to make Buffalo’s art scene sound parallel to Chicago or NYC or San Fran or wherever.

But I must say, this weeks Artvoice issue would definitely make quite the impression on me if I was new to town.

*Elvis Costello article in anticipation of his AlbrightKnox concert with Feist.
*Preview of Sundance Fest movie ‘Strange Culture’ about UB art professor.
*Interivew with the aforementioned art professor.
*Blurb about Ani Difranco’s upcoming 2-night concert at the Ashbury Church.

Pick up a copy, it will make you feel good about the goings on in our fair city.

Okay. I’m not covering anything on the Inner Harbor except for construction. I’m done.

I walked around the Galleria Mall to check out all the new stuff thats coming in. I saw the most obnoxious looking Cheesecake Factory, fake attitute-laden and overpriced clothing at Metropark, and a handbag sitting by itself under a light at the under-construction Coach store.

Then I took the bus back.

An african woman in a headcover, got on the bus and as if it was a bazaar-started aggressively negotiating the bus fare with the driver for 5 minutes until a man in the back had enough and paid for her.

We went through Walden Heights and although its a suburb-it looked just like-if not worse-than some of the worst parts of Buffalo. The houses were a mess, a lot of the people walking around looked souless.

And then through the city of Buffalo it got even worse. The houses were just embarassing, to the point where it was a relief to see giant vacant lots with wild weeds where houses used to stand. Thugs roaming around the side streets with their white-T’s half on, walking around as if to claim their territory were frequently spotted.

I saw more than a handful of churches that worship out of cheap, small buildings that look like they used to be small retail establishments. Their religious signs juxtaposed on the building cried out irony.

For a bit, out of nowhere sprouted a small muslim community, who have chosen to inherit dangerous streets and worn out houses.

And then-and maybe this was the wierdest part-construction starting on market rate homes on Sycamore Street. New market rate homes?! On Sycamore street?! Wtf.

To see the extreme contrast of happy, large-allowanced kids, shopping away on a weekday and talking with their friends about personal problems that are so trivial-to seeing kids roaming the east-side wasting their lives away on street corners marking their territory. I saw the two versions Buffalo in that one route.

New Buffalo.