And now for some travel time in Europe. Back in mid-January. Have a good New Year.

I read an article in November 2005 in the Buffalo News about how 2007 would be the year that signified where Buffalo was going. Forward? Or the same as it has always been?

And now that 2007 has come and gone there are mixed signals all around. Clearly this was not the make or break year that the article made it out to be-positive signs are starting to accumulate while many of the root problems still exist.

Look around the east side and hope is hard to find with a continuously deteriorating housing stock, high rate of poverty, church closings, and American Axle shutting down. The west side faces many of the same drug and crime problems that the East Side does-perhaps at a higher but more concentrated rate. The University District continues to fall as students no longer feel safe living around their own city campus and choose Amherst instead. Go downtown and still see the Aud and Donovan buildings sitting idly. Main Street remains windswept and new buildings struggle to obtain 1st floor retail. Politically, the two control boards still remain, Byron Brown has begun to be recognized as simply just the newest cycle of the Buffalo Political Machine, Joel Giambra never met any of his ambitious goals that got him elected and Elliott Spitzer is already labeled as a failure.

But we also see a Bashar Issa that not only is in the process of bringing the Statler back to its deserved-life but is proposing a 40-story skyscraper. The Canal Side project has cleared away all the red-tape (allegedly). The Federal Courthouse finally cleared all of its red-tape as well. A block of abandoned industrial buildings in the Cobblestone District will be completely brought back to life next summer as a mixed-use block. Construction is about to begin on an Embassy Suites and a 5-star Seneca Hotel. A new condo tower is being built on the waterfront. A new art museum is under construction across from the Albright-Knox. Wind turbines are up (and currently not running) in Lackawanna, the Buffalo Lakeside Commerce park is a great example of a successful brownfield remediation project, there are 4.5 Billion USD worth of construction projects in the city, the regions job growth has been its strongest in 7 years and UB has finally begun to establish a downtown campus.

Clearly the picture is not clear for Buffalo yet. Fifty years of constant decline can’t be erased anytime soon and the fundamental issues that hurt the region like taxes, mind-boggling sprawl, political favors, abject poverty and an Albany bureaucracy that can’t be broken-all remain.. But change is starting to occur despite all the obstacles ahead. The economic and social climate is fragile but people are finally fed-up and taking matters into their own hands. The mistakes of the past will probably never be solved but the mistakes of the future can be avoided, and as everyone realizes that-Buffalo can become healthy again and I would say 2007 helped lay the groundwork for that.

I finished reading “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Building” by Jack Quinan just recently and it made me think about what potentially lays ahead for the site of where it once stood.

Its an issue that people have very strong opinions on. A lot would love to see it be rebuilt, others would love to see something different come along.

As the ‘Larkin District’ nears a new chapter of development-allegedly consisting of residential units and new office buildings we could very well see not a re-build but a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired 2-3 story structure take over what is now a lightly-used surface lot. But to truly appreciate and understand Buffalo’s history-nothing could make more cutting and honest of a statement than to let the current surface lot remain as is-juxtaposed against the remaining brick column. If CityView is able to bring this part of town back to life like it wants to, this bleak surface lot could be a place where when one passes by-they are confronted with the political mishaps and the thoughtless approach to urban and economic development that forever ruined the fabric that makes Buffalo.

Although I think my surface lot wish will come true anyways as a result of economic conditions.

I came across this hoodie and I found it to be amusing, although I must admit I’m not sure if the designer is being ironic or what?

I’ve seen this graphic on the internets a few times, and it came up again today on BuffaloRising. Good stuff.

I’m not sure who came up with it but I assume its what some planners see as an ideal Buffalo and not an actual Buffalo…ever.

Not to be a Debbie Downer but lets make some sense out of this graphic.

-The public infrastructure changes are somewhat possible but highly unlikely. Where will the money come from to make the 190 at-grade or below ground level? Where will the money come from for an underground Amtrak tunnel? Where will the money come from to tear down the City Court Ramp, the Convention Center (and therefore build a new one), and return Genesee Street to its original design?

-Why are all these skyscrapers in the CBD? Nothing about Buffalo’s economy suggests a boom in CBD office buildings. There is a legitimate future for some serious office development in the northern end of downtown because of the potential success of the Medical Campus but the CBD? Don’t think so.

-So after observing the evolution of the Buffalo skyline over the course of 200 years, the next century provides us dozens of skyscrapers that dwarf City Hall even though we are entering a wireless society that renders central business districts and tall office buildings almost obsolete? Getting City Tower will be a huge achievement unto itself-getting dozens of legitimately tall buildings-thats a whole other animal.

Planners are optimistic by nature but come on. A realistic view would have the street grid partially brought back to Ellicott’s intentions, modest 10-20 story building filling in a respectable amount of the many surface lots in the CBD.

Dealing with the 190 and making the Waterfront less of a gated community will be near impossible as Waterfront Village continues construction on more anti-social housing and as NYS gets into higher and higher debt with no fundamental changes in the business climate in sight-seeing the 190 go down is quite a pipe dream.

I’m barking up the wrong tree here, but I know that there are a lot of people who woke up this morning, saw this graphic on BRO and said to themselves; “Yup! We are truly witnessing a renaissance!”

Construction officially began on the final component of the block of industrial buildings interrupting the flow of surface lots in the cobblestone district. Originally just lofts, now its mostly offices. With retail on the 1st floor and residential on the second.

And the 1-story building between the two warehouses should be adding a “European Bistro” this summer. I’m prediciting a cafe/restaurant/bar coming into this final rehab too…the block should become a modest post-game attraction when completed.

Sure, its no Bass Pro or Casino but Holland has a pretty interesting project being proposed…like building a new freaking island.

With tight living space and a decent chance of losing even more land to rising sea levels, progressive Holland comes up with a progressive idea that could very well be replicated in other western places that will be affected by rising sea levels like Manhattan.

Brings up some critical issues-what is more important…your fertile eco-system or the potential to lose already sparse land to the North Sea? You think Buffalo plans get sued to death, this one should take a while to be solved and/or constructed and if it works we could very well start seeing a lot more of these popping up.

Show this picture to most people in America and they’ll say its some housing project in NYC. But no…its the dominating structures of Buffalo’s Inner Harbor- the Marine Drive Apartments.

You walk by it, especially on a cold, grey day and you really feel like its a cliche “project” in the Bronx.

If the waterfront ever evolves into something special, it will be curious to see what becomes of this place. Does it get torn down? Does it get sold to the private sector? Amazing valuable land going to low-income housing…and right up against another 1950’s “Great Idea in Planning”-the Skyway.

To say nothing ever got done in the world of urban planning in Buffalo is not true, to say nothing good happened is another thing however.

Not to sound like a complete design-dork but I’m really feeling the new landscaping and such going on by the commercial slip. It might not be the most authentic of urban designs but its a well done “historic recreation” and should be a nice break from the monotony that is typical urban design in the downtown area surrounding it.

As you can see, the condo tower is coming up quickly and the first fewtownhomes are pretty much done at Waterfront Place.