Going back to what Mopar said yesterday:
[quote=“Onyz Z32”]
Maybe you just overlooked this when you wrote it. Did you mean only 1/3 of Buffalo city dwellers own cars?[/quote]
Over 1/3rd is not a majority. If 1/3rd of people do not have a car, that means 2/3rds DO own cars.
I was always under the impression that the majority of people living in the city DO have cars. Does anyone have this stat?
So how do you embed a map?
[map] tags. Goggle only.
Here’s another reason why planners and preservationists shouldn’t be making decisions with other peoples’ investments: They don’t think like investors.
Here’s an article from ten years ago about how save-a-lot is killing the broadway market. They got a sweet deal to pay fuck all for rent (1/3 market value through 2018), and then opened up a back door so that the customers can come into save-a-lot, buy their shit, and leave without ever entering the market. It’s pulling customers from the market.
http://www.frankreport.com/Author/Articles/01April00.html
The Save-A-Lot Deal
The Broadway Market’s “Save-A-Lot” store is the number one
Save-A-Lot franchise in the Northeast. Touted by managers as an
ideal anchor store, the franchise, owned by Ron Horrigan, was welcomed into the Market in 1998 with low rent and an investment of $640,000 for equipment for the store. It didn’t turn out exactly as
planned. Although Save-A-Lot boasts of having 11,000 customer
per week, according to tenants, most customers use the rear en-
trance and rarely visit the rest of the Market, and thus arguably, the store is not functioning as a true achor.
Kind of sounds like save-a-lot going out of business would be good way for the market to get out of a deal that, well, already killed them.
Fry, that is the lot they are building on.
Anyway - I just want to clarify something that’s been said a few times here. Let’s not confuse Aldi investing in their business with Aldi investing in this community. This store is being opened because there is an opportunity to make money, nothing less, nothing more. This does not mean it’s a bad thing, or it’s a bad company, but let’s just not confuse them. Investing in a community is much different.
As far as I know, the issue the city is concerned with is 100% with the design of the lot and structures, and has nothing to do with the competition with Broadway Market. This is actually a sharp change in direction for the city, and I think a good one at that. The city for years has allowed anyone to build suburban style buildings and lots all over the city, slowly but surely destroying the urban fabric that makes urban communities thrive.
Example: The corner at Elmwood and Bryant (I think), where the old KFC was. Look at it two years ago, and look at it today - anyone who lives in that area I’m sure will tell you that the entire vibe of that section of elmwood has tremendously changed for the better now that there is a mixed use, built to the curb building. It fills a gap left in the streetscape left by bad urban planning.
I know there has been a lack of progress in many different ways in the city, and some of them are mindless and stupid. I can tell you that most of the lack of progress is happening where we can’t even see it. The red tape, patronage, payoffs and other bullshit you have to go through to get the permits and everything else you need in City Hall is insane. But I will give them this - the new Green Code that is being worked on, and the fact that they are starting to enforce proper urban planning is commendable. It’s a start to fixing many of the mistakes that we’ve made in the past.
The best parts of the city thrive because of the existing urban infrastructure. Look at Allen, Hertel, Elmwood. The worst parts of these streets can usually be traced to gaps in the streetscape. Dollar Generals with big parking lots, etc. Main would be the exception here and I think it’s because everyone just closed up shop back when cars were cut off and it never recovered. It’s poised for a big comeback in the next 6-7 years in my opinion.
In closing, I think Aldi could invest a bit in their community by making some design changes to the store, and being open to some other ideas that might make for a good situations for everyone. I’ve seen well designed Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods in urban landscapes, why can’t Aldi take in the context of where they are moving and adapt.
[QUOTE=FadetoBlack;3252807]I know that Fry has a few years on me.
You’re not the first person to think I’m young and naive when it comes to my ideas regarding the city.
Why do I care so much? I grew up in the city, learned to love it for all of the good things it has to offer and I’ve learned to accept its faults.
What I find the most sickening is that there’s other metropolitan areas that have a thriving downtown area where people live, work, and play. Why can’t Buffalo have that? Cities like Chicago, albeit much bigger, have found a way to keep the core alive and not let everyone run for the exit that is the suburbs. Why haven’t we?[COLOR=“Silver”]
---------- Post added at 10:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:08 AM ----------
QUOTE]
We need outside help. The people who are running the city I think have run out of ideas or are lost. We need to bring people in from other successful cities to help us out. All this inbreeding of politicians, councilman, and all other people who run this city is just gonna give us the same result. When one person leaves someone lower is promoted who has no experience and does nothing. We need fresh new ideas.
Just because were a small city doesnt mean we cant be a successful/fun place to be, like other cities. Unfortuantely were just standing stagnant because no one wants to do anything.
dozr’s grain elevator thing went off.
edit - wow tom, im going to have to agree in principle with you here, for once. 
As far as I know, the issue the city is concerned with is 100% with the design of the lot and structures, and has nothing to do with the competition with Broadway Market. This is actually a sharp change in direction for the city, and I think a good one at that. The city for years has allowed anyone to build suburban style buildings and lots all over the city, slowly but surely destroying the urban fabric that makes urban communities thrive.
although, in application it reverts back to “beggars cant be choosers”. If it really breaks the deal and there is (for whatever reason) NO means of a compromise, then should the city hold its grounds?
In closing, I think Aldi could invest a bit in their community by making some design changes to the store, and being open to some other ideas that might make for a good situations for everyone. I’ve seen well designed Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods in urban landscapes, why can’t Aldi take in the context of where they are moving and adapt.
I know nothing more bout the specific situation than whats been posted here, but let me ask: is it totally unreasonable for the storefront to be “curbside” with a driveway and parking lot behind it? The lots obviously big enough, and i realize that is a large extra expense in infrastructure if the builders were planning on using the existing buildings utilities, but I would imagine they’d revamp those anyways…
HA! I was waiting for that.
wow. With everyone talking bad about the city, youd think that a city’s suburbs could survive by themselves. Newsflash people: without a city, there are no suburbs. A city has to be like a human heart. Can a body survive without a heart? No, you cant depend on your legs to take over pumping blood when the heart gives out just like you cant depend on the suburbs to support the city. Whatever happens, Buffalo NEEDS to survive. The way it sounds, you people dont care about it at all.
What do you mean, you people?
I really think the bigger suburbs would be self-sustaining, Amherst for example. There are a great deal of residents that live,work,play,etc. in Amherst and don’t venture into the city. Sure, they would have never ended up here if it wasn’t for the city, but that’s ancient history. If you don’t work downtown and don’t go out on Chip, Allen, or Elmwood, you can pretty much get by without ever crossing over into the city limits these days.
Man, some of the best restaurants in the area are in the city.
Leftbank, seabar, prime490, fiamma, bacchus, club 31, empire, lombardo, franks little italy, templeton, tempo, kunis, mothers, fat bobs, …
the list goes on.
i guess anyone not going into the city is just limiting their own experiences, but it kills me to hear people talk bad about buffalo as whole.
its aldi, who shops at that dump anyways.
More people than you think…personally I’ll spend the extra dollar to by stuff that wasn’t made in 1915
I was holding off, but I’ll chime in with my $.02
Like Mopar65, I went to UB for architecture. There are a lot of bigger issues at play that the general public has NO IDEA about, and it’s those very issues that have been holding back developement for years. Dozr was the first person to mention it, and summed it up quite well
I am one of those people that also USED to think we could figure out a way to have the best of both worlds but I doubt it… honestly, if we would just take whatever deals we could get with just a few small guidlines it could work wonders for us in the longrun. think of this: if we LET aldi build on that site, but have them build right at the sidewalk with parking in the rear…even if they fail as a store, that building is setup perfectly for the streetscape and a new tenant can reap the benefit later.
The biggest issue at bay with poeple FROM here wanting to INVEST HERE is this issue of red tape and demanding behind the scenes bribery. I have seen it FIRST HAND. All of the poeple that think that there aren’t wealthy people in the area willing to and trying to invest here are naive as fuck.
my step-grandfather is worth 8 or 9 figures. Remember after that bullshit rusted to shit ship was parked next to the sakachewon grain elevator cause it was supposed to become some floating casino and the elevator was going to be a grand hotel and that shit failed? Sam (step grandfather) was trying to buy it. He offered MORE than market value. His plan was a mixed use space and I helped him come up with some of the presentation/renderings/ideas for usage. It would have been an awesome asset to the waterfront. You know what happened? they sold it to someone involved in politics for less money so they could claim yearly losses on their taxes.
that’s the kind of shit that is REALLY preventing any progress here. Everyone involved with the community is in it for the wrong reasons and for personal benefits…why do you think it is so hard for us do-gooders and people that actually care to find a way to get involved? they dont want us to. I attended that huge “meeting” about the waterfront development a few months ago and it was a gigantic let down to put it lightly. it was a bunch of hot-shots trying to get their names on the bill and they did nothing with the REAL suggestions and ideas from the community members with fresh thought. I tried my damndest to get involved with the waterfront development because I had saved some of my design work from school when we did mock-proposals for the waterfront areas for a grade and wanted to talk about some of the more “out-there” ideas/options they could consider…I couldn’t get anyone on the committee to give me the time of day.
until there is some kind of paradyme shift in the local government, nothing good is going to happen. The only light at the end of the tunnel is the new zoning plan coming out.
The bottom line for how to prevent exodus is to make the city appealing to the younger crowd, they are the only ones that will find a way to give a crap about city living and all of that nonsense. They need to re-focus on pedestrianizing the city and making it habitable and desirable for young people so they dont all go to college out of state and then find out of state jobs and leave buffalo to rot in their past.
/rant lol
If you are talking about Savarino, I don’t know why he doesn’t buy entire blocks on the east side, tear them down and develop the area. lol Of course Buffalo probably wouldn’t let him demo those crappy old houses.
This is 100% TRUE!!! I know for a fact, that even if you own the whole damn block and/or street you’re still not allowed to DEMO at ALL!!! And there is 0 incentive to improve anything.
Fuck… I could buy an entire city block of “homes” tear them down and build new houses… but for what? Who the hell is going to live there? Oh yeah, the same people who live there now, for free… thanks NYS (not Buffalo for once). SO, when your house is raided by the cops for whatever it is you do to fund your Escalade (no stereotype here) and you’re dragged out of the house… and they tear the shit out of it looking for more dope… I’m stuck with the repair bill and I have to fix it before the state will let anyone else live in it, for $350 - $500/mo. 3 families per “house” and it will be paid off in like 3 months… but the houses should be called FORDs because you need to fix or repair daily because there is a huge lack of respect that goes along with state sponsored housing… The good part of it is if they caught you in time, there is still a couple grand in copper sitting in the bedroom waiting to be scrapped, and I can put it back in all of the houses… oh … and all of my tools are there too. Thanks for hanging on to those for me.
It is a lose lose situation. “These people” don’t deserve new homes, they don’t take care of the ones they have. The slum lords who already own these areas are also too smart to do anything additional to them that the state doesn’t mandate.
I do love Buffalo though… because Buffalo makes other shitty cities a little less shitty when I go to visit them.
I just looked up that theres a anti-flipping law in buffalo also. WTF, with whats been said by “focusinprogress” and “jack” what CAN be done to imporve the city? I’m not gonna go buy a house, fix it up and live in those terrible neighborhoods alone. The city cant expect a bunch of people to buy houses in the east side and start rebuilding and hope people follow. F*cking buffalo has laws for everything. Its like they want nothing to be done.
I always stick up for buffalo and hope it gets turned around. But reading this shit is depressing. If renting houses is bad due to scum people destroying the houses. Then I would love to see the houses in bad neighborhoods be completely demolished and have the type of houses that are build in amherst, clearence, etc be built in their location. I’m sure some business man or women would like a freshly new build house a few blocks away from work rather then 20-30 min drive. But of course thats not an option
I’m not a business man, architect or political person. So i dont know about permits, laws, zoning etc. But can any tell me how the city can improve? Investors wont work cause they cant flip the houses and if they rent they will be burned down or destroyed by drug raids, noone can buy city streets and demolish them. Does the city expect the people who live in these neighborhoods rollin on 22"s to invest in property?
Does anyone write to the mayor or any other person in city hall asking questions about these kind of things?
^^I would build like 4 large homes where there were 50 homes. Oh and a big fence until the criminals were forced out by other investors buying the next block. 
This would be the start to a new beginning for Buffalo. But where would the crime and criminals end up when we ran them out of the city?