4/08/2007

Saturday at the Market...

After Saturday's Artspace Backyard Tour and an extended tour of the City's East side with Chris we met-up with Marti and enjoyed a few hours at the Broadway Market. Make sure to check out the Christina Abt's video from earlier this week - Broadway Stories - from WNYmedia.net.

Later we visited Corpus Christi and St. Stans. I've heard conflicting reports regarding the current status of the proposed housing development near St. Stans.

Certainly the abandonment and vacancy in the area immeadiatly surrounding the Broadway Market has spun out of control. It's a nightmare, really. We observed entire City blocks of partially boarded houses. There were a handful of people visiting Corpus Christi and we were the only ones at St. Stans. Odd being the day before Easter.

The pattern of abandonment and vacancy here in Broadway/Fillmore is similar in respects to the area closer to Main Street on the near East side. It's more visable as the density of the housing stock is considerably higher. There are strong cultural/heritage centers - Central Terminal, churches and the Broadway Market as Artspace, Performing Arts and the new Merriweather Library are providing strong centers of attraction on the near East side. In both areas, Two dominant trends appear to converge. On the one hand people are leaving - actually vacating as if a plague is ready to descend, or has - and at the same time there is a re-newed interest and an emerging renaissance associated with the deep cultural heritage both neighborhoods provide.

Trying to find a balance in this split is difficult. Chris Byrd, Broadway Market board member and creator of Broadway Fillmore Alive compiled a series of photos in February that formed the basis for my post - There is No Plan - regarding the devastation on Persons Street, near by.

Despite this, looked at a house a few months ago in the shadows of the Central Terminal on Bryson Street. We'll see...

What ever we do we must leverage anchor institutions and capitalize on any remaining competitive advantage. If we don't, it's a total loss and we'll have a blank slate.
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