fix buffalo today

As part of a rich inventory of available housing stock, Buffalo still has a wealth of empty commercial buildings. Many are not necessarily located in traditional residential neighborhoods. But in a town that is experiencing a substantial upturn in development, their locations are looking better and better. These properties are ripe for imaginative, inventive, and intriguing housing solutions. read the rest...

• Anyone who has visited Chicago's Loop has probably seen the famous Picasso sculpture in Daley plaza. But when it was unveiled on August 15, 1967, it was compared to everything from a dodo bird to a giant cheese slicer. Kim Babon has been studying this and other controversies surrounding public art. Kim has spent nine years researching the public art debates, trying to determine why some pieces hit a nerve when others don't. Kim is a doctoral candidate in the University of Chicago's sociology department.

• Also with us is Faye Nelson who is leading the development of Detroit's riverfront. Faye is President and CEO of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. Prior to her appointment, she was Vice President, Governmental Affairs for Wayne State University, where she led the development of the Wayne State University research and technology park.

It's an indication that the outside world's perception of Buffalo is changing.
-Rich Tobe

Pier Giorgio Di Cicco - Toronto Poet Laureate

Alliances are negotiated. Being in love with a town means that you don't have time to negotiate. When you are in love, you don't negotiate; you don't put up buildings that don't speak to other buildings; you don't break the town up into communities each with its own loyalties. We have to come together, with a common ideal and a common enthusiasm. Creativity is the language of ideals and enthusiasm.

If Toronto wants to cohere it has to go all the way with what the creative craze suggests. Commerce and culture must be seen as one. Perhaps we should advertise publicly, again and again, with funded dollars, that "Creativity Means Business"; we must hear that again and again until we live by it. Otherwise we will retain our silos and happy ghettos of diversity with their local nationalisms, with no common zeitgeist. The city, both in the metropolis and the “sprawl” must share one ethic of creativity.

The transformative quality of the decision to locate BAVPA [Performing Arts HS] here in this little corner of Masten should not be underestimated. It is the long awaited bridge between the two Buffalos. This nascent arts and educational community is the connection between Buffalo's East side and the already well developed arts, educational and retail neighborhoods of the West side. The Ferry Street corridor is the link. Intelligent urban planning is the reason. read the rest

• Can cities rebound from disaster? Youngstown, Ohio Mayor Jay Williams is convinced his city is on the rebound from years of job losses and despair. At 36, Mayor Williams is the city's youngest mayor, and he is determined to turn Youngstown's "shrinking city" condition into an opportunity. Prior to resigning from City of Youngstown to run for Mayor, Mr. Williams spent five years as director of the city's Community Development Agency.

• Eugenie Birch and Susan Wachter have been looking at disasters of another sort. Their new book is Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Eugenie is professor and chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design. Susan is a professor of real estate and finance at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

• Do U.S. automakers have any new ideas about how to make congested, polluted cities more accessible? Can they think beyond 1.8 cars per household? David Berdish of Ford insists they can. David is developing sustainable mobility solutions for the world's mega-cities. David is Manager of Social Responsibility and Organizational Learning at Ford where he has worked for 24 years in the areas of Production, Program Management, Finance, Quality, Business Planning and Organizational Learning.

• Also with us is Marsha Miro, acting director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, which is opening a new exhibition this month about shrinking cities worldwide. Marsha previously taught art history at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit and has numerous books and a film on Cranbrook to her credit.