fixBuffalo

7/14/2006

More Tour Photos...

David Coffee has just put together another group of photos from last weekend's Tour dé Neglect. Next tour isn't scheduled untill September 2nd.

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Artspace Archive • Annals of Neglect • BAVPA • Where is Perrysburg? • Broken Promises...
Writing the City • Woodlawn Row Houses • Tour dé Neglect - 2006

The body of 27 year old Yvonne Peterson was found in an abandoned, boarded, derelict and vacant house at 830 Sycamore Street Thursday afternoon. I first wrote about the large number of abandoned houses, especially around recently rebuilt Buffalo Public Schools in March of 2005 in a lengthy post called, School House Project. I then linked to this grisly story from Detroit and the dismemberment of Jalonna Stafford's 19 year old body. We are only missing the dog, for now...

According to today's Buffalo News the West Side is embroiled in a gang war, the East Side seems to be the place where death comes via vacant houses.

Hello Byron? Please send a City crew over to the City owned Woodlawn Row Houses that are still not properly secured after three years of City ownership. At a minimum shouldn't all City of Buffalo owned property be properly boarded and secured? Then again, perhaps I'm expecting too much.

Here's a new map of the mayhem brought by abandonment and vacancy in Buffalo, NY.

A more sensible approach to managing the decline of Buffalo, NY has to be strategized and deployed. Demolition of structures that are radically beyond repair should be demolished on a very short notice. A new City department or sub-department of Demolition could be established. Large industrial sized grinders could be used along with additional resources from our National Guard Troops could be deployed. The Guard has used bulldozers for snow removal here in Buffalo and the same equipment could be used to demolish hundreds of dilapitated houses. Inventory and moth ball the houses that should be saved. Burn the rest...tomorrow wouldn't be too soon.

Remember Shawn Luchey.

RIP Yvonne.

How many more bodies have been stuffed inside Buffalo's 1000's of abandonded and vacant houses? Wanna venture a guess?

7/13/2006

Still Saving Coe Place

Check out the Coe Place - Archive for regular up-dates and history.

Geoff Kelly's cover story in today's Artvoice is a must read. It's all about the Hamilton Ward House (aka 19 Coe Place) and the emerging Midtown portion of Main Street. Belmont Shelter has owned the house since January. It's still unsecured and seems to be experiencing some advance stage of "demolition by neglect". People who live on Coe Place and readers of fixbufalo have told me that during Scott Witzig's ownership of 19 Coe Place, the building was in better condition.

On the left - Geoff Kelly, Jim Rayburg, Chris Hawley and Stevan Stipanovich discussing the future of the Ward House. And on the right, Chris and Geoff take a closer look at "demolition by negect"

Hamilton Ward House 3 weeks ago...notice debris dumped on City owned vacant lot - 17 Coe Place.

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The debris is still "dumped" on the City owned lot. And here's a pic of the front of the Ward House.

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Make sure to check out Chris Hawley's Midtown: Poised for Renaissance and Stevan Stipanovich's Main Street: North to Ferry to gain additional insight and deeper appreciation for this part of the City. See the Artspace Archive for additional information about Coe Place and this Artspace neighborhood.

Over at BRO, David Steele wrote a recent post about the Ward House which I've linked to, right here. Check out the comments section of David's post.

7/11/2006

Additional Tour Reflections...

Another Tour dé Neglect participant has written a thoughtful, meandering and provocative piece about Sunday's ride through the ghetto. Check out what Gabe has to say in this pos t on his new ReurbanizeBuffalo site. Bookmark it, you'll wanna come back.

Don't forget to check out what Scott has to say about the tour...great suggestions...

Changes...

Yeah, the last template got old. It was almost two! Everything seemed to wander over to the new template with out much trouble. The creative genious of the guys at Gecko & Fly provided the latest template and Google still provides the backbone. Love Google, picasa and their latest acquisition, Writely - an on-line word processor that I use to archive all sorts of things from BN articles to larger docs. I'll invite you if you wanna use it. Zoho is still the web 2.0 application of choice for posting. And Flickr is the bomb. I weeded out the site seeing over on the right hand side. If you're not represented and wanna be, e-mail me and we can figure things out...links will end up in alphabetical order, soon.

The blog behind my blog, fixbuffaloarchive, will be tweeked in a few days. A third of my google hits end up coming from posts over there. I started it before I knew much about blogging.

I think it's a bit cleaner and easier to navigate. Let me know if you run into any problems or broken links...

7/09/2006

Bicycle Tour...Round #2

I was joined by 15 other cyclists on Sunday for the second round of the Tour dé Neglect. A couple intrepid Buffalo News reporters, Gabe - frequent BRO writer/commenter and the guy behind Reurbanizebuffalo, city photographer David Coffee, Cynthia from BIA and BuffaloReaserch.co m fame and Buffalo State College's Dr. Martin Ederer joined the tour. Dr. Ederer's recent book, Buffalo's Catholic Churches: Ethnic Communities and Architectural Legacy (2003) should be on your coffee table. It's an excellent text, with pics, describing the rise of Buffalo's Catholic parishes. Here he's pictured checking out the sanctuary of the Sacred Heart on Emslie Street.

photos from David Coffee

Thanks to the Central Terminal crew, we had an opportunity to escape the heat and grab an impromtu tour. Bruce Beyer shared his insight and experience raising a family and living across the street from the insanely neglected building that once housed Buffalo's Simon Brewery. In addition to the German Roman Catholic Orphan Home, Transfiguration Church, the Wollenberg Grain Elevator and the Church of the Sacred Heart and it's crumbling school building, plan on getting a peek at those other structures, too. The next tour is Saturday September 2, 2006!

I'll be writing up my personal observations of the tour in a few days...Meanwhile check out David Coffee's flickr slide show depicting some high lights of Sunday's ride.

update...7/10/06...How could I forget? Scott, who kicked this blog from its 3rd grade level to it's current 11th grade status, was on the ride yesterday, too! He also repaired a rider's flat right after the urban portage...Here's his write-up!

update...7/11/06...Check out what Gabe has to say in this pos t on his new ReurbanizeBuffalo site. Bookmark it, you'll wanna come back.

update...7/14/06...Tour photos from David Coffee...his write up over on E-strip, is here!

And Another Real Estate Tool...

In the past few months I've written about Zillow and RealestateABC two excellent web 2.0 applications that have helped a few readers identify residential real estate for some pretty good tire-kicking and investment. Here's that post. I love the functionality of incorporated into RealestateABC and their use of the the google maps interface. I especially like working with the various real estate oriented calculators they've embedded.

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I've just learned about another web 2.0 real estate tool, Trulia. I've just signed up for a free account and can keep track of my various searches and receive e-mail updates. Cool. You can search on various terms, $, zip-code, type etc...all of the results are displayed in the convenient and cool looking google maps interface. Trulia works just as well if you've decided to stay in Buffalo and settle in, move to Clarence and hang with the BuffaloPundit or if you are re-locating to Richmond, VA where two friends just picked up their first year teaching jobs (rumor has it that they are looking for a new director of city planning dept...I wonder???).

Let me know what you think of Trulia. Can mls.google.com be far behind?

7/07/2006

BAVPA Reconstruction - End Week 2

My neighbors are becoming increasingly more excited about playing host to what will certainly become the crowned jewel of Buffalo's public schools. This week the sounds of diesel fired heavy construction equipment have filled the air and as you can see most of the 4 acres of parking lot that used to act as a climate changing "heat sink" in the neighborhood are just about gone. Lots more site work this week. You'll also notice that a couple construction trailers arrived, too. Here's what the place looked like before they started.

July 7, 2006 - Day 12

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This larger image is the view from the corner of Woodlawn and Michigan.

See BAVPA Reconstruction Archive for additional details and updates.

7/06/2006

The Suburbanization of Michigan Avenue

Last Fall I began a series on various developments along Michigan Avenue, the backbone of the City's near East Side and just a stone's throw away from Midtown. For readers who are new to FixBuffalo or would just like to see what's happening along Michigan Avenue here's October, December and January's posts and pics.

I had no idea that Michigan Avenue was going to end up looking like some non-descript architectural collage on Maple Road or Sheridan Drive. Here's the proof! Complete with faux Ionic columns at the grand corner entrance and vinyl siding in two colors...

Scroll down through October's post to see the first phase of construction. And yes the building, located at the corner of North Street and Michigan, is set back a full 100' providing ample parking. This project is part of the Mayor's Liveable Communities Initiative, at least according to this sign. Here's a pic showing just how nice the parking lot is. Byron, is this part of Tony's legacy or yours?

Anybody know how to stop this sort of backsliding development before it starts? Sort of fits this project over on Jefferson Avenue.

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Kmiec's Folly...

While City residents brace themselves for the release of the report, "Journey to Avoid Housing Court," where Bishop Kmiec will further distance himself from the neighborhoods where some of the City's most significant architectural and historic buildings are located, the City's newest catholic church is almost ready to open at the corner of Hickory and Eagle. Check out construction pics from November, December (must see), March and May.

Let's hope for the Bishop's sake this church doesn't open the same week or month dozens more close. Wonder if the diocese has a PR firm on retainer?

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The image on the left looks like Darth Vadar's birth place and the main entrance faces a parking lot. Probably nicer than the trailer parishoners are using currently.

On the other side of the parking lot I spotted the bell. Like, where's the bell going? If a reader here could comment on what happened to St. Bridgets Church, I'd appreciate it. I believe there was a devastating fire a few years ago. Pictures and or additional details would be appreciated.

I still think the Bishop should sell the Mansion at 79 Oakland Place and move into an inner City rectory. WWJD? Lead by example and leave the the most expensive piece of City real estate behind. Read more in the Annals of Neglect...

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79 Oakland Place - the most expensive residential property in the City of Buffalo - on the left and the sanctuary of Transfiguration Church on the right. A reminder of what happens when the Church "flips" property and nothing happens!

Join me this Sunday as I lead the Tour de Neglect. It's a PresCo sponsored bicycle tour through the heart of the City's East Side. We'll be visiting some of the sites that the Catholic Church sold to unsuspecting buyers back in the 90's during round one of the downsizing. Yes, we'll be visiting Transfiguration...

Woodlawn Row Houses - July 2007

The long slow demolition of the Woodlawn Row Houses is almost assured. On a weekly basis, I'm reboarding the rear boards and vandals have become bolder recently and increased their efforts of seeing this City of Buffalo owned local landmark destroyed by removing the boards in front, too. I know Mayor Byron Brown lives a few blocks away and I thought after he was elected the Woodlawn Row Houses might be better secured. Recently Lou Petrucci - the Mayor's Housing Czar - approached me in City Hall and said that a group might be interested. Which group? Bethel CDC. Their Executive Director, Ben Upshaw told me it's not on the radar screen...meanwhile, Lou, why not get the place properly secured?

I took these pics the other day...

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Maybe if the City owned Woodlawn Row Houses are still standing when the 30 million dollar rehab is completed on the new home of Performing Arts High School, 100 feet away, they will get a new lease on life. That's September 2007...Think they'll last?

Here's the map that shows the proximity of Performing Arts High School and the Woodlawn Row Houses.

Check out the archive to see demolition by neglect in action - 28 months worth!

7/04/2006

Comments Anyone?

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From the Buffalo News 7/3/06. See the rest of Adam Zyglis' cartoons.

7/02/2006

Harlem Book Fair 2006

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The Harlem Book Fair Buffalo a Celebration of the Niagara Movement Centennial began in 2005 with a Literary Success!
The story continues in 2006 with the nationally known book fair showcasing interesting authors and interactive activities for all ages.The Harlem Book Fair Buffalo Committee will host the Buffalo Boo Fair on Saturday July 8, 2006. The book fair, Free and Open to ALL, will feature readings, book signings, interactive children activities, seminars, panel discussions, a variety of vendors and the opportunity to meet and greet celebrity authors. Read more..

volunteers • map • gala • activities
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The 8th annual Harlem Book Fair, in NYC is Saturday - July 22, 2006
details via The Black Book Review

While you are downtown, make sure to check out the progress on Buffalo's newest historic district, too. Right here! And don't forget to check out Booker Rising for all sorts of cultural and political commentary!

7/01/2006

BAVPA - Reconstruction - End Week 1

Waking up with the sound of diesel fired bull-dozers eating away at the former parking lot in front of my house is like so worth getting used to. The image on the left is the view from Woodlawn Avenue looking north. The one-story brick building on Ferry Street toward the right of this pic is the old Trolley Barn that's still used by the NFTA. The image on the right is the familar shot along Ferry Street looking west. The new entrance for Performing Arts will be here along Ferry Street. This site work in this image is for the first of three new two story additions to the 42 year old structure.

June 30, 2006 - Day 5

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See Reconstruction Archive for additional information.

A Regular Reader Writes...

With the spot light on Belmont Shelter recently and their plans to demo the Ward House on Coe Place having been de-railed a regular reader - out of state - of FixBuffalo just passed this along, a link to Belmont Shelter's marketing strategy for 30 new "vinyl victorians" here on the City's near East Side along Michigan Avenue. In today's Homefinder.

30 new homes for rent on near East Side

Belmont Shelter Corp. is now actively seeking interested, potential renters for 30 new, near East Side. Nearing completion, the houses are being constructed in an area bounded byJefferson Avenue and Dodge, Ellicott and Northhampton streets.

The neighborhood is conveniently located just minutes from downtown, the Kensington Expressway and public transportation. Twenty-five three bedroom and five four-bedroom models are offered and feature attached garages, maintenance-free exteriors with decorative window shutters, high-efficiency furnaces and electronic security systems.

All of the homes are also fully carpeted and come equipped with appliances, including a full-size range, refrigerator, and washer and dryer....read the rest.

I thanked him and asked him about his interest in Buffalo. He writes...

My interest in Buffalo is that I grew up there and am very interested in Buffalo getting off the mat and back into the fight. Whenmy youngest daughter graduates from high school, I intend to move back. I'm also a subscriber to your "Fix Buffalo" e-mails and have been a subscriber for about 9 months. You commented positively on a post that I wrote several weeks ago about the racism in Buffalo in the 1960's as practiced by my father and his cronies and how this racism and fear, manipulated by real estate agents, led to today's suburbanities mispercptions about the city.
On the article that I linked you to, I think that renting these"vinyl victorians" whether it's strictly rental or rent-to-own is not a strategy that the city should advocate. What happened to the city's idea that homeownership creates pride in what a person lives in thusleading to regular maintence and upkeep that stabilizes neighborhoods, maintains neighborhood housing values and leads to a lower crime rate? I'm also more than irked that the Buffalo News mentions this situation only in its Home Finder supplement after its very recent series on poverty in Buffalo.
Thanks for responding to my e-mail. I appreciate it and, please, continue your good work.

Here's what Belmont's "vinyl victorians" look like. Rocco Termini from down town gated community loft fame is the builder. Yawn... And here's Termini's earliest work in Buffalo. Yuk!