New York State's first urban renewal project - Buffalo, NY

The Ellicott District urban renewal project was New York State's first, with demolition of 36 blocks. The demolitions started in 1959 and were completed two years later. 

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I came across the above Sanborn map recently, updated to 1961. The map's label sums up the project: "All buildings on this sheet removed except St. Luke's A.M.E. Zion Church."

Every house, hotel, shop, and factory between Michigan, William, Jefferson, and Swan streets was razed. A few churches and schools were spared. The largely African American Ellicott District was one of the most densely populated and historic neighborhoods in Buffalo, but not any longer.

City planners started the Ellicott District urban renewal project to eradicate its density and mix of uses. They were successful. The neighborhood lost 77% of its population from 1950 to 2010, and few stores remain in business today.

Note - image courtesy of Buffalo & Erie County Public Library.  Please contact B&ECPL for reproduction. 

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Photo of the Day: 52

Wick Street and Brier Street (google map).



In the city's feral neighborhoods some residents are hanging on by their fingernails and miracles.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 51

Peckham Street and Smith Street (google map).



Now Buffalo's urban prairie, this neighborhood lost 85% of its population since 1950.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 50

Masten Avenue and Riley Street (google map).



The dense and compact neighborhoods along Masten Avenue once supported a vibrant commercial and retail economy. Today that's no longer the case.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 49

Walnut Street and William Street (google map).



Storefront churches and other non-traditional structures are widely used for religious services on the city's East Side.  This is where the other half worships.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 48

Walden Avenue and Academy Road (google map).



A number of small businesses have closed on Walden Avenue near the City line.  Boarded buildings and demolitions are a familiar sight.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 47

Broadway Avenue and Milburn Street (google map).



The collapse of commercial and retail activity on Broadway Avenue between Memorial Drive and Bailey Avenue is staggering. In the past two years entire blocks have been demolished. Some residents adapt.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Buffalo's Culture of Demolition: Part I

In Buffalo NY demolition runs deep.  Entire neighborhoods in what could have become historic districts were routinely trucked to the landfill. Urban renewal projects or parking lots. Progress usually means a parking lot.

This morning Buffalo New's reporter Mark Sommer writes...

The 1950 demolition of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Administration Building for a parking lot is widely considered one of the great architectural tragedies of the 20th century. Read the rest...

Meet Buffalo's original demolition man. The New York Times ran a story about Phillip Schwab five years ago.

FEW people outside Buffalo, where he grew up, have ever heard of Philip B. Schwab. That is not by accident. 

Yes, he once operated the largest demolition company in the country, tore down the old Madison Square Garden and gutted the original Yankee Stadium. Yes, he’s like a legend in what he calls “the wrecking business.” 

Smokestack America was rapidly being dismantled. Here, a steel plant in Maryland. There, a brewery in Michigan. Mr. Schwab, who had grown up poor, dropped out of high school. Read the rest...

Tomorrow marks the 8th anniversary of the death of Jane Jacobs. What a wonderful time to get involved and celebrate her life and work. Read Tim Tielman's interview with her after the link. Consider joining The Campaign for Greater Buffalo, the group that is on the front lines and fighting to save the Larkin Power House.

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Photo of the Day: 46

Jefferson Avenue and Landon Street (google map).



Leon and his son build bikes.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Larkin Power House - Demolition or Preservation?

A battle to save the Larkin Power House, 635 Seneca St., may be next on the preservation community's agenda. On the heels of the successful bid to save Trico Plant No. 1, the scuttlebutt now is that the Larkin Co.'s iconic power house is slated for demolition.

                                                                     Saved ! - 7/22/14

I confirmed these rumors on Tuesday afternoon, when contractors who were removing hundreds of bricks from the facade of the building told me that the building would be "imploded in about a month."

Does this mean that plans by Seneca Holdings LLC to reuse the building for loft apartments are off? No demolition permit has been filed, according to the Department of Permit and Inspection Services, but activity at the site does not bode well.

The Larkin Power House is one of Buffalo's industrial icons. It cannot be lost. Stay tuned for details. I suspect this will be the next big fight.

Update - The Campaign for Greater Buffalo is on this and will be submitting a landmark application to the City's Preservation Board, possibly tomorrow. 

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Photo of the Day: 45

Roehrer Avenue and Riley Street (google map).



One block from the Kensington Expressway the urban prairie is expanding, house by house, block by block.  This is neighborhood collapse.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 44

Jefferson Avenue and Riley Street (google map).



Jefferson Avenue's brick vernacular architecture is mostly abandoned, collapsed or demolished. Its replacement is punctuated by bad design, planning and missed opportunity. Hope is not a plan.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 43

Roehrer Avenue and Riley Street (google map).



Neighborhoods near the Kensington Expressway continue to unravel, house by house.  This former densely settled and compact neighborhood is frayed, fragmented and lacks the resources necessary for a vibrant public life.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 42

Landon Street and Roehrer Street (google map).

Neighborhood collapse is a result of the Kensington Expressway Effect. Who would want to sit at a cafe or develop a small business in a neighborhood ripped apart by demolitions left in the Kensington's wake?

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 41

Sidney Street and Lark Street (google map).



The Kensington has only served to erode a formerly compact and densely settled neighborhood. The destruction continues, one block away. First the boards, then the bulldozers.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 40

North Fillmore and Inter Park Avenue (google map).



The Buffalo Foundry and Machine Co., founded in 1902, made steel castings and machinery. The 18-acre complex is located on the Belt Line, is still in use for manufacturing, and was recently declared eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Buffalo's Preservation Ready Survey - Part II

Earlier this week the Brown Administration released a preservation report, Buffalo's Preservation Ready Survey. It was made available in PDF format only. I've mapped the 84 properties in the report that have been determined to be National Register eligible.



I've also compiled the data from the original report and provided an easily searchable and shareable spreadsheet to help better understand the City's efforts. Here's the link.

A more detailed analysis and commentary about this project will be forthcoming.

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Photo of the Day: 39

Humboldt Parkway and Girard Place (google map).



The Kensington Expressway Effect ripples through the neighborhood, the houses fall like dominos. First the corner house then the next one is sent to the landfill.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 38

Carlton Street and Peach Street (google map).



One of the East Side's most notorious zombie properties is located in the Fruit Belt directly across the street from the city's Futures Academy.  On this day the front door was wide open, again.  

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Buffalo's Preservation Ready Survey

Mayor Byron W. Brown today released a Preservation Ready Survey, which reveals properties in downtown Buffalo and along the Belt Line that are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

Why is this important? Tax credits. With recent success stories like the Lafayette Hotel, Apartments at the Hub, and Tishman Building, it is becoming clear that New York State's Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit is getting results.

What's more important is that the Brown administration appears eager to extend these benefits to beyond downtown, into the industrial heartland of the East Side. At Brown's insistence, the historic survey included two industrial loft clusters along the Belt Line, which includes some of Buffalo's best, under-appreciated buildings. Most are vacant, awaiting savvy investors.

The Preservation Ready Survey was completed with an $80,000 grant from SHPO and National Grid. From the looks of the 348-page report (download here), the consultants appear to have been paid by the page. I'll publish a Google map in a few days that makes the report's content accessible to the average person.

Part II

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Photo of the Day: 37

Humboldt Parkway and Sidney Street (google map).



The Kensington Expressway's deleterious effects on the neighborhood are best viewed directly on Humboldt Parkway's sidewalks.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 36

Jefferson Avenue and Carlton Street (google map).



Traffic to and from the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus will become more efficient (i.e., faster) once this new Carlton Street connector to the Kensington Expressway entrance on Jefferson Avenue is completed.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 35

Humboldt Parkway and Girard Place (google map).



The neighborhood continues to absorb the cost of the Kensington Expressway. There have been a number of demolitions along this section in the last few years.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 34

Sycamore Street and Johnson Street (google map).



A former livery with second floor living space serves today as reminder of the neighborhood's former density.  In the past 50 years there's been an 80% population decline.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 33

Roehrer Avenue and Kingsley Street (google map).

The debris has been cleared. What's left behind in the wake of demolition is oceanic emptiness. Disinvestment is directly linked to the development of inner city expressways.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 32

Jefferson Avenue and Landon Street (google map).



In the hot summer afternoon sun this abandoned gas station becomes a favorite neighborhood spot to catch some shade and play dice.  I'm reminded at times of Ed Ruscha's Twentysix Gasoline Stations when I see these former gas stations on the City's East Side streets.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 31

Kingsley Street and Willow Place (google map).



When a neighborhood's houses disappear new pathways between streets appear. Sometimes they start off as footpaths and later become the City's newest mid-block dirt roads, following a course to the next street.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 30

William and Detroit Street (google map).

One of the last remaining retail buildings on this stretch of William Street.  Max Sloan will tell you how every household need could be obtained within a few blocks of here when he was younger.  Sloan's is a holdout on the City's East Side, a real Buffalo treasure that's not to be missed.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 29

Castor Alley (google map).



Once an integral part of Buffalo's fabled industrial dynamo and providing convenient access and delivery to Pratt Street's factories, Castor Alley remains one of the City's few cobblestone lined alleys. Today the city's latest urban farming experiment is set to unfold nearby.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 28

Wasmuth and Genesee Street (google map).



There's an entire flotilla of small boats stranded on the urban prairie.  They serve as markers of neighborhood poverty, dis-investment and institutional neglect.  In two months they'll be forgotten. The tall grass of summer will provide cover for another year.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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Photo of the Day: 27

Jefferson Avenue and Dodge Street (google map).



Jefferson Avenue was a dense residential, retail and commercial corridor on the City's East Side. Nearby, the Buffalo Bisons last played in 1987 at the storied Rockpile Stadium and home to the Buffalo Bills 'till 1972.  Today the ghost signs of Jefferson Avenue still remain.  These signifiers of decline and decay dot the East Side.

Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day. 

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