fixBuffalo

4/23/2010

Wilson Street (farm) House - $1

Over on Wilson Street, the urban agricultural movement in Buffalo, NY is beginning to blossom and the Stevens family is at the leading edge of this development at the Wilson Street Urban Farm. What better place to set-up of your own urban homestead?

396 Wilson Street (google map) showed up in the City's real estate catalog recently. It's a five bedroom single-family house. There's no basement, the interior has been trashed. The structure sits straight, it's stable and there's no interior water damage - the roof looks good. Basic rehab - your own labor - would probably run between 20-30k. It's a simple cottage. The real good news is that if you're interested the City of Buffalo will sell 396 Wilson Street for $1.

Your neighbors - the Stevens Family, the community they're building and the City's Common Council President lives less than 100' away on Fillmore Avenue. If you're interested and start the acquisition process soon, you could be all settled in by the Harvest Moon.

John Hannon, Director of Real Estate, is waiting to hear from you. The City's Division of Real Estate can be reached at (716) 851-5261.

Wilson Street Urban Farm (4/08/09)
Buffalo's Urban Farms - 1893 (4/29/09)
Farm Report - Breaking Ground (5/18/09)
Wilson Street Farm - Hoop House & Update (11/19/09)

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Buffalo, NY - The (new) Green Zone

Imagine a city - walkable and dense where the principles of good urban design are embodied and historic structures are re-purposed and not demolished - a place where we work and live. With the complete over-haul of the City's zoning code in the cross-hairs of Mayor Byron Brown's second term, that reality, took a giant leap forward yesterday with the Mayor's announcement of "Buffalo Green Code".

Mayor Byron Brown, Brendan MeHaffy and Howard Zemsky

At the center of this is Mayor Byron Brown's totally genius decision and recent appointment of Brendan Mehaffey as the Executive Director of the City of Buffalo’s Office of Strategic Planning. Brendan will be leading the zoning code re-write along with renowned Chicago planning firm, Camiros, which is partnering with Boston-based Goody Clancy. Here's a link (mp3 after the jump) to a short podcast of yesterday's events.

Local form-based code advocate Chuck Banas has created an authoritative resource to help us understand the new code's guiding principles. His project was completed with support from the New Millennium Group and the Western New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

The event took place on Earth Day in the Hydraulics, the site of the City's first industrial neighborhood. The Hydraulics is home to developer Howard Zemsky's new transformative vision - Larkin Development. Learn more about this neighborhood at The Hydraulics Press, a Buffalo based blog.

Here's the podcast.

Buffalo Rising covered the story - here.

Update - 4/25/10

Press conference video, here - courtesy of WNYmedia.net
Business First covered the story - here.
WBFO has this story.

Update - 4/4/12

Public Meeting 4/10/12 and download A New Zoning Direction for Buffalo: Technical Report

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Vacant/Undeliverable - 2010

Anthony Armstrong over at LISC-Buffalo has been keeping track of Buffalo's decline, forever. He passed along the following wiki - Buffalo Vacancy - where he's been keeping track of the Buffalo data compiled by HUD and the United States Postal Service. Some staggering numbers. Click, download and take a look at the spread sheets Anthony has compiled and see for yourself.

On a related note - Laura Underhill, a grad student in Landscape Architecture at North Carolina State, has been looking at a similar data set. Here - as part of a finals project - she's provided the following short flash video involving vacant land in this Cold Springs neighborhood (Main/33 - Ferry/Dodge).

By this time next year the results of the 2010 Census will be available. Enter your best guess of where Buffalo will end up in the comments section, if you want.

Update 5/9/10 - Part II

Getting Smarter about Decline (11/16/06)
Undeliverable..."No one home"...? (5/17/07
Undeliberable or Unbelievable (10/24/07)
Undeliverable and Unbelievable - Unstoppable? (6/26/08)

4/22/2010

94 Northampton - New lease on life

Late this afternoon Commissioner Jim Comerford from the City of Buffalo Department of Permits & Inspections informed me that 94 Northampton has been removed from the City's demolition list. John Hannon, the City's Director of Real Estate, informed me he's requested the Common Council add 94 Northampton to the list of City-owned property that is "homestead eligible." This means that 94 Northampton will be available - to a qualified buyer - for $1.

94 Northampton Street - c. 1906

Ellicott District Councilman Curtis Haynes will be working along side Tim Tielman and the Campaign for Greater Buffalo, neighbors and other interested individuals and groups to find a buyer for this historic and architecturally significant Midtown Buffalo residence.

Good news.

4/19/2010

204 High Street - Still City-owned

City-owned 204 High Street is still available (bing map). It's located directly across the street from the new Kaleida/UB complex.

John Hannon, Director of Real Estate, is waiting to hear from you. The City's Division of Real Estate can be reached at (716) 851-5261.

One Block from the Medical Corridor (9/24/06)
204 High Street slide show

Mapping Buffalo - the (new) Erie County GIS

While doing property research today, I stumbled upon the newly revised Erie County GIS system. It's now streamlined and user friendly and a welcome addition to understanding Buffalo's built environment. An on-line tutorial will walk you through some of the more advanced functions. The site works very well for mapping the rest of the county, in case you didn't know.

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94 Northampton - Plundered

Salvage crews from Buffalo ReUse were gutting City-owned 94 Northampton Street late last week (bing map). The City recently awarded a $20,900 contract for the demolition of this amazing Midtown residence to a local demolition contractor.

94 Northampton Street

The stewardship of 94 Northampton has been systematically mis-managed. It was flipped to MBBA - see Artvoice editor Geoff Kelly's MBBA analysis (2006) - and unceremoniously given back to the City. Inexplicably, the Preservation Board signed off on this demolition in 2006.

Across the street three houses have been completely rehabbed. Anchored by Artspace and the Packard the neighborhood is no longer on life support. In 2007 the Landmark Society began advocating for the preservation of 94 Northampton. Located in the Artspace impact area this house was widely seen as a strategic save, a significant residence that was going to be part of this neighborhood's long term success.

This house is located at 82 Northampton, right across the street.

There are dozens of well-maintained houses in the neighborhood. All of these houses can be found within a block of 94 Northampton. By any measure the collection of 19th century architecture in this neighborhood would qualify as an historic district. This was the first house in the neighborhood to sell after Artspace announced plans in early 2006 to locate here.

click image to enlarge

Neighbors say Buffalo ReUse left behind this mess along the curb after ransacking the historic 94 Northampton of salvageable materials.

So, where's the plan? This is one of the East Side's most significant residential streets. There's a systematic failure here. Once 94 Northampton is demolished, it's gone forever.

340 Genesee Street - collapses, in silence

Genesee Street and emergency demolitions go hand in hand. 340 Genesee (bing map) is collapsing and only a stiff wind is standing in the way of another example of Buffalo's amazing vernacular commercial architecture from heading to the landfill.

340 Genesee Street - front

The roof collapsed into the building recently and crashed through to the first floor. Students from the two neighborhood charter schools were walking by the other day and were unaware of the building's condition.

340 Genesee Street - rear

Fifty years ago - before the Kensington was built - the neighbor was dense and vibrant. Historic Aerials has the neighborhood from back in the day, here. Click on 'compare', select the year and slide the map tool over the area.

340 Genesee on the right - 333 Genesee in the middle

The same corporation that owns 340 Genesee Street (Cherry-Hickory Inc.) owns 333 Genesee - another building with a big fat hole in the roof - according to the image generated from that same bing map link.

4/13/2010

House in downtown Buffalo - $1

A Civil War-era cottage in downtown Buffalo is now available for purchase. The asking price? $1. The cottage at 41 Milnor (google map) is an eight-minute walk to Lafayette Square and is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, providing significant tax benefits for a new owner.

41 Milnor Street

Over 700 new loft units have been built in downtown Buffalo recently - see Buffalo Rising post - and the availability of this historic Italianate cottage for $1 is proof that it is still possible to find real values in the downtown housing market.

41 and 39 Milnor Street

There are two brick cottages that remain on Milnor Street. The City took possession of both cottages in 2007. Today the neighborhood is thinned out and a comparison - 1959 v 2006 - from Historic Aerials reveals the former density of the cottage community on Milnor. 39 Milnor - the white cottage - is in rough shape. 41 Milnor needs a lot of work, but it is a straightforward rehab. The cottage has a lot of integrity.

John Hannon, Director of Real Estate, is waiting to hear from you. The City's Division of Real Estate can be reached at (716) 851-5261.

from the City's catalog - .pdf available after the link

If you don't save 41 Milnor Street, who will?

Additional images: Milnor Street slide show

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3/30/2010

The Schoellkopf Power House - A New Lease

The Schoellkopf Power House, erected in 1917 by the John P. Cowper Company and put into operation in 1918, is now scheduled for conversion and will be used as a rail museum.

A recent view of the Schoellkopf Power House from the end of Prenatt Street looking east across the tracks.

The industrial colossus located along the Buffalo River and home to Hanna Furnace, Republic Steel, the grain trade, National Aniline/Buffalo Color and countless other supporting service and manufacturing firms is now erie, quiet. The scape - looking in all directions - from the DL&W trestle and tracks (in the middle of the photograph) near the micro park at the end of Smith Street - is moving, especially in the context of what remains. Here's an aerial view, c. 1950.

The Schoellkopf Power House is located in the upper left hand corner of the photograph. Two map images - here and here - depict a dense industrial landscape off Lee Street.

Power houses around the world have been converted to other uses. The Tate Modern in London and The Power Plant in Toronto come to mind. The reuse of the Schoellkopf Power House comes on the successful conversion of other former industrial spaces in Buffalo - The Packard, designed by Albert Kahn and Artspace- along Main Street.

Robert Baptista has compiled an extensive history of this country's aniline dye industry. Here's the Buffalo section, tracing the origins from Jacob Schoellkopf in 1879 to Buffalo Color's plant closing in 2002. Buffalo News reporter Mark Sommer has the announcement and additional details in today's front page story about the new rail museum - here.

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3/04/2010

Bury this Big Mistake - Fixing the Kensington Part II

This week's Artvoice cover story - Bury this Big Mistake - is required reading for City residents, ex-pats and policy makers.

From Geoff Kelly's cover story:

The $45 million Kensington Expressway tore up Frederick Law Olmsted’s tree-lined Humboldt Parkway, claimed hundreds of homes in previously stable neighborhoods, ripped a trench in the ground that separated the city from itself, and diverted automobile traffic from the East Side’s once-thriving business strips to a limited-access expressway that shuttled commuters from downtown Buffalo to the northern suburbs in about 10 minutes on a clear day.

Making the city a backyard to its suburbs. Depressing property values. Starving small businesses on Jefferson and Fillmore of customers and abetting the evisceration of those business districts. Subjecting two generations of residents surrounding the expressway to air and noise pollution. Job well done. read the rest...

Last week's post - Fixing the Kensington - Part I - contains background material and the N ew Millennium Group's position paper on the current status of the feasibility study. The City's Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Board has issued the following statement (.pdf) regarding the same Kensington study.

Additional pics submitted to Artvoice are available in this photo series - Kensingon File.

Richard Tobe - Fixing the Kensingston Part VI (5/15/10)
Stephanie Barber - Fixing the Kensington Part V (5/13/10)
Terry Robinson - Fixing the Kensington Part IV (5/6/10)
The Boulevard Option - Fixing the Kensington Part III (5/5/10)
Fixing the Kensington - Part I (2/23/10)
fixBuffalo Kensington photos

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Please note - In the interest of full disclosure, Masten District Council Member Demone Smith has nominated me and I have accepted a position to serve on the City's Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Board.

3/02/2010

Demolished Memories

Jeff Simon refers to Buffalo's urban prairie for the first time in today's Buffalo News.

more Urban Prairie pics

From Jeff Simon:

“The Urban Prairie.” It’s a phrase I’d never heard before. A friend told me that it came from an urbanist she knows as we drove through Buffalo’s East Side on the way back from dinner. I was looking for vestiges of well-remembered landmarks…or at least their sites. So many were gone, replaced by huge, empty, snow-covered plains between buildings that really DID look like some sort of urban prairies. read the rest...

One of the most amazing reads about what has vanished on the City's East Side was written by New York Times writer Verlyn Klinkenborg - The Last Fine Time (1990). Here's that post from 2007 along with a map from back in the day and a current pic of what remains on Buffalo's ever increasingly larger urban prairie. The book's setting, Sycamore Street.

2/27/2010

Two to Save

On Friday afternoon the Preservation League of New York State placed two significant East Side properties on the Seven to Save list of endangered places - 169 East Ferry and the Willert/AD Price Courts. Here's the League's press release.

169 East Ferry - additional views

169 East Ferry is home to Harris Hardware, Buffalo's oldest black hardware store. Located one block from the recently renovated Performing Arts High School this magnificent building is locally owned by Glenn Banks (see above pic stream). The structure is an important landmark along a street that has seen dozens of mixed-use commercial buildings demolished over the years. It's directly across from this abandoned City-owned building.

Willert/AD Price Courts - additional views

The Willert/AD Price Courts were placed on the local radar a year ago via a series of Buffalo Rising posts - here and here - about the threatened sculptural elements at the Courts. These sculptures adorn a uniquely Modernist complex that is home to the first housing project in New York State designed exclusively for African American families.

Western New York Heritage magazine carried this article last Spring about the artists - Robert Cronbach and Harold Ambellan - and the significance of their work. Two of the most compelling Cronbach pieces, flanking the main entrance doors - here - depict an escaped and returning slave.

Buffalo News reporter Mark Sommer wrote this article about yesterday's announcement by the Preservation League.

2/23/2010

Fixing the Kensington

The City's Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Board has issued the following statement (.pdf) regarding the Kensington feasibility study that's about to be funded.

New York State Senator Antoine Thompson is driving the study and the emerging conversation currently does not include a third option. The two options being studied involve capping the Kensington. The first includes a raised cap and the second involves blasting through 4' of rock, lowering the expressway and installing a cap at grade. Both options involve capping an approximately one mile stretch of the Kensington from East Ferry to Best Street.

There's a third option, the boulevard option. From the Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Board:

NYS DOT should consider a 3rd (Boulevard) option within the feasibility study to determine what the benefits or consequences of an at-grade, eight lane blvd. would provide for the surrounding community and its associated costs compared to the other options. (see attached information on the Boulevard Option provided by the New Millennium Group)

Here's the podcast from the January 4th meeting where a representative from the New York State Dept of Transportation presented the first two options currently being studied. The New Millennium Group has provided an information sheet about the boulevard option.

There's a precedent for removing highways. Here's a lesson from San Francisco.

Let Antoine know what you think: 716-854-8705. Antoine's also on Facebook - here.

Related posts.

Richard Tobe - Fixing the Kensingston Part VI (5/15/10)
Stephanie Barber - Fixing the Kensington Part V (5/13/10)
Terry Robinson - Fixing the Kensington Part IV (5/6/10)
The Boulevard Option - Fixing the Kensington Part III (5/5/10)
Bury this Big Mistake - Fixing the Kensington Part II (3/4/10)
Fixing the Kensington - Part I (2/23/10)
fixBuffalo Kensington photos

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2/18/2010

The Plundering of Buffalo...

The latest issue of Artvoice has this piece - Continental Drift: Is the Church Going South on Buffalo? - by Bruce Fisher. This is about the future of St. Gerard's and some of the broader cultural issues in play surrounding the plundering of Buffalo, NY.

Bruce writes:

Is there a compelling public interest in preserving the artifacts and sacred sites of an ancient civilization?

The United Nations answers that question with an emphatic yes. So does the United States when it comes to national treasures. And even if we don’t have a Japanese-style “irreplaceable cultural masters” program to support living folk artists, we do have aggressive enforcement of the National Historic Preservation Act and five or six laws focused on Native American religious issues, especially graves and sacred sites. The United Nations designates and supports world heritage sites, a majority of which are religious—cathedrals, monasteries, temples, even whole communities shaped by old beliefs.

So it would seem that official respect for religious expression, especially in visual and plastic arts and architecture, is pretty well established policy. Tourists aren’t allowed to take a chunk of the Parthenon home with them anymore, unlike Lord Elgin...read the rest.

Here's the additional background, with extensive commentary, from a USA Today article regarding the plan to demolish, move and rebuild St. Gerard's near Atlanta, GA. Two months ago Preservation Buffalo Niagara placed their imprimatur on the plan with this statement about the move to Georgia.

Consider joining the Campaign for Greater Buffalo and support the landmarking of the City's architectural treasures, before they disappear.

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