The City of Good Neighbors?

Not according to Perrysburg residents. A short history lesson…

At the turn of the 20^th century consumption and other infectious illnesses literally plagued cities. Today we have other plagues. “Vacant Houses” are the single most defining characteristic of the urban landscape today.

Buffalo’s answer was to acquire some land and build a tuberculosis hospital in Perrysburg, NY. During the third annual address to the common council in 1908, Mayor James Noble Adam stated,” "Citizens...have brought to my attention a proposal that there be legislation at Albany and that the city appoint a commission and that a city hospital for consumption (tuberculosis) be built in the hills adjacent to Buffalo.” (Michael Rizzo, 1996)

This coincided with various national campaigns at the time to help rid cities of tuberculosis. The voluntary control movement of TB launched continue reading...

Ok, Jen(nifer) just beat me.....

I was thinking of linking buffalo area bloggers here, I mean on your right. Thinking it would be an excellent idea to have a forum to exchange ideas and thoughts on our shrinking city. Well Jen is off to a good start and I did manage to leave the first comment...

Clicking thru some of the links about Buffalo was cool. I started to think about doing an Urban/Sub-Urban thing and then it occurred to me I should start trolling Technorati for bloggers who just got up and voted with their feet and moved somewhere where it was warmer, where the political cultural is not as in-bred and the tax-burden not so onerous as to choke you. I have a friend in Columbus who pays $47/month, balanced billing, to his electric company. He runs an air conditioner full blast in the summer and heats with it during the winter. If you still love the four seasons think about New Hampshire.

Kevin Gaughan’s website is from Loserville! Totally one-way. It provides no space for dialog, comments or the exchange of ideas and alternatives we are dying for here in the ‘hood. Could have been called “One-Way Buffalo ."

The Elmwood Strip is the epitome of urban hip and social intercourse! Kevin change your site!!! Great book, but your site really sucks. So instead of linking to all the way cool and sometimes static blogs…..go right here to Technorati or over to the right and check out the Technorati search box.

Enter your favorite search words about Buffalo – “Elmwood”, “SpOT”, “Albright-Knox”, “Kevin Gaughan”…..and you’ll see search results for people blogging about Buffalo. Current up-to-the-minute posting.

Meanwhile....Kevin, fix your site!

* New*
4/27/05
Kevin's website still sucks...
see it here...

Additional Demo-prep Two Blocks from City School

76 East Utica, towards Mr. Simmons

The demo contractor, Al Steele, was quick to point out the obvious. The city of Buffalo has take possession of three properties just around the corner. This is an update to Sunday’s post regarding the other derelict property along the primary walking route between Buffalo Traditional High School (Soon to be BAVPA…..developing……) and the Main/Utica Metro Station.

At the city’s auction, last October, no one purchased 76 East Utica, 1464 and 1470 Michigan Avenue. These three building are just a block away from the school. The city had the opportunity to take possession of these properties and much to my chagrin, did so. Perhaps, I’m wrong and I hope that I am yet I always thought that the last owner was responsible for the demolition. I’ll check with Steve Pollowitz for some clarification on this ownership/demo rule. I though it was sort of like that game, “hot potato.” You just don’t want to get caught being continue reading...

50 Otis Place, Gone...Dust...

This morning I was awakened to the sounds of another house demo here in the neighborhood. You’ll recall that 50 Otis Place looked like this in July and had further deteriorated to this condition last Sunday before I started placing pictures on this blog and e-mailing them to the Mayor. Please take a moment to e-mail Lou Petrucci, Chief Building Inspector and thank him for dealing with this very positive solution to the number one problem defining the 21^st century’s urban landscape, vacant Houses. Results in less than 100 hours. Victory in the 'hood!

You will recall on Monday continue reading...

The New 21st Century Urban Phenomenon -
The Vacant House

While enjoying the 60 degree winter night and returning from Elmwood Avenue on my bicycle, I just couldn’t get the whole “vacant house” thing out of my head. Fires, boarded-up houses, shrinking tax base…… I read in this morning’s BN that another crime was committed in an abandoned house where a young woman was dragged and raped. I first wrote about these sorts of crimes here. Perhaps someone should start a blog about “vacant houses” as a central part of the 21^st century urban landscape. Interesting things can be found on Technorati when you look for them. Bruce is blogging from Detroit and has an interesting spin on similar urban phenomena.

And then I started to think just how many houses on my block might be empty and vacant. I counted seven. That’s 50 percent of the houses! I walked around the block and

continue reading...

Righteous Relief, a Six-pack for Jimmy!

I’ve been ranting elsewhere about Ani DiFranco & Scot Fisher and the New Market Tax Credits they are using to help finance the Asbury Church on Delaware Avenue. Seems like they ran into a snag with our less than enlightened leaders downtown. The story first broke in the Buffalo News last week and was continued here in yesterday’s paper.

The tie in to this neighborhood and the possible future success of the row house restoration is simple. BAVPA is supposed to move into the site now occupied by Buffalo Traditional High School. The synergy generated by the proximity and collaborative nature of Apollo, African-American Cultural Center, Artspace and Ani’s Asbury Church…..well I think this neighborhood will once again be on the map. It used to be….Offerman Stadium - where the Bisons played and where Luke Easter loved to hit the ball over the center field fence - once occupied the space where the high school was built in 1963.

Tonight, at the monthly meeting of Partners for a Livable WNY, I sat next to Michael Clarke, Program Director for LISC. His organization is assisting with the sale of Ani & Scot's New Market Tax Credits. When I asked him about the results of today’s vote in the Common Council Meeting, he told me that the Asbury financing proposal was approved, 8-1 with south Buffalo holding out. Looks like Jimmy will be staying home with his six-pack, again.

We also learned in today’s Buffalo News article that Scot installed a geo-exchange unit at Asbury. You can learn more about that technology here and watch a slide show about it’s application in other historic spots and finally see a short movie about this technology, too. And wouldn’t you know, the installation comes with it’s own set of tax credits and incentives!

I’d like to know if more new-builds or renovations are using this technology here in Buffalo. Is it encouraged in urban planning proposals? Should it be required for new public buildings such as the new federal court house?

Make sure to check out these recent articles about Ani & Scott in Forbes, Inc. and Metropolis. Three glimpses into their creativity, hopes and plans for Buffalo. Somebody drop copies off to Jimmy!

Fire in the 'Hood - 1400 Michigan Avenue

Early Saturday morning I noticed the familiar red lights. When I heard the sirens, I looked out my office window and saw flames shooting from a vacant house one block away. The fire destroyed this two-family house at 1400 Michigan Avenue. Neighbors told me a man passed away two summers ago who had lived there from the west-nile virus. I am left wondering how a house in the middle of winter can spontaneously erupt into a ball of flames. No utilities on....Hmmm…

Sunday afternoon I was out for a walk and took these two pictures - front photo and side photo - of what was left of 1400 Michigan Avenue. Not satisfied with the view, I wanted to see the full extent of the damage. I walked thru an empty lot off East Utica. It's next to the Simmons Funeral Home. There I noticed the house at 76 East Utica which has been boarded, derelict and vacant for three years is wide open in the back. Here’s the photo of the front of the house and here’s what the back of the house looks like.

Not good, if you are student walking from the Main/Utica station down Utica and up Michigan Avenue to school at Buffalo Traditional High School, just two blocks away. This is the way most students get to school here in my neighborhood. What about your neighborhood? Send me pics or get me the addresses of boarded, derelict and vacant houses near Buffalo Schools. I’ll ask School Board Member Chris Jacobs to place this student safety issue on the next BOE meeting.

I had an opportunity to have a long talk with my neighbor Charles Simmons about houses and crime in the neighborhood. His funeral business is doing well on East Utica yet he remains very concerned about the safety of people attending services. He is livid with the condition of the property next to his funeral home - 76 East Utica - and according to Mr. Simmons promises by Councilman Antoine Thomspson, Masten Council Member, that the house would be demolished soon, remain just that promises. According to Mr. Simmons, Antoine promised to have the house down, two years ago!

Since Antoine made that promise there have been other fires. This is 50 Otis Place, one short block away from Buffalo Traditional High School. That was July. When I met with Building Inspector Mike Muscarella at the corner of Woodlawn and Otis Place Monday afternoon, I took this picture of 50 Otis Place.

My childhood is full of memories of walking and riding my bike to school. I’m wondering what sort of memories Buffalo Traditional High School students are going to have in 10-15 years of dodging charred vinyl siding and staying alert because they know there could be danger in the these houses that are abandoned, derelict and vacant. Think that these daily images might contribute to a sense of despair here in Loserville? If they are highly motivated learners, do you think they will want to return once they finish college?

Here are a few other examples of houses left to rot along the route most students from Buffalo Traditional take to get to school. The most glaring example of neglect is the city owned property 147-153 Woodlawn, which is diagonally across from the main entrance to Buffalo Traditional. Others include:

• 1407 Michigan Avenue sealed, signs of attempted entry
• 1464 Michigan Avenue rear, wide open
• 1466 Michigan Avenue rear, wide open
• 1470 Michigan Avenue rear, wide open
• 25 Woodlawn Avenue rear, wide open
• 50 Otis Place rear, wide open
• 147-153 Woodlawn Avenue rear windows, wide open
• 198 Glenwood Avenue sealed, signs of attempted entry
• 76 East Utica rear, wide open

There, nine houses wide open. Now, I am not suggesting there are stockpiles of WMD’s in any of these houses. Yet wouldn’t common sense lead one to believe that these houses, in their current condition, pose an “imminent danger” to the students who attend Buffalo Traditional and to the heath and safety of neighborhood residents. The three large houses on Michigan appear to be in structurally sound condition. Based on my experience, with a decent plan, these three houses could be easily renovated and restored as two-family or large single family homes. Just some imagination...demolition is not required!

Housing inspectors have an important job to do, yet I was amazed this afternoon talking with Inspector Mike Muscarella here on the street, he was surprised to learn that there isn’t a file on the 3^rd floor for 56 Otis Place.

I’ll be on the phone with Lou Petrucci in the morning. I'll contact Drew Kelley, head of the PTO at BAVPA, too. And don't forget to send me shots or tip me off about vacant, derelict and boarded houses that are located a few blocks away from a school.

Here’s a late afternoon shot of what’s left of 1400 Michigan Avenue, 36 hours after the devastating fire. Progress!!!

Chief Building Inspector, On the Job

In the past month three houses have been demoed in the 25 block Main/Jefferson – Ferry/Utica neighborhood. Please take a moment and e-mail Lou Petrucci, Chief Building Inspector and thank him for hearing our complaints and helping us with his highly effective results oriented approach to urban problem solving.

All three buildings were in very serious stages of decay and presented obvious health and safety risks to residents and students in this neighborhood. This is not to say that there is a strong case to be made for preserving existing houses that are still in reasonable condition. There are many examples of vacant and preservable houses in this neighborhood. Check back in a few days for information about a few houses that are for sale and with a very modest invesment could be the coolest urban experience ever.

One of my former students was visting her father across the street from 75 Welker for the summer. She remembered an Economics assignment where she investigated records of property ownership here in the city.

You can view pictures of the three buildings that were demoed. The pics are from July 2004.

• 93 East Utica
• 75 Welker
• 103 Welker

Just a short note to Lou Petrucci would go along way in showing him that even people who don’t live in this neighborhood are concerned with the health and safety of the residents and the long term interests of the built environment.

Thank you for your Support

Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with this initiative.

There is background information posted in the archive section of this blog. Some of the first posts deal with the photo documentation of the long slow process of demolition by neglect. Every month since March of 2004 I’ve taken and posted pictures of the Woodlawn Row Houses. I have also included posts that I think draw attention to and support this preservation initiative. The post that describes the recent history of the Woodlawn Row Houses is located here.

I’ve created a petition – Save the Woodlawn Row Houses – and I would very much appreciate your support. You may sign it online and send it to your friends and neighbors. I will present this to Buffalo City Court Judge Henry Nowak in the near future. There is considerable neighborhood support for this building. I have gathered my neighbors signatures on a hard copy of this petition.

If you are an attorney or know an attorney who may be sympathetic and willing to assist in this preservation matter, please contact me.

January 1, 2005

Here's the view from the Masten Avenue entrance to Performing Arts. You'll notice that the site work is just about complete for the new youth center. More about this later in the month.

January 1, 2005

This second floor window shot seems to indicate a moisture problem in the building. Perhaps an interior inspection will suggest otherwise. Just in case perhaps Lou Petrucci could make arrangements with the Mayor's Impact Team for a few 5 gallon buckets!

January 1, 2005

The front steps at 147-153 Woodlawn Avenue. Place your bet, I think I'll be picking up pieces of this of this front porch off the front lawn before the first mowing!

New Home for the Buffalo Academy for Visual & Performing Arts

This is the view, January 1, 2005, from the Woodlawn Row Houses facing the entrance to the newly relocated Buffalo Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts on Masten Avenue. Buffalo Traditional is moving to a recently renovated spot on Northampton Street, the old East High School. The complete(?) story about Buffalo's Joint School Construction Project can be found here, I guess. The new Buffalo Traditional High School, or the old East High School is part of the Phase I of this building project. Phase II and III have some unspecified connection to the Buffalo Fiscal Control Board and the fact that we do not have a Superintendent of Schools.

The Woodlawn Row Houses are one of 13 abandoned, derelict or boarded buildings located within one block of the Buffalo Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts. This is not a unique situation in this neighborhood. There are an additional 70 derelict and vacant buildings in the 25 block neighborhood between Main/Jefferson & Ferry/Utica. Eight of these abandonded, derelict or boarded houses are located along the Michigan & Utica Avenue walking route between Performing Arts and the NFTA stop that many of the students use at Utica & Main. Crime and assault are frequently associated with vacant & boarded houses here on the East side.

While looking for official news of this move, I searched the city’s site and found that only two of the 21 city high school’s have active websites. Four of the high schools had dead aol links on the city’s website. Does anyone downtown monitor the website? If I were moving to Buffalo. If your child attended one of these schools, would you wonder why the school doesn’t have a website, that works? Maybe my expectations are too high.

Finally, I’m sure Principal Kevin Kazmierczak will be interested in the safety of his students and might be helpful in holding the city accountable for this property they own. If anyone knows members of the Parents Group at Buffalo Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts, please let me know.

Update...

...via Buffalo Alerts -- Hank Bromley a BAVPA parent has just informed me that the move might not happen. The move is still a long ways off, and in fact it may never happen. Check this out for the most recent update about the game the might be called "musical chairs!"

In the same e-mail from Hank, I learn that Chris Byrd is head of BAVPA alumni association and Drew Kelley is head of the PTO. Incidentally, Chris runs the phenomenally successful Buffalo inspired site, In Da Buff, Naked Words from the Naked City!

Read all about the Joint Schools Construction Project and the news regarding BAVPA's move, here.

Property Values and Race Riots

The Consequences of the 1960's Race Riots 
Come into View -- Looks Like Buffalo

The structure of a store that burned in the 1968 Detroit riots was standing several decades later. A study says the riots depressed incomes and property values for years.

full text - archived here at Fix Buffalo ArchiveFull story by Virginia Postrel December 30, 2004 NewYorkTimes

Nostalgic pop culture recalls 1969 as the Summer of Love, but it was also the summer race riots burned through Detroit and Newark, to name only the deadliest incidents. Back in the '60s, inner-city property values were the last thing opinion elites were concerned with. But the riots of the 1960s had devastating long-term effects on the most significant assets owned by urban blacks: their homes. Those effects may still exacerbate the so-called wealth gap between blacks and whites. Her latest NYT column looks at research on the 1960s riots' long-term economic impacts. 

If anyone has information about how the riots here in Buffalo, NY have negatively impacted property values on the Eastside, please contact me.

Virginia Postrel writes the "Economic Scene" for the New York Times. Some of her recent work is archived on her blog. The full text of Virginia Postrel's article in the New York Times is available here.

The National Bureau of Economic Research picks up this thread and arrives at these conclusions. 

• The riots had economically significant negative effects on blacks' income and employment. Further, those effects may have been larger in the long run - from 1960 to 1980 - than in the short run - from 1960 to 1970.

• The riots significantly depressed the median value of black-owned property between 1960 and 1970, with little or no rebound in the 1970s.

Make sure to check out this related article in The Wall Street Journal.

The full text of Vanderbilt University economist Dr. Robert Margo's research on race riots and property values is available for your review. His work forms the basis for Virginia Postrel's article which appeared in last week's New York Times.

Finally, it looks like the Houston Chronicle has just picked up Virginia Postrel's article in yesterday's paper. Check it out, "Riot's of the 60's Still Impair Home Values".

40 Miles Away...

...imagine that the tables were turned. Imagine that through some accident of history the City of New York held title to the Outer Harbor and refused to relinquish it unless and until it was developed in an environmentally-friendly manner -- oh, let's say a big park. The economic desperation of Buffalo would mean nothing, of course, because NYC rules.

Can you imagine what David Franczyk (and the environmentalists in Buffalo) would have to say about that?

Free Perrysburg! from Perrysburg Held Hostage - Day 4496

My Current Writing...

• 12/7/05 Perrysburg Still Hostage
  
• 8/18/05 Out of Town...Out of Touch...
• 7/26/05 Driving Perrysburg Crazy
• 7/19/05 40 Miles From Elmwood or 3650 Days to Close the Barn Door
• 7/13/05 Preserver of the Status Quo
• BuffaloPundit's rather awkward response
• Craig Howard's "Perrysburg Held Hostage - Day 4496"
  

• 7/5/05 City of Good Neighbors...Not & Cindy Lauer's letter from Perrysburg
• 6/13/05 An update
• 5/9/05 Another City Park
  
• 3/17/05 Introduction and additional background
• 2/5/05 City of Good Neighbors - Early History of the Site, Part II
• 2/5/05 A New City Park?
• 1/20/05 A Match Made in Perrysburg
• 1/19/05 Killing the Forest to Save a Few Trees
• 1/18/05 Who's Running This Place?
• 1/17/05 One Flew East, One Flew West...
• 1/16/05 Blogging from Perrysburg - Early History of the Site, Part I

Legal documents...

• Motion for Summary Judgement 6/8/05
• filed on behalf of Trathen Land Co., LLC #69906
  
• Supporting Affidavit
• Cindy Lauer, Perryburg Town Budget Manager and former Town Supervisor

Photos of JN Adam site...

• My Pictures 1/05
  
• Additional pictures Courtesy of Craig Clarke 1/05
  
• See my Flickr Slide show 1/05 with some older pics
  

Recent Buffalo News articles and letters...

• Julie Broyle's letter February 15, 2005
• Tom Trathen's response
• BN article February 22, 2005
• Dr. Beahan - Snyder, NY May 5, 2005
• BN article August 11, 2005 "City Gives Up..."

Misc...

• Lexis/Nexis search results

• SpeakUp WNY - Forum Thread - JN Adam & Trathen Deal

• About the Architect John Hopper Coxhead - Designed first buildings
  
• 2001 Masters Thesis, Nancy Mingus
  
• Timeline
• Coxhead in Buffalo
• Early pics JN Adam Hospital & here

• Friends of JN Adam & a petition to save the trees from the diabolical ax wielding Tom Trathen. PLUS new pictures showing very few trees on the site, back in the day.

• 7/8/05 Last Gasp for Hospital, by Elizabeth Benjamin

In upstate New York, the Adirondack town of Saranac Lake is synonymous with tuberculosis treatment. Patients with the disease came to the picturesque waterfront community, where TB research pioneer Edward Livingston Trudeau had his laboratory, to sit on the porches of massive Victorians and take “the rest cure,” a regime based on fresh air and relaxation.

But there were other lesser known TB treatment facilities scattered around the state, including one built outside Buffalo...