NYT on Buffalo's Vacant Houses

[ShonTron]

NYT: Vacant Houses, Scourge of a Beaten-Down Buffalo

By KEN BELSON
Published: September 13, 2007
BUFFALO — In this city beaten down by decades of factory closings and residential exodus, the razing of thousands of vacant houses is being touted as a sign of progress.

Gangs, squatters and teenagers have been burning down hundreds of houses a year, straining the meager resources of the Police and Fire Departments. Some of the properties have been turned into crack dens and places to stash guns and drugs. A few have been booby-trapped or had their floors ripped out by scavengers looking for pipes they can sell to metal dealers.

The burned-out and boarded-up buildings, which are visible on nearly every street in east Buffalo, have deterred even the most pioneering investors from moving in.

So Mayor Byron W. Brown recently unveiled a $100 million five-year plan to rip down 5,000 houses, about half of all the vacant houses in the city, which ranks second only to St. Louis in the percentage of vacant properties per capita nationwide.

The best way to save Buffalo, he reasons, is to mow down the buildings on these properties — starting with the ones deemed the worst fire hazards or those near schools — and encourage church groups, entrepreneurs and neighbors to build homes in their place.

“We have a real sense of urgency,†said the mayor, who was elected in November 2005 but has grappled with vacant houses as a city councilman and a state senator. “If we do not address the decline in these neighborhoods, we will see more people losing hope and faith in the city’s ability to fix the problem, and more people leaving.â€

Full article (let me know if you can't access it, it's a long article with graphs and pics).

 

[billy corgan]

Sad to see a city with so much architectural beauty facing such financial hardships. Hopefully nothing of architectural value will be lost in the demolitions.

 

[Edward]

which ranks second only to St. Louis in the percentage of vacant properties per capita nationwide.

I would have thought Detroit would be up there. But then maybe vacant properties means empty houses rather than empty lots.

 

[ShonTron]

The graphic in the article itself lists it as follows:

St. Louis MO
Buffalo NY
Baltimore MD
Gary IN
Philadelphia PA
Pittsburgh PA
New Orleans LA
Dayton OH
Savannah GA
Kansas City, Kansas

I thought Detroit and Flint would be up there, but they aren't. I guess it must refer to vacant buildings, not lots. Detroit has miles of urban prairie.

Buffalo's problem areas are very specific to the east side (following Broadway, William or Genesee Avenues), while the north side (following Delaware or Elmwood) is a very different story.

 

[Long Island Mike]

East Buffalo's abandoned neighborhoods...

ST and all: I read and have the NYT article myself - It is a crying shame that those city neighborhoods would be reduced to what they are today-nothing compared to the lively neighborhoods they once were. When even low income blacks abandon a neighborhood things must be quite bad. What gets me is that it got this bad in the firstplace-years of white flight and middle class-of all races-abandonment of entire sections of these cities have resulted in what certain listed cities see today.
I believe revitalizing cities like Buffalo is key to the economies of entire metro areas-affluent suburbs depend on their city as the heart of their regions.
Here is a link to an architectural web page-St.Louis was listed as the #1 city for abandoned areas: WWW.BUILTSTLOUIS.NET/ and look especially at the sections on the North Side and East St.Louis as well as a recent problem: Brick Rustlers-literally stealing bricks from run down and abandoned buildings and salvaging them for new construction. I wonder if Buffalo has any problems like that-but being mostly a non-brick/stone house city maybe not.
I cannot help but bring up the Upstate VS. Downstate NYS divide again - I feel that this large a problem would not have occurred Downstate. I would not mind knowing if there are similar problems in other Upstate NY cities like Rochester. You know the problems are serious if outside investment of any type is not happening! In closing I ask: What will it take to make these neighborhoods livable again? LI MIKE

 

[Edward Skira]

What will it take to make these neighborhoods livable again? LI MIKE

Buffalo (and surrounding areas) need the economy to start growing again so that the population will actually increase. Otherwise who needs to buy there?

 

[adma]

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/160213.html

Ani DiFranco’s The Church has become Babeville
The new name was her original choice for site
By Mark SommerNEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 09/11/07 11:52 AM


The Church is now Babeville. That’s the new name Ani DiFranco has bestowed on the 19th-century Gothic church at the corner of 341 Delaware Ave. and Tupper Street, where she performs publicly for the first time tonight.

DiFranco reopened the building in January after she and her manager, Scot Fisher, saved it from the wrecking ball and, with the city’s help, poured $10 million into its renovation.

“I like that it’s got kind of a humorously antiquated vibe to it,†DiFranco said of the new name in a statement. “Like Storyville or Pleasantville, all the Whos down in Whoville, and that it connotes a village, which is appropriate for a facility that houses a diverse but interrelated arts community.â€

Today and Wednesday’s sold-out concerts take place in Asbury Hall, the former sanctuary. Di- Franco said she had originally wanted to name the building Babeville but backed off, allowing it to be known as The Church.

The building is home to DiFranco’s music label, Righteous Babe Records, and Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center.

Tonight’s concert will also debut a new state-of-the-art sound system that Fisher said increases the likelihood of more scheduled concerts in the future.

msommer@buffnews.com

 

[Long Island Mike]

Buffalo: Can it be revitalized?

Everyone: I checked on a Buffalo street map I have the locations of the streets and neighborhoods written about-especially those pictured-and I was shocked to find out where those streets were: The neighborhood just W of Buffalo Central Terminal and just mere blocks from the Broadway Market. I am a little familiar with that area because of trips I made to BUF between 1979-1985 over time. Back then that area was a working class predominately Polish-American neighborhood-perhaps a little maligned but somewhat stable. When I read the article I was figuring that those abandoned neighborhoods would be W of Fillmore-which was the racial dividing line of sorts back then. How wrong I was! On a 1998 trip I made to BUF I stopped with a friend to look at Central Terminal-and noticed that the neighborhood had become predominately Black-something I did not expect. I wonder if the neighborhood problems will hamper the effort to restore Central Terminal and bring some investment from outside there.
On the Upstate/Downstate comment I made I wish to add that NYC has had problems with neighborhoods literally being abandoned-with the best example being the South Bronx in the late 70s. What has helped NYC is the high appreciation of real estate in NYC since those bottom out days in the late 70s that spurred redevelopment in marginal areas. Buffalo's problem: As said elsewhere: It's The Economy,Stupid!!! BUF needs good jobs and investment in the city-as an example Free Trade with Canada has helped certain areas in the Buffalo vicinity but it has not helped poor city neighborhoods that really could benefit but have not-and may never.
I give Ani DeFranco credit-she put her money-as a somewhat known musician she could afford to live anywhere she likes-but she cares about her hometown enough to restore the church mentioned in the BUF News article. One of Buffalo's problems is that there are not enough people willing to step up to the plate and stop this vicious cycle-I feel that WNY's economy does depend on a stable Buffalo to lead the way.
Comments and thoughts by LI MIKE