This week, the effort to revitalize downtown Buffalo gained momentum as the insertion of a new 21-acre park has been added to the agenda of development projects near the Outer Harbor.
The park will have trails, bridges and gazebos. It will provide views of the Buffalo skyline and a portion to be allocated for private development. It is one of the many projects now underway to attract more people to Buffalo's waterfront.
It is common knowledge that Buffalo's economic difficulties have resulted in lackluster infrastructure that has been causing people to turn away from the historic downtown area for decades now.
As young people who will soon be considering whether we want to remain Buffalonians following graduation, we believe there need to be substantial efforts drawing people to a city that looks depleted and depressed.
The main point is that we want to see action, but we also want there to be smart pragmatism. Those who do have the courage to take on the challenges that many have previously failed at need to learn from the mistakes of the past.
One of the main problems whenever someone in Buffalo decides they want to do something about downtown is they don't fix what's wrong with it; they just build new things instead.
The implementation of the subway system to run through Main Street, closing vehicular traffic on that street, has been a proven failure and has damaged many businesses that were located there. It wasn't exactly business savvy to have a retail store or restaurant people can't get to easily except through one form of transportation that people don't like very much anyway.
The city, clearly recognizing this effort as being harmful rather than beneficial, promised to restore vehicular traffic. We are still waiting for that.
Alongside the addition of a new park, commercial construction has begun taking place near the harbor and an important thing to keep in mind is that the financing for it is coming out of private business.
Lucky for everyone, Terry Pegula, owner of the Sabres, beat out Carl Paladino for the development opportunity and is in the midst of building an indoor parking garage, two ice skating rinks, a hotel and a restaurant near the arena.
This is a great start and we're very pleased with Pegula's level of dedication to the city. Though what we also want to stress is this has to be treated as catalyst for further development. It is an opportunity for someone else to pounce on and propel more commercial construction to improve the environment of the city.
The Buffalo harbor is beautiful and has lots of potential. While what Pegula is adding will attract more people there, especially young hockey players with the new ice rinks, the focus should be on how to make sure these types of developments continue. Pegula's contributions should be used as ignition for more.
Retail stores and restaurants and a shopping district near the harbor would be useful for everyone and would make downtown more attractive for young people and those thinking about starting a family.
This should be seen as a realistic hope and expected enterprise.
We want the aspirations to be high, but we also want them to be realistic and effective, so that developers can work step by step to make sure that the efforts downtown are commonsense and concrete.
There needs to be practicality to the approach, as long as the approach consists of action; you can't get much done without it.
Email: editorial@ubspectrum.com
