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Fixing Rental Housing Starts with Tenant Protections | Buffalo in Transition
Sarah Wooton — May 15, 2025
Half of all renter households in the City of Buffalo can’t afford their housing, and 31% spend more than half their income on rent, leaving little for food, transportation, or other basic needs. On top of this, much of Buffalo’s housing stock contains toxic lead paint, with around 400 children poisoned each year. Stronger tenant protections and more stable housing are possible through common-sense steps: passing Good Cause Eviction, fully implementing the City’s Proactive …
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Supporting Low-Income Homeowners | Buffalo in Transition
Anna Falicov — May 15, 2025
About a quarter of all homeowners in the City of Buffalo earn less than $35,000 a year. For many low-income property owners, keeping homes up to code is difficult due to the high cost of repairs. While property taxes in Buffalo are relatively low compared to other New York State communities, many homeowners still struggle to stay current on taxes, user fees, and sewer rent bills. City Hall can take several proactive steps to help low-income homeowners maintain and build equity in their homes. …
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Policy Framework for Vacant Lots Disposition
Vacant Lots Task Force — Nov 29, 2022
Currently, there are about 8,000 publicly-owned vacant lots in the city of Buffalo, and most are located on the East side. Instead of allowing the land to lay neglected–a consequence of this issue’s massive scale and the city’s limited resources– the city could use the vacant land it owns on behalf of the public for more equitable, sustainable and just uses, including for affordable housing, community gardens, passive green space, carbon sequestration, parks and …
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Advancing Racial Equity and Public Health: Smarter Marijuana Laws in Western New York
Andrea Ó Súilleabháin — Nov 14, 2017
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Why Buffalo Needs Inclusionary Zoning; Affordability, Workforce Development, Inclusion, and Quality Housing
Sarah Wooton, Sam Magavern — Jun 2, 2017
Buffalo’s housing market faces four severe challenges: affordability, job access, inclusiveness, and quality. Inclusionary zoning is a proven tool for addressing all four issues. Inclusionary zoning asks that when a developer creates new housing units, it reserve a certain percent for affordable housing. Thus, inclusionary zoning leverages the power of the market to create more high-quality affordable housing units, often near job centers and transit lines, and to make …