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Using Publicly-Owned Vacant Land to Advance Sustainability and Equity in Buffalo, New York
Sam Magavern — Feb 24, 2023
The City of Buffalo owns roughly 8,000 vacant lots. Over 3,000 acres of land, these vacant parcels are largely the result of historic discriminatory land policies, which encouraged white flight and left thousands of empty homes vulnerable to demolition. When the dust settled, the City found itself with thousands of vacant lots, many of which it has not sufficiently maintained ever since. Examples from Buffalo and around the nation prove, however, that vacant urban land can be repurposed for …
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Manufactured Housing: An Affordable Housing Opportunity for Post Industrial Cities
Grace Celik, Erin Engle, Libertad Figuerero, Samuel Gallivan, Nicole Hill, David Kelly, Melanie Monroy, Rakshanda Nagaraj, Brennon Thompson, Angelina White, Joshua Wilcox, Ernest Sternberg, Sydney Alford — May 19, 2020
"This report was prepared by graduate students in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo, as the assignment in "practicum" (sometimes called studio) course required for the Master of Urban Planning degree. Professor Ernest Sternberg was our instructor. "
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Photobank: Housing and Neighborhoods - Greater East Side Fields of Dreams Block Club - Pt I
Buffalo Commons Photobank — Jan 14, 2020
Guidelines for using photos from the Buffalo Commons Photobank The Buffalo Commons Photobank is an issue-based Photobank for use by our partners and the general public. The purpose of making these photos publicly available is to enhance the work of the social sector in Buffalo-Niagara. We believe that our partners’ work will be more effective when it features high-quality and artistic images for any number of occasions: an event, a fundraiser, a report, etc.
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Photobank: Housing and Neighborhoods - Greater East Side Fields of Dreams Block Club - Pt II
Buffalo Commons Photobank — Jan 14, 2020
Guidelines for using photos from the Buffalo Commons Photobank The Buffalo Commons Photobank is an issue-based Photobank for use by our partners and the general public. The purpose of making these photos publicly available is to enhance the work of the social sector in Buffalo-Niagara. We believe that our partners’ work will be more effective when it features high-quality and artistic images for any number of occasions: an event, a fundraiser, a report, etc.
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Erie County Housing Resource Directory
Erie County Department of Health — Jan 1, 2020
A guide for solving housing related problems in Erie County.
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The Eastside-Airport Metro Rail Extension
Citizens for Regional Transit — Aug 23, 2019
This policy brief provides information regarding the expansion of NFTA metro-rail services in east-side Buffalo to the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
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PUSH Buffalo's Green Development Zone: a Model for New Economy Community Development
Sam Magavern, Skye Hart — Jun 29, 2017
2008 marks the year that PUSH Buffalo founded the Green Development Zone in Buffalo’s West Side. Encompassing 25 square blocks, the Green Development Zone (GDZ) is an area that PUSH is making more environmentally and economically sustainable. PUSH stands for People United for Sustainable Housing, and it is a non-profit corporation that uses a unique combination of community organizing, policy advocacy, and neighborhood redevelopment.
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Fruit Belt Neighborhood Asset Inventory
Sara Alpert — Oct 27, 2016
The Fruit Belt is bordered by North Street on the north, Jefferson Street on the east, the Kensington Expressway on the south, and Michigan Street on the west. The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) lies directly west of the Fruit Belt, across Michigan Street. Historically, the neighborhood was much larger, encompassing the area where the BNMC is now located, and stretching from Main Street in the West to Best Street in the north, and Genesee Street in the east. However, …
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A Plan that Bears Fruit: A Community Land Trust and Other Tools For Neighborhood Revitalization in the Fruit Belt
Fidèle Menavanza Jun 22, 2016
On December 1, 2015, the City of Buffalo’s Common Council passed a resolution placing a moratorium on the sale of city-owned lots in the Fruit Belt neighborhood. The Fruit Belt includes the area enclosed by Cherry Street, Jefferson Avenue, Best Street, Main Street, Goodell Street, and Michigan Avenue – a neighborhood where the City of Buffalo owns over 200 vacant lots. The City promised not to sell lots to developers until “a duly approved strategic plan” had …
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Buffalo's Proposed Unified Development Ordinance
Jessie Fisher — Mar 1, 2016
For the first time since 1954, the City of Buffalo New York is undertaking a comprehensive review and complete overhaul of its zoning code, the result of which has been popularly dubbed “the Green Code.” The City, particularly Mayor Brown and the leadership and staff at the Office of Strategic Planning are to be commended for undertaking this important task. While there are many positive aspects of this effort, some changes are needed in order to ensure that the final …
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Rebuilding our Neighborhoods: Improving New York State Housing Policy to Better Meet Upstate Needs
Sam Magavern, Aaron Bartley, Daniel Kelly, Anthony Armstrong — Aug 1, 2013
New York faces a wide variety of housing challenges. While in the New York City region, where the population is growing, availability and affordability are the most pressing concerns, upstate regions have a different set of problems stemming from population loss, housing vacancy, abandonment, and deterioration. To address the full range of issues, state housing policy needs a variety of tools in its tool box. This policy brief discusses four ways that state housing policy can …
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The Buffalo Urban Development Corporation
Heather Anderson — Jun 9, 2010
The non-profit corporation is run by a Board of Directors, which consists of the members of the Corporation. The By-laws of the BUDC set forth how the members/directors are to be selected. Although the Officers may have salaries, at this time, none of the Officers are compensated for their services. The By-laws provide that there are to be eighteen members/directors of the corporation, and that the members/directors are to be elected or appointed.
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The Black Rock Vacancy Initiative: An Analysis of Results and Obstacles
David Panepinto — Nov 23, 2009
This study focuses on the seventy-seven properties that were targeted by the Black Rock Vacancy Initiative. First, forty-nine (49) of those properties were successfully resolved through the Initiative, including properties that were either resolved through Housing Court or by the City. Second, fourteen (14) properties were not resolved through the Initiative at all. This group includes active Housing Court cases, properties that Housing Court has lost jurisdiction over, and …
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A User's Guide to Bringing a Private Nuisance Action
Ryan Parisi — Nov 20, 2009
The first element of private nuisance is an “interference substantial in nature.” This leads to the question: what is substantial? Whether interference is substantial depends largely on the facts and circumstances of each individual case. The determination of substantiality is generally a question of fact for a jury as opposed to a question of law for the judge to decide. Substantiality, involves a review of the totality of the circumstances based on a balancing of …
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Are YOU Registered? An Analysis of Buffalo's Rental Registry Code
Alexa Rissoff — Nov 19, 2009
Buffalo’s Dwelling Unit Registration code was passed in 2004 and became effective in 2005. The City of Buffalo had previously enacted a Multiple Dwelling Unit Registration law, which required owners of multiple dwelling units (three or more units) to register their property and obtain a certificate of occupancy, but the City did not have any required registration for single and double residential dwellings. The purpose of the Rental Registry code is to create a database that …
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Buffalo's Demolition Strategy
Sarah Lyons — Jan 1, 2009
Buffalo, New York is one of many U.S. cities that experienced an extreme decline in population since the mid-twentieth century. Migration out of the city has been crippling, the population declining by nearly 50 percent from 1950 to 2000. Many people left the city for the surrounding suburbs, an area that experienced a 50 percent increase in population over this same period. Now, Buffalo faces the challenge of an outdated infrastructure that is much too large for its 21st Century …
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Artspace Buffalo: Buffalo Artists Residence & Gallery
Gary Phillips — Nov 20, 2008
Located at 1219 Main Street in Buffalo, New York, Artspace Buffalo provides affordable housing and work space for artists and their families, and commercial space for arts organizations and arts-related businesses. Even though the project is relatively new, American Style Magazine, in its April 2008 issue, named Buffalo the top "Arts Destination for Mid-Sized Cities." Among the attractions and facilities that the magazine noted was Artspace Buffalo, which it said added to the city's …
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The Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency
Karen Andolina-Scott — Nov 16, 2008
BURA was created under New York State’s General Municipal Law Article 15-B §639. This statute directly states who should compose the board of BURA. It states that BURA shall be composed of the mayor of the city of Buffalo and eight other members including Buffalo’s president of the common council, chairman of the urban renewal committee of the common council, minority leader of the common council, corporation counsel, commissioner of urban renewal, commissioner of …
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Catholic Church Closings
Karen Andolina-Scott — Nov 7, 2008
The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo was established on April 23, 1847. It serves the following counties in New York State: Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans, Chautauqua, Wyoming, Cattaraugus and Allegany. The Diocese covers 6,455 square miles and has a Catholic population of 702,884. In June 2005, Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, the bishop of Buffalo, initiated a “parish-based strategic plan and spiritual revitalization initiative” called “Journey in Faith and …
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City of Buffalo 2008-2009 Budgets and Four Year Plans
Sam Magavern — Mar 7, 2008
I am writing on behalf of the Partnership for the Public Good (PPG) to comment on the City of Buffalo’s 08-09 Action Plan Recommendation. PPG is a new collaboration promoting a revitalized, sustainable Buffalo through research and advocacy. Our 2008 Platform has been endorsed by over 30 organizations, including Belmont Shelter, Catholic Charities, Community Action, Cornell University ILR School, PUSH Buffalo, the Homeless Alliance of Western New York, and the Center for Urban …
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An Integrated Approach to Fighting Blight and Poverty in Buffalo's Low-Income Neighborhoods
Partnership for the Public Good — Dec 31, 2007
Recently released Census data confirms the City of Buffalo is now among the very poorest and most blighted large cities in the United States. The report pegs Buffalo’s poverty rate at 29.9%, ranking second behind only Detroit. This news was released within days of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown’s announcement of his “5 in 5” Demolition Plan. This plan sets a goal of demolishing 5,000 houses in five years, on the road to stabilizing Buffalo’s vacancy …
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Blueprint Buffalo
Joseph Schilling, Lisa Schamess, Jonathan Logan — Dec 31, 2007
Regional strategies and local tools for reclaiming vacant properties in the city and suburbs of Buffalo.
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Solutions for a Better Quality of Life: A Guide to Solving Neighborhood Issues
Center for Urban Studies, UB, Antoine Thompson May 1, 2004
There are several things you must understand in utilizing this document for concerns in your neighborhood. First, it is meant to be an ever-changing document, reflecting today's problems and remedies. Services change from time to time, and what worked to solve a problem last year may not work now. Also, problems are solved differently district by district - the appropriate resource to contact in University Heights may not work in Hamlin Park, and vice-versa. In order to …
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Vacant Land, Buildings and Facilities Asset Management Project
Rolf Pendall, Matthew Drennan, Susan Christopherson Jan 1, 2004
The purpose of the Vacant Land, Buildings and Facilities Asset Management Project (Project) is to develop recommendations for the sustainable, economical and productive conservation, development and management of vacant land, buildings and facilities throughout the City of Buffalo. The Vacant Land, Buildings and Facilities report is a product of an effort designed to provide an overview of an array of related subjects and issues deemed important by Project participants. The results …