This
neighborhood
matters
Ben Carlson, Director of Urban Design, Goody Clancy
Scale Down & Design For People, With People
CNU 22 | The Resilient Community | Buffalo | June 6, 2014 1
Despite 30%
vacancy?!?
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
1990 2010
Vacant
Occupied - rental
Occupied - ownership
2
Despite 30% vacancy?
3
It’s on Buffalo’s prime University of Buffalo
South Campus
economic growth corridor 10-15 minute
walk from Metro
Rail Stations
Amherst
Street
Station
Fillmore-Leroy
study area
You are here
Downtown and
Waterfront
4
Univ. of Buffalo South
There are 60,000 jobs Campus (1,500 jobs)
Tri-Main Center
(700 jobs)
Sisters of
Charity Hospital
(500 jobs)
Fillmore-
Leroy
Erie Co. Medical
Canisius College Center (2,900 jobs)
(600 jobs)
Buffalo
Niagara
Medical
Campus
(8,500
jobs)
Central
Business
District
(35,000
jobs)
5
There are 60,000 jobs, Univ. of Buffalo South
Campus (1,500 jobs)
9,000+ more coming Tri-Main Center
(700 jobs)
Tri-Main
Center: 150
added jobs Sisters of
Charity Hospital
(500 jobs)
Fillmore-
Leroy
Erie Co. Medical
Canisius College Center (2,900 jobs)
(600 jobs)
Buffalo
Niagara
Medical
Campus
(8,500
jobs)
Central
Buffalo Niagara Business
Medical Campus: District
9,000+ added jobs, (35,000
jobs)
minimal new
parking
6
…but only half as many
housing units: 30,000
existing + 550 pipeline 89 new units
250 new units
31 new units
34 new units
23 new units
7
This neighborhood
matters to Buffalo’s
economy
8
This neighborhood matters to people
with deep roots here
Block club leaders, Aug. 2013 Community meeting, Nov. 2013
Typical neighborhood street 9
…who, with help,
are ready to deal
with challenges
• Access to jobs
• Access to quality education
and job skills training
• Access to child care
• Access to healthy food
• Low incomes: 30% poverty
rate, $25,430 AMI
• Low property values:
$52,900 median
• Absentee landlords
• Drug transactions in vacant
homes
10
It matters to a
developer with deep
local roots
• Funding and personally leading a
community planning effort
• Developing mixed-income workforce
housing
• Long-term ownership/management
11
The neighborhood’s
walkable urban
form can heal a
longtime scar
12
The neighborhood’s
walkable urban
form can heal a
longtime scar
13
Metro station
Former
bowling
• Infill transition
Former Church
bakery
Tri Main
Center
10-minute
walk to
Metro
20-minute
walk to
Metro
14
Metro station
Former
bowling
• Infill transition
Former Church
bakery
Tri Main
Center
10-minute
walk to
Metro
20-minute
walk to
Metro
15
Metro station
Strategic Former
simultaneous bowling
infill at multiple
scales Former
bakery
Church
Tri Main
Center
10-minute
walk to
Metro
20-minute
walk to
Metro
16
Metro station
Strategic Former
simultaneous bowling
infill at multiple
scales Former
bakery
Church
Tri Main
Center
10-minute
walk to
Metro
20-minute
walk to
Metro
17
New investments
in people matter
18
The neighborhood’s own CDC, teamed with a
high-capacity regional partner, can help
properties gain value again
19
New housing choices
matter
20
New plan strategies
• Human scaled design, eyes on the street, sense of place through
architecture
21
New plan strategies
• Invoke Buffalo public realm traditions and how they can be harnessed
for current age (stylized skp model image + photos of nice local
precedent?
22
New plan strategies
• Invoke Buffalo public realm traditions and how they can be harnessed
for current age (stylized skp model image + photos of nice local
precedent?
23
New plan strategies
• Invoke Buffalo public realm traditions and how they can be harnessed
for current age (stylized skp model image + photos of nice local
precedent?
24
New plan strategies
• Invoke Buffalo public realm traditions and how they can be harnessed
for current age (stylized skp model image + photos of nice local
precedent?
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
New community programming will make this
place matter to current and future residents
32
New community programming will make this
place matter to current and future residents
33
New community programming will make this
place matter to current and future residents
• Near-term placemaking and event strategies
34
New community programming will make this
place matter to current and future residents
• Near-term placemaking and event strategies
35
New community programming will make this
place matter to current and future residents
• Near-term placemaking and event strategies
36
This neighborhood matters…
37
…to residents who gain value and options
38
…to youth who gain places to grow
39
…to newcomers seeking homes and jobs
40
…to extended families coming back
41
…to landlords who rediscover enduring value
42
This neighborhood matters…again
43