Buffalo Rising Online

Bfalling and others...

The numbers are staggering. Spent a few hours on the "urban prairie" Sunday afternoon, mostly in the Fruitbelt. The abandonment, decline and vacancy numbers are hard to grasp even you go out and look - walk or ride a bicycle around the East side and see first hand.

It's my understanding that no one, and no single agency comes close to understanding the full scope of the problem or the actual numbers of abandoned and vacant residential and commercial structures in Buffalo. The 9th floor has one set of data, the 3rd floor another and the Fire Dept a third. It's getting worse, not better.

Michael Gainer and the entire Buffalo ReUse crew deserve everyone's support as they begin to make real sense out of the alternative to hauling "grandma's house" off to a land-fill.

Buffalo Re-Use's first project house is assessed for property taxes at $14,000. I think the City of Buffalo systematically rips people off.

Ive been to these places and they are really great. Every city has them and the stained glass windows, doors, door knobs, lighting, fireplaces, etc all are less expensive than new and have more character. In many cases the good stuff doesnt even get sold in Buffalo or WNY but its bought and shipped to the south or west .... were they command much higher prices than locals are willing to pay....so if your a Buffalonian its worth visiting and investing in something that will keep these treasures as part of Buffalos legacy

Its too bad that Buffalo cannot fix its problems and keep these neighborhoods intact instead of selling them for scrap.

23,000 homes, 100 million dollars, just a drop in the bucket that we all pay for sprawl.

Something to keep in mind SBROF... People left Buffalo because it was a crime-infested shithole for decades. People did not want to live in the city! It wasn't a good place to raise children... the schools were / are substandard and the quality of education sucked. Crime was rampant, and it still is in some of the places where people still live... the quality of life sucked, it would often take days to see side-streets cleared of snow, debris, and garbage... The politicians were / are corrupt and there was nothing that the average citizen could do about it. The suburbs were very attractive to many people who lived in the city, they had new houses, good schools, responsive police departments and representative governments. The neighborhoods included neighbors that you weren't afraid of pissing off. Over time, the jobs followed the people and you get what you have today. The good news is that the city is getting better and people are starting to trickle back in. Don't blame the suburbs or the people for the 23,000 empty homes, blame the CITY OF BUFFALO.

Would you blame South Carolina or North Carolina for the mass exodus of people from Western New York? No? Then don't blame the suburbs for the mass exodus of people from the city.

I would recommend that you anyone interested in this subject read City on the Lake by mark Goldman, or have a conversation with Henry Taylor about the subject. Granted he isn't my favorite professor but to think that these neighborhoods were decrepit crime ridden places 50 years ago is naive. People left as soon as the City was Forced to desegregate their school system. Once whites and black were forced co-mingle America's dirty little secret showed its face. These were healthy thriving neighborhoods, they were full of decent people. By leaving, and taking their jobs and opportunities with them those left behind were left with fewer options. They were not dissuaded from buying a home in the suburbs as a rule of fact for real estate for many years. Red Lining anyone? What is that? Well in the 1960's if you went to a buy a home and talked to a realtor and you were white you were shown houses in area A and if you were black you were shown houses in area B. The GI Bill that allowed for the construction of new home but with little or no help if you wanted to move into an existing home.

Do some research or take some classes at UB about this topic there are plenty but you need to realize that we got to the place we are not because of a long string on Political Policies starting in the 1940's Yes these neighborhoods are crappy and crime ridden now... they were not that way when the first phases of white flight happened. or you can go home and enjoy your cape cod and two car garage and think it is always someone else's problem that we are in the troubled state we find ourselves now.

SBROF - Your reply does include some information; however the flight from the city continues today; long after the "red lining" and blatant housing discrimination that you describe. People were leaving the city for the suburbs in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and in this decade; not because of racism; but because of other socio-political and economic factors that still plague this city. Granted, many of the suburbs are not as racially mixed as the city, and the economic condition in several of the suburbs is better than the East Side, which seems to be the lowest of the low in this area; but to blame urban flight solely on racism in the 50s and 60s is beyond naive.

I would hardly look at Henry Taylor as an objective source in this matter; after all his focus has been the plight and oppression of African Americans in American cities. He is a very astute and knowledgeable professor with an agenda that leads towards the victimization of the African Americans by American culture in the industrial age.

For those who are not familiar with Professor Taylor, here are the titles of his books: African Americans and the Rise of Buffalo’s Post Industrial City; Historical Roots of the Urban Crisis: African Americans in the Industrial City, 1900 –1950; and Race and the City: Work, Community, and Protest in Cincinnati, 1820-1970.

I love how you blame crime and crappy city streets on the "white flight" (a rather ignorant and racist description). The suburbs were populated with people from all races, backgrounds, and religions. They weren't necessarily mixed in as neighbors; but there were people of all sorts who left the city in the 50s - 90s. They still are, you might want to take a stroll into Amherst, Tonawanda, or Cheetowaga, someday to see the racial, religions, and ethnic mix of the residents. The bottom line is that the fact that people left the city, didn't make the remaining residents more prone to crime and the neighborhoods more susceptible to blight. The neighborhoods degraded over time, month by month, year by year, yet the City did nothing to stop it. The politicians have been talking about stabilizing the tax base in the City for over 60 years; they have been talking about factories closing and people leaving for more than 60 years; yet the condition of our city gets worse. It is easier to point the finger and blame the people who left for the "cape cod with a 2 car garage" than it is to look at the residents in the "east side bungalow with no garage", or the "5 family victorian with parking 3 blocks away". It is easier to blame the "white flight" for the problems of the remaining residents (hispanic americans, native americans, african americans, asian americans, and yes, even caucasian americans) than it is to hold the residents of Buffalo accountable for their own situation.

There is a huge difference between the real-world and what you learn in school. I hope you have learned that professors, much like the media, have agendas and bias in their teachings. They are going to tell you their side of the story, that is their job, it is up to you to find the answers and fill in the blanks to paint the whole picture.

Remember: "We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bellyfull of words and do not know a thing. The things taught in schools and colleges are not an education, but the means of education." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Stop blaming and start realizing that the city caused the problems for the city, the suburbs just gave people a means of escaping for a better life. The suburbs offered a better product at a premium that people were willing to pay, and they effectively put the City out of business.

All interesting points, but we digress. As David points out so well, this is a stggering problem. But instead of discussing what or who is to blame, or when it happened, let's get behind this program. We can argue til the cows come home as to what started the problem, but that won't help. Programs like this will.

We won't solve anything by perpetuating the mis-perceptions for the suburbs and the city. This is the time to bring everyone back to the table and treat this as one area. We won't improve the situation in the city by alienating the people who moved to the suburbs, we need to convince them to move back.

I am not convinced that this program will help us to stop the vacancy of houses; however it will improve the chances of fixing an 'at-risk' house for less money than it would cost to buy new materials at Home Depot. This may help to persuade someone who is on the fence about buying a 'fixer-upper' in the city.

Any idea what the charge will be for the salvaged materials? Will there be a website available to see what is being offered for sale?

Last question: Where can I sign-up to volunteer? I would like to help with the recovery.

The suburbs happened for all sorts of reasons. Race is clearly one of them. White flight started in the late 40's and 50's, a time of general economic prosperity when Buffalo was doing just fine. To pretend that these people left because the city was falling apart is disingenuous, because it wasn't.

And I disagree that arguing about it is pointless, since the policies and attitudes that created the suburbs are still in force, and creating healthy cities will be that much harder until they change.

My only fear is that the ReUse concept is misappropriated as an additional reason to demolish good building stock. I praise attempts to salvage building elements in an inevitable (or desirable) demolition, as many but not all of these City-owned demo projects will be, but as praiseworthy as it is, it still represents a saddening facet of urban revitalization efforts in Buffalo, if it even can be called that. Instead of saving useable buildings, the terms of debate have shifted to how to harvest the functioning organs of dead structures about to be hauled away to the cemetary. That has to pain people! Where vibrant neighborhoods once stood, and often still stand, now are places where me might, MIGHT, be able to save bathtubs and door knobs. As great as it is to keep these things, we must aim higher is salvaging the fabric of neighborhoods, not mere structures about to be demolished. I'd hate to think the best we can do with our fading neighborhoods is store away the salvaged 2x4's our immigrant grandfathers used to contruct their homes, and by extension, the story of our city.

"23,000 homes, 100 million dollars, just a drop in the bucket that we all pay for sprawl."

Or, just a drop in the bucket we all pay for an oppressive and corrupt government.

"The politicians were / are corrupt and there was nothing that the average citizen could do about it. "

In free societies governments are corrupt because of the people, not in spite of them.

The salvage concept is not a new one in Buffalo. Back about 7 years ago, Buffalo Architectural Salvage Committee (BASC) was formed by a handful of concerned members of the Allentown Association. The group still exists even though it remains relatively inactive. If you have read my previous comments, you'll understand why. Storage of salvaged items, insurance, and city demands for any money made from the sales were our biggest problems. We have not joined forces with Buffalo Re-Use for two reasons. One is that they plan to dismantle the whole house, structural beams and all. BASC was interested in architectural items only. The other issue is that they plan on having salaried employees. BASC was created as strictly volunteer with no benefits. I run a company that buys architectural parts from dealers, auctions and individuals. I've had to keep our business and BASC efforts separate because of the glaring conflict of interest. Read The Buffalo News article on BASC (Emma Sapong was the writer). BASC members were accused of stealing items from BASC just before our one-day sale. BASC chose not to respond to Ms. Sapong's article; we just considered the source. All in all, in one summer we raised about $5,000, about half of which still sits in a bank account. The other half was spent on a live-tree donation in Soldiers' Circle this past November. BASC has the exclusive right to salvage city of Buffalo-owned properties and spent a considerable amount of time and effort in procuring this right. Recently, I heard that Richard Tobe doesn't even know our contract exists. It just goes to show you how business is run in city hall. That being said, I believe Buffalo Re-Use will fare better in working with individual homeowners who want to save demolition costs and have their properties dismantled for free. There are a lot of such owners out there. Anyone can start an architectural salvage group. The easiest way to circumvent BASC's right to salvage city-owned property is to approach the demolition companies directly. Once they are awarded the bid, the whole structure belongs to them. Good Luck!