Should the city of Buffalo think smaller?

   While most cities plot a planning and development strategy that promises growth, Youngstown is doing just the opposite.

   The Ohio city is planning to get smaller, not bigger, and do it intelligently.

   A former steel town like Buffalo, Youngstown has adopted a plan that acknowledges its decline and accepts the notion that it will be a smaller but better city.

   What that means on the street is a land use plan that encourages investment in some neighborhoods while discouraging it in others. And with that comes an expectation that some neighborhoods might not be around in 20 or 30 years.

   One of the primary forces behind this strategy, Youngstown Mayor Jay Williams, has been lauded as a courageous politician, an elected official with the moxie to accept and make the best of his city's fate.

   Would Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown be wise to follow Williams' lead? Or is Buffalo right to expect population growth in the years to come?

   - Phil Fairbanks

Comments

[Texas Kid]

Why should the city of Buffalo change anything?? It's been thinking small for the last 40 years. Just keep up the "good work" and you'll just keep getting smaller and smaller. Don't expect a intentional strategy. Buffalo and Erie County will keep its municipal unions happy and content like there are million to serve in the area. With all that government, people should be asking why is Buffalo in the highest 5 in vacant dilapidated housing and the 2nd poorest large city in the U.S. Sounds like this blog has been working for years. Don't expect the unions to cut back. A Democratic mayor would never do it and a Republican in Buffalo is like finding a Jewish person in Iran. The only difference I see in Buffalo and Youngstown is the word "intelligently". This word is never used to describe Buffalo.

[Urban Education PhD Student]

I am currently researching the Youngstown City Schools and the impact of Youngstown's post-industrial decline on the Youngstown City Schools. The 'Youngstown 2010' Master Plan lays out the design for cleaner, greener, and 'smaller' Youngstown (although the 'footprint' of the city will in fact remain unchanged).

While the Youngstown 2010 Master Plan identifies neighborhoods that should be abandoned over time based upon physical and environmental conditions, the Youngstown City Schools have not used the Master Plan to help guide the district through its $180 million dollar facilities renovation project. For example, one school adjacent to a neighborhood identified in the Youngstown 2010 Master Plan for no new resources was renovated at a cost $7.3 million dollars. Another school located within a new HUD Hope IV neighborhood was demolished despite being well-maintained and it's unique art-deco architecture.

The Youngstown Vindicator writes "Early on, consultants recommended establishing a checklist of achievable objectives. They advised appointing a citizens group to monitor and direct progress. To date, none of that has occurred. City leaders have been operating without a specific 2010 budget or road map since the beginning." While there are some obvious benchmarks being met (such as increased demolitions of vacant structures), it's not clear that other parts of the Youngstown Master Plan are progressing forward.

The shrinking of Youngstown 'by design' will be interesting to observe over the next 20 years. In 2010, Youngstown will start to develop a new master plan. While there are similar issues facing both Youngstown and Buffalo, Youngstown is only slightly smaller than Buffalo geographically by 7 square miles but has a dramatically smaller population (82,026 vs. 292,648).

Moreover, Youngstown does not have any of Buffalo's advantages (proximity to Canada, Tor-Buff-Chester megalopolis, wealth of colleges/universities, extensive health care system, etc.). What's going on in Youngstown is interesting, and must be done. Buffalo, as well as all of Buffalo Niagara/WNY, needs leaders that are not bound by the politics of the past to help move it into the 21st century. Youngstown must shrink, as it never adapted as a post-industrial community after the collapse of the steel industry. Buffalo can, but needs leadership to help our region adapt and build upon our existing wealth of resources.

[Rust Belt Catholic]

It's about time that Buffalo realized that the old days are not coming back. The steel mills are not going to reopen, and this city will never reattain its status as the eighth-largest in America. We've been going downhill ever since McKinley took a bullet.

With that in mind, I've been following the Youngstown plan with great interest. How much better off would Buffalo be if we followed some of the same "intelligent shrinkage" principles; moving out the last few residents of streets like Harmonia, rather than plowing city money into maintaining services there?

It would be wonderful if we could afford to bulldoze the thousands of abandoned homes on the East and West sides and replace them with something new, at a price that low-income families could afford. But the city can't do that, and the silly scattershot attempts to do so are ineffective.

Want a good example? Take a ride down Emslie street some time, starting at St. Ann's and driving to the old Simon Pure brewery. There's another style of house every few lots, signs of waves of attempted renewal. And the neighborhood is still almost devoid of life.

This isn't a problem that'll be solved in a year, or five, or even ten. Mayor Brown will no doubt be long gone before we see serious improvement. The question is whether we want a bunch of short-term, feel-good, ultimately ineffective measures (like more and more "shovel-ready" sites, or another three homes built and then torn down on Sycamore) or whether it's time to lay the foundations for a smaller, more vibrant Buffalo in the middle of this century.

[Nothing But The Truth]

I DON'T KNOW HOW BUFFALO COULD THINK ANY SMALLER THAN IT ALREADY DOES. CAN A CITY GET A SECOND LABOTOMY?

[Buffalo resident]

Landbanking is one component of a potential City property management policy. Related changes in land use policy need to follow the loss of residential (or commercial, industrial, etc...) buildings. For instance, if 70% of Ruhland is vacant lots and buildings, and city-owned, should it be completely razed and its blocks' use changed to another - urban forestry perhaps. City water/police/firefighting/garbage services and their costs can be compared to public works/parks costs, and perhaps a Schichtel's Nursery or McKinley High School Forestry program could operate it. Maybe another 3 blocks or 10 should be changed to light commercial - to support the medical corridor based on a number of factors such as location and available technological infrastructure.

These are important and hard decisions to make and need to consider how to handle people / uses that may have been there a long time, and who individually may have put up with incredible conditions and hardships. Their needs must be honored and met if they are displaced.

Those parts of the City not in the throes of the residential abandonment (i.e. most of Black Rock - Riverside) need different strategies - land use change and/or land banking could apply mostly in the public housing, industrial and commercial sectors - and perhaps as importantly what to do about the devolving commercial strips like W. Hertel, Tonawanda, Ontario and the old brownfield/industrial sites at Hertel/Military, Chandler, Crowley/Isabelle, behind Riverside High School, the railroad tracks, and the Tonawanda/Ambassador Bridge properties.

We need our citizens and administration to work on this regardless of politics. The problems dwarf any individual and will continue well past anybodys term in office.

[urban explorer]

As a former Buffalonian living in Rochester, I can attest to Rochester's different attitude and caliber of leadership. Rochester was never a "first tier city" like Buffalo (8th largest in the nation and all that...), so the psyche of the city is not as damaged. I.e. Rochester hasn't fallen as far. So I think that helps.

Also, one can't avoid the issue of enlightened, intelligent leadership (Youngstown is a great example). Buffalo gets what it deserves because it keeps electing do-nothing buffoons. Mayor Brown must be smoking something great if he thinks Buffalo's population is ready for a turnaround. What fantasy is this based on? The population of the city has shrunk for 40 some years now.

Oh, repeating "Tor-buff-chester" over and over does not make it so. There is precious little actual evidence that such a megalopolis exists. Wishing it did doesn't change that.

[Dave]

I've been saying to anyone that would listen.....why not make Buffalo nice for the people who are already here. We didn't leave. Let's stop worrying about attracting more people, they're not coming. Let's keep the one's we have. We need to stop trying to be a "Great First Tier City". Why can't we be a great third tier city? What's wrong with that? We'll never be where we once were. Get over it...move on. We're not a convention town. We're not a major market. We're not a lot of things. But what we are is a great little city that can really be something if we stop chasing this pipe dream. Make it nice for me and all the others that have stayed.

[Not the same]

Comparing Buffalo to Youngstown is silly. The reason is the commitments Buffalo has. Like it or not, the PAYROLL of the CoB is equal to a 1st tier city. The amount of people on the gov nipple is equal to a 1st tier city. Shrinking will not work unless EVERYTHING shrinks.

So I would love to see a plan where the size of the public sector and the size of the public handouts can shrink as well. Unless these happen, there is no chance of shrinking the footprint working.

All that will happen is even more money going out and even less money coming in.

[Urban Education PhD Student]

Regarding the concept of Tor-Buff-Chester/the Golden Horseshoe... you may be interested in some of the recent research done by the UB Regional Institute located online at [http://regional-institute.buffalo.edu/Includes/UserDownloads/RegionsEdge_6_07.pdf].

We need leadership in our community to tap into the growing Southern Ontario economy and, as a region, re-orient our community perspective and look to connect into Southern Ontario's growth.

It's true, Buffalo will never be what it once was. However, given all of our existing assets and our proximity to Toronto, it's time we think more 'regionally' and less 'provincially.' As residents of Buffalo Niagara, we control our destiny. Youngstown for 30 years (since the shut down of Youngstown Sheet and Tube, LTV Steel, Republic Steel, US Steel, Sharon Steel, etc.) did nothing and the Mahoning and Shenango Valleys (the Youngstown MSA) hemorrhaged people. If no action was taken, the U.S. Census Bureau projected that Youngstown would have a population of 53,000 by 2030. Youngstown had to act for self-survival.

The Youngstown 2010 Master Plan was the 1st Master Plan developed by the City of Youngstown in collaboration with Youngstown State University since 1974. What Youngstown is doing must be done for the survival of the city. At least we have conversations related to becoming an integrated part of the Golden Horseshoe, but we need leadership in the community to help make that happen. Youngstown, only 1 hour from Pittsburgh, 1 hour from Cleveland, and 45 minutes from Akron, is not thinking about its role in the regional economy, and that has been a major criticism of the Youngstown 2010 Master Plan among the business community.

[Smitch83]

So how is Youngstown, a city almost 1/4 our size, similar to Buffalo? Aside from our manufacturing past, there are few similarities. Nothing against Youngstown- the evolving by shrinking philosophy may be their best bet to survive, but Buffalo is in the midst of an unforeseen renaissance. People are finally moving into the city. More shops are beginning to open downtown. This is hardly the time to halt progress and proclaim that the objective has changed: we are downsizing.

[urban explorer]

Smitch83, you assume a false dichotomy: that urban revitalization and shrinking intelligently are mutually exclusive. Quite the contrary: dealing with Buffalo's long and continued population decline will make those relatively few vibrant parts of the city (downtown, Elmwood, Hertel etc.) that much stronger and more vibrant.

Urban Education Phd: thank you, yes, I'm familiar with the Regional Institute's work on this subject. But I find a lot of their research anecdotal and/or a meaningless curiousity. To wit: does a 90% increase in Ontario country club memberships by WNY residents mean anything at all? What if it went from 100 members to 190 members when the regional population is 9.7 million? Furthermore, of that 9.7 million, only 1.1 million are US. So clearly, it's an unequal partnership with Canada in the driver's seat. Most of the purported economic growth of "Tor-buff-chester" (god I hate that name) is really growth in Southern Ontario. You can't live in a shack next to a mansion and claim the neighborhood's great because the average house value is high.

[Lydia Bezou-Hojnacki]

Yes, Buffalo must be smaller and wiser than in the past. Give us an Olmsted vision of parks winding through every neighborhood and the industrial/commercial sectors grouped for the least possible encroachment through residential areas: eliminate truck traffic through parkland and Olmsted System streets;
landscape industrial areas (UPS is a great example); create parks and cooperative vegetable farms on vacant land; strengthen our ASSETS-- higher ed, boating, and medical care., as well as light industrial or greenhouse farming.

[Urban Education PhD Student]

To make any type of direct comparison between Youngstown and Buffalo is a significant fallacy. Given the wealth of resources Buffalo has that Youngstown does not (multiple colleges/universities, quality healthcare providers, the Medical Campus, historic architecture, the Olmstead-designed park system, the increasing role in banking and finance operations, location as an international port-of-entry, etc.) we do need to do things differently as a community through planning and design to control our destiny. I would not make any direct comparisons between Youngstown and Buffalo. However, I would be interested in seeing what other cities with populations between 250,000 - 300,000 are doing to plan for their futures.

[urban explorer]

I respectfully disgree. Buffalo is a former industrial city in the Great Lakes/Upper Midwest that has lost half its population, so is Youngstown. There is much to learn from their approach.

Much like Buffalo, their economy is also turning to medical and professional services, they also have historic parks (perhaps not Olmsted, but most people couldn't tell/don't care) and cultural resources, and they also have colleges and universities.

Frankly, I think Buffalo and Youngstown are more similar than different. It really doesn't matter than Youngstown went from 160,000 to 80,000 and Buffalo went from 580,000 to 290,000... the pattern and reason behind it are the same.

[Don H]

Except for retirement communities, population flows to where ready employment is available. Population has been steadily leaking out of both Erie County and Buffalo. That will not change until or unless increased job availability reverses that trend.

[Texas Longhorn]

Having moved from Buffalo to Fort Worth, Texas last Thanksgiving and just having revisited two weeks ago. I was appalled in seeing Buffalo feeling, looking and acting so depressed.

Now I realize how fortunate I was to move away. At least in Texas, the Men are Real Men not the metrosexual sissy boys that are nurtered up in NYS with its liberalized attitude. In Texas, women are real women. Very beautiful!

[Texas Longhorn]

Hey Rust Belt Catholic... Bethlehem Steel gave Spitzer a handshake agreement with a nod they will be reoping their facilities in Deadawanna. This was just after Bass Pro gave their handshake too!

[Texas Kid]

If downsizing is the next step according to some of you, how do you think the municipal and county workforces are going to react. Will you need the same number of public servants that you have now that were calculated on Buffalo having a population of 600,000+. You can downsize, don't expect the unions and teachers to follow suit. Those remaining will be taxed even more, driving out more productive folks. You think any Buffalo politician has the you know what to deal with that...get real! Good thing Buffalo people were not at the Alamo or running the Revolutionary War. We'd be singing "Oye Como Va" all the time in the Lone Star State and you'd be singing "God Save the Queen" in Buffalo. Good Luck for you that are staying, looks like your on the SS Titanic's sister ship the SS Buffalo.

[BS]

It never fails to amaze me how our so-called “leaders” in Buffalo (BNP; BNE add your own alphabet soup here) constantly look to Ontario and the “Golden Horseshoe” for salvation – especially with the increasing difficulties of crossing our once ‘friendly’ border.

The problem is not getting into Canada – rather it’s coming back into the U.S.

Ever since President Bush created the Homeland Security Department our customs Agents treat everyone as the next terrorist suspect, creating long lines and major backups - if one doesn’t know when to cross the border. Does anyone really think this is conducive to expanded relations with an international border in-between?

It also makes me wonder why we haven’t looked just 56 miles down the Thruway and tried to forge a “working relationship” with the City of Rochester. Consider the following:

o The city of Rochester is similar in size to Buffalo and is experiencing the same problems with loss of manufacturing and other mature industries.
o Rochester has Olmsted Parks and Buffalo/Niagara has Olmsted parks.
o Rochester has the Underground Railroad and Buffalo/Niagara has Underground Railroad.
o Rochester has the Strong Museum – Buffalo has the Albright –Knox Art Gallery
o Metro Rochester has at least 15 major institutions of higher learning, including RIT and the University of Rochester – while Buffalo/Niagara has at least 14 major institutions of higher learning, including UB, Niagara U, Canisius, Medaille and Daemen and D’Youville colleges – I’ll bet there are at least 150,000 students in this region that is anchored by Buffalo – Niagara Falls – and – Rochester any given year.
o Oh, and by the way, there is one more thing we all have in common - we all have one of the Wonders of the World in our collective back yard – THE MIGHTY NIAGARA FALLS

Although it may be hard to believe, there are thousands of people around the world who want to come here and see Niagara Falls once in their life – and they don’t care whether they fly into the Buffalo-Niagara Airport, the Rochester International Airport or take a charter flight directly to Niagara Falls. For that reason alone we should look at working with each other by developing a transportation system that would move people in between the three cities with ease (high speed train is one option)

Improved transportation/access to the three cities will enhance the overall tourist experience and, just maybe, the visitors may want to stay a while instead of coming here in the morning, taking a drive to the Falls and going back to where they came from on the last flight out of town!

I believe once we develop this GOLDEN TRIANGLE we can then look in the direction of the Golden Horseshoe on the other side of the border. But you need leaders with a vision to make that happen, something that’s sorely missing here.

[OP Mike]

Talk about the mythical Golden Horseshoe has been going on twice as long as talk about building the new World-Class Signature Peace Bridge. All this blue sky chattering has it's place, but a few well thought out action plans to rebuild the decaying housing stock is what Buffalo needs, immediately.

The City of Buffalo is sitting on total fund balance to just over $117 million, with $76 million free from any financial commitments or restrictions, according to a report issued by Deloitte & Touche LLP, this past January.

This is more than enough money to build approximately 400 to 500 new one-family homes!

The Mayor and the City Council should stop fiddling around while the city continues to rot and burn to the ground. Stop fantasizing about golden horseshoes and a new golden age with a city population exceeding 500,000 people. The Mayor and the Council need to roll up their sleeves, get up off their collective fat butts, put some shovels in the ground and start rebuilding the city, right now, today. Make a plan and just do it!

[Hi from Sunny FLA.]

We need places like Buffalo and Youngstown so that when we displace the lazy and unemployed from our revitalized communities here in Florida, they will have a place to go. I moved away from Buffalo to get away from the trash do us all a favor and keep it up there. Better yet bury it in the Love Canal.

[Urban Education PhD Student]

I respectfully disagree. Youngstown has one college - Youngstown State University. The Mahoning Valley is the only metropolitan area in the state of Ohio without a community college, and YSU and the Ohio Board of Regents are at odds as to who should manage a new community college, which would have a direct impact on YSU (as YSU offers 20+ associate degree programs). Kent State has 2 branch campuses at the extreme northern and southern end of the Youngstown MSA, but enrollment at both branch campuses is rather small.

One of the major health care providers - Forum Health - has been on the verge of bankruptcy for the past 2+ years. Forum closed the only children's hospital in the Youngstown MSA (Akron Children's now has a satellite campus in the Mahoning Valley). The future of Forum's Northside Hospital is still in question.

Yes, Youngstown has Mill Creek Park - a true gem and part of the city's legacy. It's important to note, however, that Mill Creek Metroparks receives a tax subsidy from Mahoning County (this was approved by voters about 15+ years ago). Without that support, Mill Creek Park's future was very much in doubt.

Both communities have similar issues. However, Buffalo is in stronger position to redefine itself than Youngstown. Youngstown must shrink back from a city designed for 225,000 residents to a community with 80,000 residents. Buffalo could use some of the practices Youngstown is implementing. However, Buffalo has strengths that Youngstown never will. Buffalo still has control over its future in ways Youngstown does not. We need citizens and leaders to step up and move our region forward.

[urban explorer]

Ok, Urban Education PHD student, you've convinced me. Well done :)

OP Mike, the last thing Buffalo needs is 400-500 new homes. We have too many homes right now. We need to rehab some and demo a lot and "right size" for a city of 280,000 (my guess for the 2010 census numbers).

Texas Kid, yes, that's the point of downsizing. Recognizing reality, which, unfortunately, public sector unions have not done. Less homes/streets/pipes/schools etc. mean fewer people (police officers, firefighters, dpw workers, teachers, etc.) needed to maintain all that.

[Al]

Let the discussion continue. There are points to take into account, however the Compass pointing the direction of WNY is missing. The local dislocations in the career, business, and economy are severe. There are far too many being compensated for either too little or the wrong things. And there are too many with innovation and creativity being too little compensated and basically shouldered out. This is called incentivization. Things go on and develop, but from a planning standpoint it is helter-skelter and subject to the bugaboo, politics. That leaves the future of WNY as a poor gamble and high risk. Any rationale can see a drain of younger and more able from a community getting older, grayer, and even more political. The media must be bold and go to new names and figures of a younger generation for ideas.
The frozen-in-time statues that run WNY are simply not icons. They are statues.

[Urban Education PhD Student]

I think that some of the ideas presented are interesting. I like the idea on the Golden Triangle. Seems doable. Perhaps first the golden triangle, then something bigger. We need our elected officials to step up and be change agents. All of us care about the future of Buffalo, so we too should get involved where we can. Our leaders do need to get to work. The efforts of Flint and Rochester could be replicated in Buffalo (if our elected leaders had the political will to change from the status quo). We do need to get rid of the surplus housing stock we have now and seize the property and begin to land bank. We need to reduce the layers of government in place for a region of our size. A smaller common council, a smaller county legislature, etc. The status quo, as I think many of us would agree, cannot continue into the future. I think Buffalo can be a great community of 275,000 - 300,000 residents. Our leaders need to act. The time is now.