Some days I think it's hopeless

A read of the morning paper has me thinking today that we should post signs at all access points into Western New York that read "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."

Consider:

Officials in Orchard Park are balking at plans for an affordable senior housing complex in their town because  -- gasp! -- some of the residents might not be from Orchard Park.

I mean, we can't let the riff-raff in from Hamburg or East Aurora. And perish the thought that some of "those people" might venture out from an inner-ring suburb or -- double gasp!! -- the city.

Town Council Member Nan Ackerman, part of the political crowd that tried to suppress voter turnout in the recent referendum to downsize the board only to complain about low turnout is among the NIMBY crowd. Speaking of the senior complex, she said:

"We were hoping it would be for our own residents and not a lot of other people ... We felt, if we were serving our own people, that was one thing. If we're serving the needs of the greater community, we need to go where those needs are."

Nan, who exactly are "your people"?

Ah, scratch that. I don't think we want to know.

Then we have Erie County Attorney Cheryl Green.

Not content to keep out the U.S. Justice Department as it attempts to scrutinize conditions at the county prison and holding center, she has told the state Commission of Corrections that it can't interview staff or inmates about an escape earlier this month from the holding center unless a county attorney is present or a video camera is rolling.

Speaking from my nearly 30 years of reporting experience, I can tell you that the best way to keep people quiet is by insisting that their boss be entitled to know every word they say. 

Then again, that's probably the point in this matter.

This latest stunt by the Collins administration is part of its MO of ignoring any power or authority that it does not control itself. Be it the county comptroller, the County Legislature, the control board, the Justice Department or the Department of Corrections, Chris Collins and Co. appear to see no authority that it feels obligated to recognize or respect.

Finally, we have yet another mindless pronouncement from one of the guys entrusted to make wise use of public dollars to develop the inner-harbor.

A while back, Jordan Levy, chairman of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., was quoted as justifying the project and its huge public subsidies on the grounds "if you built it, they will come."

Never mind that the development history of this community runs contrary to that. Witness the parking lots that surround HSBC Arena and whatever they're calling Pilot Field.

Now we have Tom Dee, president of the development corporation, declaring: "If you're for Buffalo, you're for this project.

Donn Esmonde takes it from here:

Not really.

There are people who are heart and soul behind Buffalo who have reservations about this project, for good reasons.

We are trying to create a retail-heavy district where none exists. A few blocks away, Main Street is an ode to empty storefronts. Bass Pro ups the long-term ante by requiring four new, nearby parking ramps. It is not clear how much money Bass Pro is putting on the table, or how many millions of taxpayer dollars are needed to bring it. Bass Pro has a heady track record for luring customers. But the more stores it builds … and it has two within a two-hour drive … the less of an attraction each one becomes.

I haven't formed an opinion about the merits of the Bass Pro project. But I've got to cringe when someone in a position of authority wraps himself in the flag, so to speak, and pulls out a set of pompoms when perhaps a calculator might be more in order.

As Donn put it:

There are arguments to be made for and against this thing. But reservations about Bass Pro equals anti-Buffalo? Sorry, that does not play in a town riddled with self-inflicted wounds.

 Indeed. The City of No Illusions needs leaders, not cheerleaders.

 

 

Comments

[Mark]

I have been around boats and fishing for decades, I have deep concerns about the Bass Pro project that has taken years to get going, particularly when the founder of Bass Pro and Bob Rich Jr our friends-they could have had a joint press conference and ended it. It also may not work best in a urban setting, I could see it work better out by Fuhrmann Blvd or Tifft Farm. There are enough anti groups against this, but given the nature of the leadership of this area for the last four decades and its failures, the doomed stadium, the waterpark on the Waterfront-etc, it is natural to be cynical

[MominBuffalo]

We need to make sure that any waterfront development takes the whole region into consideration. Stores, restaurants and hotels in the waterfront development should have a local flavor to attract tourism from outside the region - big box stores will not do that. Parking ramps may accomodate day visitors but boutique hotels will bring in badly needed out of town dollars. And more hospitality industry, low wage - low benefit jobs do not boost the economic vitality of the region. We need living wage jobs, high standards for the shops and stores that are slated for canalside and a mentality that does not bow down to not only Bass Pro but also Benderson. It's a good project - as long as the interest of all of Buffalo is taken into account. To date I am not at all convinced that regional impact is truly being considered, just the pocket lining of more Millionaires.

[pgr88]

Orchard Park Govt is chosen by its citizens to keep the town quiet and safe. They are 100% right to ask about any development there. Sounds like "People Inc." is just another ACORN wannabee, and I'm sure they'll soon start throwing around racist charges if they don't get their way.

[donjoe]

HSBC Arena and Coca Cola Field with their parking lots will still draw more people than any new waterfront development.

[Hodge]

pgr88...how do senior citizens threaten the quality of life in a community?

[donjoe]

Senior citizens from outside the area will threaten the peace and safety of Orchard Park residents? I don't think crime statistics support that assumption.

[Rob]

Do I have a right to demand housing in Beverly Hills or Miami Beach or another extremely expensive locale? Can I just waltz in and demand subsidized housing in Clarence because I am "entitled" to it? No? Then why should the putative residents of this proposed complex?

Look. When I wanted to buy a home recently the bank approved me for a certain amount based on my salary. I had to buy within the confines of that amount. I couldn't demand a 6 bedroom in Clarence because I felt like I deserved it. Same situation applies here. If the folks cannot afford Orchard Park rent they should not be living there.

The residents of Orchard Park and other areas are rightfully concerned about blight and crime moving into their areas. It has happened elsewhere. To subtly accuse them of racism is not right.

[RW]

Big retail stores, like Bass Pro , usually set up shop in areas of significant growth. I am not exactly sure what the point is here on the waterfront. I suppose that is why they secured the government handout. If they want to attract customers, where are people going to park? Attract tourists? I doubt it. The store has to have large consistent sales to make it all worthwhile. For eg:, the Bass Pro north of Toronto is in a high growth area, in a large shopping mall with 6000 parking spaces accessed directly off a major highway across the road from Canada's Wonderland.

[OP Mike]

Obviously, Bass Pro is not an economically viable project. It does not have two capitalists legs to stand on.

One of its legs is a multi-million dollar taxpayer subsidy. Take away the taxpayer subsidized artificial limb and Bass Pro heads out of town faster than a peg-leg pirate sails away from Sir Henry Morgan.

[beastfan]

Whereas in other cities I've traveled to, a company wants to build a store or office and there it is. In Buffalo, you request to build a store or office, then you have the myriad of bureaucratic red-tape that inevitably holds up the project for years so all the special people can get their piece of the action.
That's why we're the way we are. It seems word is getting around to ther businesses. The cheerleaders here always try to put their fantasy spin on how wonderful Buffalo is.
So what are the citizens going to do? Not much, I suppose. Too busy organizing a collection to post billboards calling for the Bills head coach's job. That's more important, obviously.
This city is laughable. What a dump!

[funny white folks talking]

I once heard a very amusing conversation between a white woman and a white lawyer male and where they live and how Orchard Park is primo for priority living.
The male lawyer lived in a surrounding suburb that holds a lower status rating...but it was where he was born and raised.
The woman insisted that Orchard Park was the only place to live in WNY ...so the lawyer threw his finger in her direction as he said...you grew up in Buffalo and now work a blue collar job but bragg about living in the town of $.10 millionares.
$.10 millionares is a joke that OP is just a town of blue collar workers that have multiple blue collar jobs.... to appear like they are wealthy and educated.
OP needs to access their wealth and realize that those desiring to enter their hood...are just retired examples of themselves...so let them in.... you phonies!

[gravedancer]

I've dealt with People Inc and no way can you compare them to ACORN. At least People Inc folks have morals and do thing legally. I wish them success wherever they would like to build. The News on the otherhand; love your implied racism regarding Orchard Park. Question for the News, what ever happened to the "non-hate crime" in South Buffalo? Correct me if I'm wrong but no information from the black community, no arrests by the Buffalo cops, and no investigation by the state or Feds. Guy hangs a noose in Niagara Falls and you all thought the KKK was rising again but a guy gets his head smahed in by "urban youths" and it's just another common day occurance.

[pgr88]

So the claim: "It's for Senior Citizens" - means a town simply should forgo the laws and zoning process???

This was a HIGHLY biased article by the Buffalo News - playing on class and racial stereotypes from the start.

[OP Mike]

The Buffalo News is defiantly anti-suburbs and will do just about anything to publish negative articles about the local towns and villages, especially Orchard Park and Amherst. Even distorting or ignoring the facts.

There are many senior citizen and assisted living facilities in Orchard Park. The newest one, Fox Run, just opened last year! Here is a partial list of what is available to seniors.

Angle Park Senior Apartments
Aurora Cares
Elderwood Senior Care
Father Baker Manor
Fox Run At Orchard Park
Harbor
Orchard Brooke Living Center
Orchard Glen Retirement Community
Orchard Heights
Quakers Landing
Waters of Orchard Park

For a small town with a population of only 27,637 residents, Orchard Park is great place for seniors. The Buffalo News should get all the facts before it starts throwing stones

[Fred]

The city is going to heck in a handbasket. There are no visionaries, only administrators. An example is the just appointed President of Canisius College, whose background is as an attorney. Just what a college has an abundance of and doesn't need. The cost of college tuition rises beyond the value it delivers.
Now the college is saddled both with numerous properties that must be maintained expensively and a president who is clark kent without the superman logo. The slide of Buffalo is inexorable, just looking at the lead story of homes going into foreclosure and reportedly usurious late fees and penalties charged by the water authority.

[beastfan]

I look at it this way. Whatever they do to the harbour is fine. But with the extremely long winters and damp, rainy autumn and spring we have (and the many, many windy days), some people are not going to bother dealing with that just to go down there.

I hear a lot of comaprisons to Baltimore. It will take Buffalo 100 years to get like that harbour...or 247 years with all the bureaucratic BS.

[ruffbuff]

Re: Canal Side Project and Bass Pro.

Projects like Canal Side, with such hefty development subsidies should meet clear requirements regarding sustainable design and green infrastructure, set aside space for local and independent business, job quality and access, and mixed income housing.

Without these requirements, the return on the public's investment will not be realized to its full potential.

Buffalo cannot afford pursuing yet another silver bullet solution to our urban poverty, staggering unemployment, job loss, and general decline in our quality of life.

[Buffalo Libertarian]

OP Mike wrote: "For a small town with a population of only 27,637 residents, Orchard Park is great place for seniors."

So, why the objection to having yet another facility for seniors?

And if people move to Orchard Park from elsewhere, doesn't that mean they become residents of Orchard Park? Or is the article correct in suggesting that certain people in Orchard Park don't want people from elsewhere coming to live in Orchard Park?

If the owners of such facilities pay property taxes, wouldn't it be better for Orchard Park to have yet another property on the tax rolls?

[Buffalo Libertarian]

Rob wrote: "The residents of Orchard Park and other areas are rightfully concerned about blight and crime moving into their areas."

FROM SENIOR CITIZENS?!?!?!?!

Are they afraid a group of 90 year-olds is going to start hanging out on the street corner until all hours of the night? Are they afraid that seniors are going to be blasting whatever it is old people listen to on their car stereos? Are they afraid these old people are just going to let the exterior of the facility where they'll be living get run down (never mind that these kinds of facilities generally have maintenance crews to take care of the grounds)?

Ah, yes, we must be careful about the crime and blight all those senior citizens cause.

[please fire anyone who says "if you build it, they will come"]

"if you built it, they will come"

It's idiotic when anybody seriously uses that line to justify something.

That was just a line in a movie. A fictional movie! In fact, that wasn't even the actual line. It was "If you build it, he will come."

Not plural "they will come". Singular "he will come".

And in the movie, the "he" in question was the ghost of a dead baseball player!

[leon mcbride]

its just wonderful, to all the water front development corp. how much are these people being paid to hood wink us, i hope thier donating thier time for this project so we dont go in the red that much.

[josie]

to OP Mike....GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT! Most of the facilities that you mention...Fox Run, Orchard Heights, Father Baker Manor, Waters of Orchard Park, etc...are NOT low-icome senior housing. They are nursing homes and assisted living facilties. Or they are senior housing for VERY WELL OFF seniors who can afford to live there. What about those seniors who cannot afford to live in one of these luxurious hotels/senior facilities? Before you and all your pompous friends and family moved in, plenty of us of lower income lived in OP and still deserve to. If you don't like it here...LEAVE!!!

[OP Mike]

josie,

My facts are straight, as usual.

I said "There are many senior citizen and assisted living facilities in Orchard Park."

Where is the error in my statement?

You said "Before you and all your pompous friends and family moved in..."

What time-line are you referring to? My family and I , have been residents for more than 30 years.

Were there no "pompous" types in OP before we arrived?

[OP Mike]

Buf lib,

Orchard Park has over 12 senior citizen and assisted living facilities, a large number for a small community.

Using the Kevin Gaughan system of logic, and based on a population that is 10 times greater than OP, the City of Buffalo should have more than 120 senior citizen and assisted living facilities. Does Buffalo have more than 120 senior citizen and assisted living facilities?

Are there not many vacant areas in Buffalo that would benefit from new housing and good, peaceful neighbors?

Frankly, I don't care if they build another senior citizen facility in OP. As long as suitable town land is available.

But, I can't see giving up prime industrial property, which is taxed at a much higher rate, just to build another senior citizen complex. Jobs and an increased revenue stream should be the priority.

The town has done a good job controlling growth and sprawl. Why get out the politically correct barrels of tar and bags of feathers and march on people who are doing exactly what they were elected to do - protecting the interest of the town residents?

[BobbyCat]

I know the feeling. I feel it often. It makes you want to scream, then throw the kids into the station wagon and peel outta here toward Carolina.

DOESN'T ANYBODY DO ANYTHING RIGHT ANYMORE??? Have all the smart people left WNY? The level of leadership - and its a stretch to call it that- is embarassing.

Why in the world would the County Executive try to hinder a State or Federal investigation? If there is a problem in the jails, doesn't he want to know what it is? And if the buck stops at his door, or the Sheriffs', aren't they man enough to accept some degree of blame?

When I think of the most disagreeble town officials I have seen, Nan Ackerman tops my list. It always amazed me that the worst (Ackerman) and the best(Travers Murphy)sit on the same town board.

I believe the best place for Bass Pro is on the waterfront adjacent to the small boat harbor. It would be wonderful to pull into a Bass Pro (or Cabelas) and watch fishermen launch their boats, or arrive to weigh their catch. The small boat harbor has the ambiance needed for sportsment, but the city does not. Bass Pro probably doesn't know this, but a great many residents of WNY would rather get a sharp stick in the eye than set foot in the city of Buffalo.
I'm sure there are multiple reasons. The point is, a Bass Pro situated on the water, SOUTH of downtown IS NOT in downtown.

Has anybody contacted the Cabelas brothers in Sidney Nebraska and asked them why they are NOT interested in a store in Buffalo? Cabelas is the BIG player in sporting goods; Everybody else is minor league. Cabelas build magnificient stores around the country. If not Buffalo, why not??

I'd also like to read interviews from some ex-pats who did get outta town. What is their perspective on Buffalo after having been gone 3 or 4 or 5 years??