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News Updates
July 2007: Final report completed
After many years of work, the final report has been approved and printed! Please visit our study docuemnts page to view the final report.
August 2003: Conference Sharpens Focus on Waterfront Action
Buffalo has a shared vision for the future of its waterfront,Mayor Masiello told more than 150 citizens at the Buffalo Waterfront Conference at The Pier in May 2003, and the focus is sharpening on action that will achieve that vision. “We do have a vision,”Masiello said. “It’s a big vision for a big waterfront. It includes many elements. But it boils down to one thing. Working together with common vision, we will take our waterfront back." Rep. Jack Quinn joined the Mayor, congratulating him for taking the lead in managing implementation of an array of key waterfront development projects, including the Southtowns Connector, Erie Canal Harbor, the Union Ship Canal redevelopment, and creation of a new wildlife refuge at Times Beach.
Brian Higgins, who led the effort to create direct public access at “Gallagher Beach” on the Outer Harbor, said the project never would have been possible had not Masiello pledged matching money at a crucial moment. County Executive Joel A. Giambra and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer also addressed the group. Conference participants heard the story of the creation of the Louisville Waterfront Park from David Karem, executive director of the agency that built and manages the park. Part of Karem’s friendly advice to Buffalo waterfront supporters was to “quit whining about what isn’t happening and look around at what a great waterfront you’ve already got.”
The core of the program, however, was in small group discussions aimed at setting general project priorities for future waterfront development.With some projects completed, and others well on the way, it’s time to think about what comes next. Participants zeroed in on the need to elaborate transportation connections to the waterfront, the potential in heritage preservation and development, economic development, and environmental restoration as key priorities.
August 2003: What's Next for the Waterfront Corridor Initiative?
The Waterfront Corridor Initiative has picked up where the waterfront conference left off – working to implement the strong, continuing, shared public vision we have for the Buffalo waterfront. Already the project team has completed a thorough inventory and analysis of 20 years of waterfront planning. This review has produced greater understanding of the citizen values expressed through these plans, a catalogue of projects already completed, and the basis for the project priorities work conducted at the conference. This work has emerged in parallel with work on a new Local Waterfront Revitalization Program for Buffalo (see article on page 2) and on the new Buffalo Comprehensive Plan. Together these will provide a strong framework for putting into action citizen demands for access, environmental quality, and appropriate economic development of our waterfront. A waterfront implementation council will be formed in the near future. This body will comprise leaders of those organizations – public and private – that have the capacity to make priority projects happen. Members will meet regularly and be accountable to the whole council for moving their respective projects forward.
In the coming months, the project team will develop urban design guidelines for four “gateway nodes” to help ensure that clusters of projects come together to have the greatest positive impact possible. As part of that work, the project team will produce two detailed proposals for potential projects to be identified through the planning inventory, public engagement, and study of gateway neighborhoods. The proposals – what highway bureaucrats call Expanded Project Proposals – will become the basis for future waterfront corridor improvements. Work will also begin soon on an update of the International Waterfront Gateway Plan that was first developed in 1997. Likewise, discussions on the concept of an “international zone” for commerce will also begin soon. All of this work – planning inventory, project priorities, urban design guidelines, detailed project proposals, International Waterfront Gateway Plan and international zone work – will be combined in a draft waterfront corridor plan for transportation improvements for release in 2004. The Buffalo Waterfront Corridor Initiative is funded by a grant from the federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century – known as TEA-21.
