Origins of an Idea

Rethinking the Niagara Frontier was not the brainchild of a single person, but the result of a coming together of thinking and working across a range of topics and sites.  Part of the immediate inspiration came from work engaged by the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, including the International Brownfields Exchange (IBE) they sponsored in the Fall of 1999.   Meanwhile, faculty and students at The Urban Design Project of the University at Buffalo, working in support of the IBE, focused a studio investigation on the idea of a “A City in the Park” from lake to lake along the Niagara River.

More broadly, however, the forum-- indeed the entire movement-- can be seen as the result of the convergence of broader efforts.  These include investments in Niagara Parks Commission venues; economic development planning by NET Corp. in Ontario; new investments in visitor facilities in Niagara Falls, Ontario; redevelopment planning in downtown Niagara Falls, NY; cultural tourism marketing work undertaken through a committee combining Buffalo-Niagara area arts organizations and the hospitality industry; redevelopment of Niagara Falls International Airport; continuing development of the Buffalo Riverwalk; and even such far-flung efforts as the South Buffalo Redevelopment Plan.

Taken all together, this work suggested that the time was ripe to expand our thinking about the potential of this region defined by the Niagara River and to engage issues of economic development, community improvement, and environmental repair and protection as part of a larger interrelated process.

This phase of the work began in December 1999 with a meeting at the University of Buffalo to discuss the possibilities for a symposium on “a Park of the 21st Century.”  As the conversation continued, however, it emerged that the notion of a park might be too limiting, even mis-leading, about the shape of the idea.

By the close of a subsequent meeting in Fort Erie in February, the concept had broadened considerably.  Interest in the transformation of brownfields, and in the idea of the “City in the Park” as the core of a heritage tourism strategy remained.  Concerns about trade and transportation and the development of knowledge-based industries were also incorporated.

It might be possible, it seemed, to imagine the region and rethink its future in relation to national and global trends and the local intergration of economic, environmental, and community interests.

Under the leadership of the Urban Design Project and the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, and with financial support from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, Environment Canada, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Niagara Parks Commission, a broader table of stakeholders was set and the discussion continued.

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