Why Study Planning at Buffalo?
Buffalo as a Planning Laboratory
- Buffalo and the Buffalo-Niagara region of Western New York and Southern Ontario offer an exceptional laboratory for learning about and actively participating in a range of planning issues.
- The region, which sits on an international border, is home to large urban centers, varied suburbs, and rural villages. Within Buffalo-Niagara is a rich landscape of architectural and planning treasures, including a park and parkway system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and landmark buildings by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, H.H. Richardson, and Eliel and Eero Saarinen. The region includes vibrant urban neighborhoods, ethnic communities, outstanding theater, arts, sports, and cultural opportunities, a mixture of suburban and rural communities, and extraordinary natural assets, with Niagara Falls and Lake Erie and Lake Ontario nearby.
- The region is addressing a microcosm of substantive planning issues that provide opportunities for internships, client-based projects, and classroom discussions. Current regional conversations focus on brownfield redevelopment, environmental protection, historic and cultural preservation, waterfront planning, regional equity and the distribution of services, inner-city economic development, Native American land rights, casino development, tourism planning, growth management, energy production, and local and regional governance.
