Urban and Regional Planning Graduate Experience Video
- Student 1 (in car)
- This is one of the reasons why we have difficulty accessing the site, because of this big concrete barrier on the left hand side. Route 33 can’t exit to where we’re going right now.
- Student 2 (in car):
- Six buildings, seven stories. Vacant since the eighties.
- Student 3:
- This is the complex of buildings. This site would be leveled completely and rebuilt.
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- Student giving presentation:
- East Buffalo is a very underserved place. And there is a lack of large scale retail in the city of Buffalo. This opportunity that we have here today brings jobs and improves shopping for all those residents, and as a long term it could bring some more residential development.
- Community member:
- A couple things, there are still some strong neighborhoods in that area, are we talking imminent domain? And I didn’t see anything on cost at all.
- Community member:
- The big box people are looking at communities to enter into. They’re not looking at communities that are losing population and are declining in terms of income.
- Community member:
- Also too, take into consideration that the numbers in the area may not be the numbers.
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- Community member:
- I sort of represent more along the private sector. Who’s going to pay for it, and who’s going to benefit from it?
- Student giving presentation:
- We’d like to welcome you, on behalf of the University at Buffalo, and the Urban and Regional Planning Departments. We want to move this community to the next stage, and that is redevelopment with retail.
- Student giving presentation:
- It would generate activity in an area that has long been abandoned. Buffalo alone had a three hundred million dollar retail gap, meaning that people from the city do not have shopping opportunities available to them.
- Professor:
- Lastly, I just wanted to, to congratulate you on, I think, a job well done, hopefully our friends in city hall will take this and continue to push forward.
- Community member:
- Ah, because I think that even though you may think you’re students, just students doing something, I think you’ve done a tremendous job in bringing attention to the development opportunities of one of the key parcels in the city of Buffalo.