Saturday, October 4, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Transit North Update
This is an update to a previous post.
Transit North, the collaborative effort of the City of Lockport, Town of Lockport and the Town of Pendleton to transform the stretch of Transit Road from Tonawanda Creek to the Erie Canal, has released a comprehensive website detailing their project.
Concept Rendering. TransitNorth.com
What I found to be most interesting is the 14-page Design Guidelines document. It seems that some communities in Western New York can come together, decide what they want and create a path to achievement. Are you paying attention Buffalo?
Build-out to the street with parking in the rear.
Comprehensive landscaping.
Pedestrian friendly environments.
I will surely be following this closely and will be very interested to see how this progresses. Will the stringent guidelines hinder development? Or will the destination nature of this plan act as a catalyst to bring in businesses looking to get their seat at the table. Time will tell.
Spend a few minutes checking out the website.
Transit North Historic Canalway Corridor
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Hello Buffalo!
Meet Buffalo's newest resident.... 
Name: Clearwater's Tequila Moonlite (aka Lucy!)
Born in Ohio: March 3, 2008
Welcomed to Buffalo: April 26, 2008
Consuming my every waking hour: Currently
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
When the dust settles...
Friday, March 21, 2008
Yes, We're Open
"Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle."
- Abraham Lincoln
There is no better time than now.
This city should be doing everything in it's power to voice to the nation that we are ready to welcome all who desire a new... affordable... place to call home.
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It's OK if you left for a promise of higher paying jobs and warmer weather. If you're a former Buffalonian... we're waiting with open arms. We don't blame you for leaving. It's OK.
Never been to Buffalo? It's OK. Let me tell you a little about our fair city.
We have great weather... believe it or not. Our summers are some of the best in the Northeast.
Don't believe me... well believe the facts. The snow is not really that bad. Besides... we don't require you to purchase snow insurance.
We have lots of homes ready and waiting... on the cheap too! Buffalo has one of the lowest median home prices, for a metropolitan area, in the county. If you're coming to visit, check out all of our new upscale downtown living. That may be more of what you're used to.
Check this out... most of the time you'll be able to get to work in under 20 minutes! Just think of the money you'll save in gas! Besides, you're probably paying more now than you would here.
Tired of conserving water? Look no further! We've got lots of it here! Feel free to hose down your driveway... let you're sprinkler run for hours! Oh... and it's cheap also!
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Buffalo... your time is now.
So where do we start?
Viral videos. Websites. Full page newspaper ads throughout the country.
Is it beneath a city to employ tactics that major companies use, most often successfully, to draw consumers to their product? I don't think it should be.
Come on Buffalo... let's get creative!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Exhibiting Buffalo
I consider myself very fortunate to live in one of the most architecturally significant cities in the country.
I have had a lifelong love affair with buildings and it has only grown deeper over time. As a kid, my walls were covered with drawing of every building I wanted to construct as an adult. My dream home... my parents vacation home... the ultimate football stadium...
While my life has taken me down a different career path, I haven't forgotten where it started. Even as an adult, I still find myself spending a great deal of time obsessing about structure.
I yearn for new episodes of Build It Bigger. I have 23 episodes of Holmes on Homes DVR'd. I just spent an hour on Google Maps browsing Buffalo from above. I love satellite view.
One of my favorite websites is Buffalo as an Architectural Museum. Not only have I spent many hours browsing Buffalo's past... but I also find it very handy as a reference tool. When I need to find out more about a building being discussed on other websites, the info I need is only a favorites list away.
While websites serve a very useful purpose, imagine being able to step inside the lobby of one of Buffalo's historic theatres as it was the day it opened. Imagine being able to view original blueprints of Buffalo buildings as they sit under glass.
Which brings me to the point of this post... #4 on my Buffalo Wishlist...
The Buffalo Museum of Architecture
Location: Let's create an amazing reuse of the Connecting Terminal Grain Elevator.
- It will serve as a gateway to Buffalo's future, as well as it's past
- Multiple floors of exhibit space
- A room dedicated to Frank Lloyd Wright as well as E.B. Green
- Recreations of Buffalo landmarks.
- etc.
The BMA should also serve as a place to preserve Buffalo's architectural past. It could serve as a permanent home for the Central Terminal clock, as well as other historic city artifacts. We could also display the remnants of the Larking Administration Building in the FLW room. Although it has been restored, the lone pillar which still stands today remains exposed to Buffalo's winter weather. Let's bring it in out of the cold! While we're at it, let's take a little bit of all the Buffalo landmarks which will soon face unfortunate demolition.
The last remianing piece of the Larkin Administration Building
We must face the fact that we will continue to lose a little bit of Buffalo's history as time goes by. While we must act to save our great buildings where they stand, the painful truth is that many will continue to suffer the fate of so many before them. Cities evolve and landscapes change. It is up to us to make sure that we preserve and honor the path our city has taken.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Once again, another elected official gives us one more reason to lack faith in the political process.
Maybe it's time we rethink the way this process of democracy is conducted. I think we are all just a little too entrenched in the status quo to realize that it is time for a change.
It's time to start from scratch. You want to talk about political reform? How about we talk about political reconstruction.
How about we put in place a system to elect a governor of New York State... instead of a governor of New York City. How long will the City continue to flourish while the rest of the state flounders?
There was a time I thought Byron Brown would be a force for change in this city. While I have no doubt he has done great things for Buffalo, he simply hasn't brought the meat to the table. We're still being fed appetizers long after dinner should have been served.
As for the above mentioned Elliot Spitzer... I think enough has been said by others.
The idea of change never seemed more appealing than now.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
$2,000,000,000,000
I recently happened upon a website named Axis of Justice. It was created by Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) and Serj Tankian (S.O.A.D).
Their mission statement:
Axis of Justice is a non-profit organization formed by Tom Morello of Audioslave and Serj Tankian of System of a Down. Its purpose is to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. We aim to build a bridge between fans of music around the world and local political organizations to effectively organize around issues of peace, human rights, and economic justice.
In browsing the site, I came upon a link to an article in The Toronto Sun from late January.
Aside from the diplomatic costs of the past five years, here's an idea of the monetary costs.
How the Iraq war's $2 trillion cost to U.S. could have been spent.
January 21, 2008
Caig and Marc Kielburger
In war, things are rarely what they seem.
Back in 2003, in the days leading up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon adamantly insisted that the war would be a relatively cheap one. Roughly $50 billion is all it would take to rid the world of Saddam Hussein, it said.
We now know this turned out to be the first of many miscalculations. Approaching its fifth year, the war in Iraq has cost American taxpayers nearly $500 billion, according to the non-partisan U.S.-based research group National Priorities Project. That number is growing every day.
But it's still not even close to the true cost of the war. As the invasion's price tag balloons, economists and analysts are examining the entire financial burden of the Iraq campaign, including indirect expenses that Americans will be paying long after the troops come home. What they've come up with is staggering. Calculations by Harvard's Linda Bilmes and Nobel-prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz remain most prominent. They determined that, once you factor in things like medical costs for injured troops, higher oil prices and replenishing the military, the war will cost America upwards of $2 trillion. That doesn't include any of the costs incurred by Iraq, or America's coalition partners.
"Would the American people have had a different attitude toward going to war had they known the total cost?" Bilmes and Stiglitz ask in their report. "We might have conducted the war in a manner different from the way we did."
It's hard to comprehend just how much money $2 trillion is. Even Bill Gates, one of the richest people in the world, would marvel at this amount. But, once you begin to look at what that money could buy, the worldwide impact of fighting this largely unpopular war becomes clear.
Consider that, according to sources like Columbia's Jeffrey Sachs, the Worldwatch Institute, and the United Nations, with that same money the world could:
Eliminate extreme poverty around the world (cost $135 billion in the first year, rising to $195 billion by 2015.)
Achieve universal literacy (cost $5 billion a year.)
Immunize every child in the world against deadly diseases (cost $1.3 billion a year.)
Ensure developing countries have enough money to fight the AIDS epidemic (cost $15 billion per year.)
In other words, for a cost of $156.3 billion this year alone – less than a tenth of the total Iraq war budget – we could lift entire countries out of poverty, teach every person in the world to read and write, significantly reduce child mortality, while making huge leaps in the battle against AIDS, saving millions of lives.
Then the remaining money could be put toward the $40 billion to $60 billion annually that the World Bank says is needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, established by world leaders in 2000, to tackle everything from gender inequality to environmental sustainability.
The implications of this cannot be underestimated. It means that a better and more just world is far from within reach, if we are willing to shift our priorities.
If America and other nations were to spend as much on peace as they do on war, that would help root out the poverty, hopelessness and anti-Western sentiment that can fuel terrorism – exactly what the Iraq war was supposed to do.
So as candidates spend much of this year vying to be the next U.S. president, what better way to repair its image abroad, tarnished by years of war, than by becoming a leader in global development? It may be too late to turn back the clock to the past and rethink going to war, but it's not too late for the U.S. and other developed countries to invest in the future.
Craig and Marc Kielburger are children's rights activists and co-founded Free The Children, which is active in the developing world. Online: Craig and Marc Kielburger discuss global issues every Monday in the World & Comment section. Take part in the discussion online at thestar.com/globalvoices.
This ends my politcal commentary.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Little Things
You look in the mirror
At lines that were not there yesterday
And find a couple more hairs turned grey
With a nervous glance at me
You wonder if
I notice "Little Things"
Later, as I lay beside you
And sleep has closed your eyes
I think of the way you stroked my hair
And how, before you hung my jacket
You held it close to you
I reach out and take your hand
And with all the Love the world has ever known
I bring it to my lips
For yes
I notice "Little Things" - Javan
I woke up this morning - my back hurting from a long day previous - in no mood to repeat the inevitable. My alarm spoke of my fate. I thought of... no time breakfast... long drive... frozen car... cranky old men... a world without patience. Then I turned to my soul mate... sleeping so peacefully... with our dog curled up beside her. In an instant, she reminded me of the "little things".
It's the little things that are important.
Remember that today... and every day.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Buffalo Dies?
We all can assume J.P. Losman's days in Buffalo are over. He has said that he prefers to be traded and his house on Oakland Place is for sale as of December.
The question that remains is will the organization he founded, Buffalo Lives, survive?
Losman's attempt to help beautify Buffalo "one street at a time" conducted a downtown clean up event in September but has been silent since then. We'll credit the lack of action to football season and the Buffalo winter.
What will happen when the snow melts? Is there anyone in place to continue the effort? Will another sports figure step up to the plate? Let's hope so. It's a good idea that has the potential to go a long way.
It could, however, be Losman's final incomplete pass in Buffalo.
Loaning Buffalo
I guess it's only a matter of time before the Sabres start playing games in Hamilton.
For that matter, let's throw a few Albany's way.
What happened to the game in Rochester?
All of these games will be necessary to sustain the longer term viability of the Sabres in Western New York. All of the rocks have been overturned.
If only potato bugs were the answer.
#3
The third item on my Buffalo Wishlist...
A downtown indoor public ice rink.
Photos: The Depot Ice Rink, Downtown Minneapolis
Scale it down.
Since it was built, the Pepsi Center has struggled to survive financially. The reason is not because it isn't used, but rather the cost involved in simply maintaining the massive facility.
So let's put in one full size rink for hockey, instead of four, and maybe two smaller ones for open skates and other events.
Build it with the help of the Buffalo Sabres
When the Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix and became the Coyotes, they helped build the
Alltel Ice Den in Scottsdale. It gave them a place to practice and also provided the community with a smaller venue to discover and learn about hockey.
A downtown ice rink would give the Sabres more practice flexibility when HSBC is busy hosting other events. It would also give them a more intimate environment to host charity events. The Pepsi Center can live without them.
Throw in a satellite Sabres store and pro shop. Maybe a nice upscale restaurant and sports theatre. Round it out with a Sabres Hockey Museum.
Introduce hockey to the Buffalo Public Schools
It really is a shame that an area so passionate about hockey has so few athletic programs to support it. What's worse is the fact that most parents are forced to shuttle their kids out to Amherst in order to participate in it. As far as the city goes, well there aren't many options. I am willing to bet there are plenty of youth in Buffalo that would love to play hockey if given the opportunity.
Let's give them the opportunity.
Designate Saturdays as Hockey Day in Buffalo
Organize weekend tournaments, both youth and adult. Establish leagues and crown champions. Encourage sponsership from local businesses and well as community organizations.
How about a Gus Macker on ice? The Rob Ray Hockey Derby?
Hockeytown?
If Buffalo wants to claim that title, we need to prove we deserve it!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
"Your clothes get washed while you get sloshed!"
Wednesday night I found myself desperately needing to do a load of laundry. I also found myself sitting in a darkened room with no power... staring at the wall.
I was on the brink. My clothes were crammed into the laundry basket. I had laced up my shoes and thrown on my jacket. A trip to the dreaded laundromat was in my immediate future. Then... suddenly... lights! Power! Laundry in the comfort of my own home!
While watching the Daily Show... far away from the annoyingly rhythmic sounds of an agitating washer... I began to think. Why did I loathe the laundromat so immensely?
The previously mentioned out-of-time beat of 15 washers going at once?
The irritating clang of a metal snap bouncing off the side of a dryer?
The mysterious piece of underwear left in my chosen machine?
The thought of days spent pacing the halls of the Ellicot Complex waiting for that asshole to come get his laundry so I can get my mine done sometime before 2am?
It wasn't any one of those things that made me hate laundromats so much. It was all of them.
A full service bar and food menu. Live music. A real live person to help you with your laundry woes. WiFi. Comfortable seating.
Imagine a place to hang out with friends, suck down a Bacardi and Coke and get your laundry done! Now that is what I call time management.
If only they had bowling lanes!
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Lucky Buffalo
While browsing through the pictures in my girlfriend's latest gossip magazine...
I stumbled upon on an article about Lucky Strike Lanes. Yes, it is a bowling alley. No, it's not a bowling alley. It's a bowling lounge. Well, it's a lot of things. It's an upscale lounge with bowling lanes. High-tech bowling lanes.
To put it simply - it's pretty fucking cool.
The article talked about Lucky Strike Lanes in Chicago. It wasn't until I visited their website that I learned they have locations all across the country. Hollywood, Las Vegas, Boston, Philly to name a few. Now you might think Dave and Buster's when you read this. You would be wrong. Lucky Strike Lanes is an adult playground. No one under 21 is allowed in after 9pm. Prior to that any minor must be accompanied by an adult. They are known for their huge menu and amazing drink selection. Just browsing through the photos on the website had me drooling.
Admittedly I love bowling. Being from Buffalo, I know I am not the only one. My choices, however, when it comes to bowling are... well, pathetic. For being such a bowling hotbed, Buffalo's bowling lanes... suck. You have the choice of seedy or suburban. Voelkers and Broadway Lanes... or Transit and Thruway Lanes. Tonawanda or Lockport?
So I give to you the next big thing for Downtown Buffalo!
Serving Buffalo
Let's face it. In this day and age there is a "serve yourself" mentality. Buffets, salad bars, "you-scan" checkouts, ATM machines, etc. So as to be expected, customer service in many industries has suffered. Immensely.
If you own a business and want it to succeed and grow, provide outstanding customer service. Most of us are so used to receiving sub-par service that we will be blown away. It's an easy formula.
If you want to see just how bad customer service has become, read BuffaloGeek's post about his recent dealings with Joe Cecconi Chrysler Jeep in Niagara.
Having worked in retail, I tend to believe that there is usually another side to the story. Some sort of miscommunication or something the customer failed to understand. In this case, however, there seems to be only one side to the story. Horrible customer service.
The problem with auto dealerships is that once you sign on the dotted line, they have your money. There is nothing to guarantee you a positive service experience after the sale. Also, because of the severe disconnect between auto manufacturers and the dealerships that sell their cars, customer service complaints are usually met with an apology and a suggestion to contact your dealership in regards to the matter.
So I hope everyone who reads BuffaloGeek's horror story will think twice before ever patronizing this dealership. I recently leased a vehicle from Transitowne Dodge and the service I have received has been outstanding.
I encourage BuffaloGeek to not let this issue die. I would like to believe that the owner of this dealership cares enough about his customers to hold those involved accountable.
If a tree falls in the forest...
If I don't update my blog for a month, does anyone notice?
If you did, I apologize. December was a very busy month and as far as priorities go, there were others. Anyhow, time is again on my side.