Black Rock Riverside GNPA Meeting Tonight

Stevan said...

Black Rock Riverside GNPA has a General Meeting on Wednesday, 2/28 @ 6:15 in the NW Buffalo Community Center, all are welcome. Come participate in planning our community. For those interested in Zoning, Land-Use, and Urban Design, the subcommittee has a meeting on Tuesday 2/27 @ 6:15 at the NW Buffalo Community Center, 155 Lawn Ave

Now if we could do this 12,000 times over.

Buffalo Rising today This house at 15 S. Putnam has stood victim to the elements – it’s been vandalized, looted, and its leaking roof has made it uninhabitable. In June 2006, the structure was condemned by the city due to structural problems, destined for demo.

But now – thanks to cooperation between the University of Buffalo School of Architecture, Harvey Garrett, and home owner Dennetta Stickel – new, and decidedly unique, life will be breathed into the otherwise abandoned house. Under the direction of Professors Frank Fantauzzi and Brad Wales, the project architect, 14 graduate students will be working creatively to revitalize the structure. It is a unique opportunity for the students to use their classroom architecture training in a real-life application.

Professor Fantauzzi has worked on such projects in the past, including a house in Springville, but never with the goal of completely saving a crumbling structure. “This is a unique project because the building will be refurbished and saved,” Fantauzzi said. “Regardless of what we do, there’s the thinking that this building will be rehabilitated, and that means we can be daring with our project. We hope it will capture peoples’ imagination, and everyone in the city will do a double-take. It’s rare in architecture that you’re given that latitude.”

Each of the students will design models and jointly brainstorm ideas for structural changes to the house. Buffalo Rising will be following the progress of this project closely, as it will provide a unique look into both the practical aspects of architecture and the rehabilitation of a West side home and, hopefully, the stabilization of the community.

“It will clean up and hopefully save a project that was going to come down,” said Garrett, who helped find the house and move the project forward. “We’re hoping it’s a good opportunity to help residents in Buffalo better understand the value of their properties. And, not unimportant, it further attaches these students to the neighborhoods and to Buffalo. Anything we can do to help attach college students to the city is good.”

I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.

Charles De Gaulle French general & politician (1890 - 1970)

Buy this book

If you don't have this Buffalo Architecture book you may want to bid on this one. A section of the book is dedicated to Black Rock.

Compile your list now and join a GNPA meeting.

Found this story on Buffalo Rising .The City is teaming with community activists to find some consensus and relief, on both parts, in the process of housing inspections. Addressing the fact that it is the neighbors who know which vacant and blighted properties are causing the most trouble in their community, residents will have the opportunity to prioritize the list of inspections undertaken in each district.

The program, which is spearheaded by the Good Neighbors Planning Alliance, will in theory help City Hall manage their resources more efficiently (we all know there are scores more vacant houses in this city than inspectors can reasonably handle) while simultaneously addressing the concerns of neighborhood activists.

“It helps us if people in the neighborhoods are telling us which house is the most serious concern,” said Rich Tobe, head of strategic planning for the city. “And we’re perfectly prepared to report back to them on the status once the inspection is completed.”

Through a series of talks, Tobe and members of the GNPA came up with a process that says that each GNPA will every two weeks generate 10 properties for the inspectors to focus on. The properties will be discussed and decided upon at GNPA meetings in each of the districts.

“It really does help the city to prioritize limited resources,” said Harvey Garrett, a West side GNPA co-chair who spearheaded the effort. “If we can all agree the properties that are bad, then we can address the ones that are causing the biggest problems. Anyone who wants to prioritize a property can come to the GNPA meeting and make their case.”

Harvey said this process will also be good for the planning alliances because it will likely bring more community members into the meetings, who will in turn learn of other community issues that need to be addressed. “I you want people to be involved, you have to give them a reason to come,” he said. “Something like this will have a direct impact on their community right now, not later. And once they get involved, they can have an impact on bigger community plans as well.”

Tobe said the prioritization process has been in existence to some extent since the summer, but building efforts and support are revitalizing the program and making it more useful. Harvey recently undertook a fight to save 109 Norwood from a cruel fate by finding a potential buyer and prioritizing its inspection. (Stay tuned to BRO for more details on this pending deal as they develop). Plans are in effect to create a website so people can keep up to date on which properties are being addressed and, if they don’t like the way things are working, come to the GNPA meetings and help prioritize their own concerns.

I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them.

George Bush US Republican politician (1924 - )

A new charity anounced today!

Buffalo Developer Carl Paladino Tells Ch 4 today that he does not make any money from leasing space to the Federal Government.

Small Streets

Our area has some of the smallest,shortest,narrowest, streets in the city. These streets are unique in there own ways a look at some older maps shows the changes to these streets from there original layouts some of these streets offer a quiet alternative to a busier one .

Lunch on a spring day

Well OK it's not spring but 35 Degrees is like a warm front compared to -2 with a Negative 15 wind chill anyway i just got back from lunch at Nick's place on Amherst St with a couple black rockers if you have never been there i suggest you make your way over there for Breakfast or Lunch after we ate we walked across the street to the Habitat for Humanity REstore it's like Amvets but for home remodeling.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead US anthropologist & popularizer of anthropology (1901 - 1978)

The Grant Amherst Business Association

1915 Photo courtesy of broadviewnet.net

A Regular contributer to the Advocate and a local resident sent along this email to myself and i wanted to share it . Last Friday evening, Amherst Street was buzzing. The Art Scene was alive & well. Doreen Debooth's Artsphere Gallery's opening was filled with amazing work as usual. Next door, at the former Howie's Appliance Store, now owned by Susan Cholewa, was the host site for a Buffalo State College Masters Degree Final Art Exhibit. Jill Hart passed with flying colors. Jill filled the wonderful space with an impressive & thought provoking exhibit of her Master's Thesis Sculpture. The crowd was an interesting collection of college students & faculty, Amherst Street art afficienatios, and a general collection of hipsters, geeks, and even some of Buffalo's high society. A great time was had by all, and then the celebration moved down the street to Casey's. Congratulations to Doreen, Susan, & Jill, for setting the stage for future collaborative evenings. The Grant Amherst Business Association is very proud of the accomplishments of these two ladies.

Willie

If you write a post and put it on a blog, that's a historical document. If you change your template, then that entry looks completely different. It's the same words, but not the same meaning. This all depends on what historical questions that people will be asking and we can't know what they will want.

Josh Greenberg, Digital Preservation and Blogs, SXSW 2006

Friday Night on Amherst St.

Artsphere at 466 and Cholewa's shop next door at 464 Amherst will both be hosting openings on Friday, Feb.16 from 6:30 to 9 p.m.

"Everybody's talking about smart growth, but nobody is talking about smart decline,"

An Advocate reader sent to me a pretty interesting read. One example Youngstown, Ohio, the population, now about 83,000, is less than half what it was when the steel industry collapsed in the 1970s. Richmond is another example of positive restructuring.

Only faint traces remain of the old glamour of Richmond's Jackson Ward district. The marquee is fading on the Hippodrome Theater, where Bill "Bojangles" Robinson danced, Ella Fitzgerald sang and Duke Ellington played. There are few businesses in the 40-square-block neighborhood once called the Wall Street of Black America because of its many banks.

Today, however, there are signs of a rebound. Historic row houses have been refurbished. Restaurants are opening. New homes are going up near a statue of "Bojangles." Shells of Greek and Georgian Revival, Queen Anne and Italianate houses, many adorned with elaborate ironwork and cast-iron porches, could be had for $30,000 to $40,000 10 years ago. They're selling for more than $250,000 today. Fix Buffalo Today Has a related story and link to an interview with Youngtown's Mayor.

$469,000 for a shoebox/victorian home in San Francisco

A small investment of $469,000 will buy you this San Francisco 2 bed 1 bath GRAND VICTORIAN. The government pays $1925 per month for section 8 tenants to live there.

Craig & Yvonne's Victorian Home

Been watching this site for a couple years now very good site about restoring an old Victorian home . Here is a funny excerpt from there site-

Open Letter to Rich People

Dear Rich People,

First of all we would like to thank you for taking the time to read about our restoration project. We are a young, hard-working couple who are trying to restore a piece of history for future generations to enjoy. These projects, while very rewarding upon completion, are very, very expensive. We are doing almost all of the work ourselves to cut the costs, but even the cost of the raw materials is staggering. If you are inspired by the work we are doing, we would like to let you know that we are accepting donations. We have not received any donations as of yet, but we remain hopeful. In exchange for your very generous gift, we would happily name a room in your honor. (i.e. "The Rockefeller Living Room" or perhaps "The Trump Bedroom") Just think of the pride that you would feel knowing that you have financed such a worthy cause. You could send the website link to all of your wealthy friends and say, "That's right, I paid for that!" With your generous donation also comes a permanent invitation to all our future Halloween Parties. (a privilege that money cannot buy. Well, in this case...) Please send an e-mail and we can arrange a funds transfer.

Anyway, thanks in advance for your huge, lump-sum donation. (did I mention tax-deductible?) We really appreciate it!

Sincerely,

Craig & Yvonne

If you have any questions please e-mail us at:

Craig@OurVictorianHouse.com

Property Flipping and Buffalo

Taken from Flippedmovie.com

About 80% of properties flipped in Buffalo are sold over the internet and are done so in the following manner.

A "buyer", usually from out of state, purchases a foreclosed property cheaply, makes no improvement to the property and quickly resells it on the internet. In many cases, they have never even set in foot in Buffalo, but we do have several people who live here and who have been making huge profits riding the internet wave and professing "They live in the Buffalo area and are different from the scammers selling online. Trust them they won't steer you wrong...buy a house from them and see HUGE profits." Well....the ones who are making HUGE profits are themselves!

Why is this a bad thing?

In most cases the properties are so grossly misrepresented that the new owner believing he purchased a "good" property finds out he bought a property that has most likely been vacant many years, is heavily vandalized and is in need of so many repairs that they abandon the property leaving the houses to continue to sit and cause further blight to already distressed neighborhoods.

Good investors vs. Bad investors

We encourage good investors to purchase property in our city. Buffalo is our home and we love our city, but in many cases the people buying houses in Buffalo do not understand the conditions here. We ask that if you are interested in buying a property in Buffalo please come see our Beautiful city first.....email us for information.

Interesting link here Sacramento Area Flippers In Trouble.

Tonawanda St. in the day and today.

Wow this view has certainly changed shown is Tonawanda St. one block south of Riverside Park looking South.

Corner of Niagara St. @ Austin St.

The photos show the same location one as it looks today and one as it appeared in the 1930's. This building is currently unoccupied and may be available for lease or sale if interested Email me @ black-rock@adelphia.net and i will see what i can fined out.

Ontario St. U. M. Church

This Saturday the Ontario St. U. M. Church will have a SUPER CHICKEN DINNER . There monthly chicken dinner/serving 1/2 baked chicken/mashed potatoes&gravy/green beans,southern style/salad/roll/homemade deserts. All for $6.95-eat in/$7.20 take out. Free delivery for Riverside & surrounding neighborhoods. Ontario St. Church today. Ontario St. Church in the 1930's

Alot Like Buffalo

Taken from Forgotten Detroit a story much like our own.

Forgotten Detroit

Detroit is known for one of the most stunning collections of pre-depression architecture in the world. The past two decades have seen several of these treasures sit vacant, waiting for economic revival. On these pages you will find information about the past, present, and future situations of a few of these landmarks. It is my hope that this information helps you gain an appreciation for the importance of both the history and continued survival of these buildings.

Do we need another empty lot?

Do we need another empty lot? 1941 Niagara St has been on the Demolition list for some time now it has been wide open for years a fire did some damage . Vandals and vagrants have done there share to add to it's demise the damage has been substantial but not devastating. City building codes say that a vacant lot this size is not big enough to build on so i ask Do we need an empty lot on Niagara St . We already have an empty lot on that block can we carry another the future of the Niagara St corridor is based on what is done today. This property is located directly across the street from a large antique store and the old Jubilee Community center just one block north of a revitalized block of business's. Niagara St from Amherst St to Hamilton St has never looked better in my lifetime .North of Hamilton is also on an upswing with a mix of Commercial and residential including a couple painted lady Victorians and some stops on the BRR garden walk. Do we need another empty lot?

It's History

The Appellate court upheld a State Supreme Court ruling to allow the Demolition by Neglect of the Atwater House as Mr Pano has let the building rot. This is proof that nothing is safe anywhere in the city that is not located in a historic district. Black Rock could benefit from this designation as we are rich in historic buildings and parks. One such park that was apart of the "Rock" since 1830 and lost was "Porter Square" located at 1733 Niagara St opposite from the entrance to Squaw island park. James Gianni said if he could not obtain the park to build a warehouse he would have to move his company out of the city the park was listed on the upcoming 2003 city auction under a false address one day before the auction John Hannon, Real Estate Division Head for the city of Buffalo brokered a back door deal to sell the park to Gianni for the sum of $16,000 Gianni just sold the park for $185,000. Who got the shit end of the stick the people in this community did. Fix Buffalo has a question that needs to be answered. Check out these pictures of 97 Dodge street this house is also marked for demo where is the petition to stop this gem from going to the land fill?

School #51 class of 1913.

Photo of Black Rock Academy school #51 class of 1913. In the background is Hertel Av at Guernsey St notice the empty lots not a lot has changed in 100 years except maybe the cloths. In 2005 the Buffalo Board of Education voted to close 51 after 111 years of service to our community with little fanfare. The building is still used by the Buffalo Board of Education for storage it's future is uncertain. The last classes were held in 2003.

$13,500 Will buy you this property

This building looks to be in good condition it has a nice roof a small garage two Bedroom one full bath two half bath's Downstairs was a bar. This is a really cool place at a steal. This appears to be the only vacant building on the block. There is a very good discussion regarding vacant property's over at

fix buffalo today

Barns in the Hood

All of these barns are within walking distance of each other. Some have been reused while others may be domed the large photo at the top is an amazing building it would make a nice loft or business it has an empty lot next to it and a larger garage directly across from it. From what i understand the owner is from out of state.

Will Phil see his shadow Today I'm predicting March 20th as the first day of Spring. It's not to early to start talking about those Spring projects I'm excited about getting to work on some Neighborhood stuff anybody have any new Community ideas{Community Gardens?} I'm thinking about posting a different location to meet up on a Saturday or Sunday for a couple of hours to clean up a empty lot board up a vacant house cover up some graffiti or collect Tops sopping carts!