Urban Development Idea

[leftWNYbecauseofBS]

Was just on Buffalo Rising today and found this slide show related to this post about the great housing stock on the east side.

I have been a long fan of redeveloping the east side, but it is too many homes and too much land for some. One neighborhood that I am a huge fan of is the Fruit Belt. Yes, you read correct, the FRUIT BELT. Now some may say this is still in the Ellicott district but for me, I consider anything east of Main and North of Goodell the east side.

Anyways, the reason I like this area so much is the 33 which essentially started the decline, would assist in it's rebirth. The area I am speaking of is sectioned off from the rest of the east side by the 33 to the west. To the East you will find the medical corridor and then Allentown. To the North you will find the Old Rock pile and City Honors. To the North West you will find MLK park. Inside of the "development zone" you will also find the Futures Academy.

Now my idea is to use eminent domain to collect any property that is owned but not resided in. Most of these people are either slum lord or flippers. Pay them off with the 50k per home and 10k per lot.
Any home that is owned and resided in, offer them a buyout of 50k - 75k or a very low interest loan to rehabilitate and a rental subsidy to cover displacement for the time during rehabilitation.
Clear the entire neighborhood of residents during the process. This could be done by simply placing road blocks at the entry points. Next, relocate any valuable home inside of these blocks to create complete blocks and demo any home that would not survive the move or is beyond repair. This process is expensive but only because of factors like moving power lines, having to move in the middle of the night and other factors that come up when you move in an area where people are living. Since this zone would be closed off to the public, this could be done around the clock.
Just guessing out of the 800 standing homes, there would be 100 homes moved and 400 saved. 300 would be deemed for demo to make 1100 building lots available.

Then seek out a developer to build out the 1100 lots in similar size and style to the existing 500 homes. Use of prefabricated homes will lower the cost of build out. Make a trigger to get this business that every 2 new homes they build, they must rehab one existing home. Also make a trigger that construction to be done by local developers and local laborers if and when possible. Build out every home with amenities and features to be comparable to a 175k home. Rehab existing homes to the 175k value range.

Next, convert the Futures academy to a k-12 charter school, remove all ties to the Buffalo public schools and clear the block it sits on and a block adjacent for park space and athletic fields. Give residents inside of this area first priority in placing their children in the new charter school.
Remove the overpasses at Jefferson and High connecting it to the east side of the 33. This would open the neighborhood to the North and West only reducing crime and increasing property values.

Now IF this were to be done, 1600 homes at an average value of 175k would be located just outside of the city and next to the medical campus on the metro line. That is a total of 280 million in property placed inside of the city. To use round a round number $35 in property tax per $1000 assessed value, this would bring in $98 million a year in property taxes.

Now I know I am going to get blasted for this, especially for use of ED. It really was just something to do while I was watching the Bills game. Anyways, I think what Buffalo needs to do is build new pocket neighborhoods. There is a lot of progress but something like this would place 6400 new residents in the city and close to a 100 million in property value. Now the project would cost about 150 million but there would be jobs and profit made as well as an increased tax base. Now some have mentioned the use of land banking but doing that pays no attention to current housing stock, regardless of the condition.

Once this was done, move on to another area. The city needs to isolate areas, redevelop and move along to the next area. Anyways, the Bills lost and I need to make dinner.

[tomac]

Was just on Buffalo Rising today and found this slide show related to this post about the great housing stock on the east side.

All of the original homes in the Fruit Belt were built before 1880, and some during the Civil War. No matter how good of condition they're in, they wouldn't survive a physical move. Refurbish them on site instead. My wife's grandparents lived on Lemon street in 1885; her grandmother was born in the house that she later lived in with her husband. It's still there and still structurally sound.
I won't go into replacing some with pre-fabs; why don't you just bring in a few trailers and double wides? They're all in the same category - Junk!

[ChesterB]

Hate to burst any bubbles, but the math is way off:

$175,000 x current tax rate of approx 20.75 per $1k = 3631.25

x 1600 = $5,810,000 .


If the rate was $35 per $1000, then it would be $9.8million, not $98million.

[300miles]

Clear the entire neighborhood of residents during the process. This could be done by simply placing road blocks at the entry points.

me thinks you need to go back to the drawing board... preferably when sober.

[ChesterB]

me thinks you need to go back to the drawing board... preferably when sober.

Yes, I like the 'roadblocks' idea. Mr. & Mrs. Fruitbelt head to the Niagara St Tops, for groceries..... on the way home, they are stopped & informed that there's no kitchen in which to put the groceries !
"Sorry, Mac - find another place to live. You've been 'Punked' by Urban Removal! "

[therising]

Your idea is already promoting investment.

I'm going to dig into my bank account, max out my credit cards, and borrow money from friends to start buying homes in this area. Once the gov't gives me $50k per home, I'll be able to reap the profits, and retire about 20 years earlier than I ever thought I could.

[Timmy]

End the Kensington at Jefferson/Best! That would help the eastside the most!

Basically make the Jefferson/Best the eastern entrance to the Center for Excellence in Life Science. Put the traffic back on streets like Virginia, High, Spring, Cherry, Michigan, Jefferson, Genessee, etc.

More traffic on local streets means increased patronage for local businesses
More patronage for local businesses means more business growth and more employees
More employees means more tenants for local property and more property owners.

Get rid of the Elm-Oak Arterial....its predestrian unfriendly and it denies traffic from the neighboring eastside neighborhoods.

[Timmy]

Eliminate the Elm-Oak Arterial and the downtown access ramps off I90

Basically make people get off at the Larkin District or the Cobblestone District instead of downtown. Put them back on the local streets like Hamburg, Louisiana, Exchange, Ohio, South Park, Perry, Swan, Seneca, Division, etc

More traffic on local streets means increased patronage for local businesses
More patronage for local businesses means more business growth and more employees
More employees means more tenants for local property and more property owners.

Get rid of the Elm-Oak Arterial....its predestrian unfriendly and it denies traffic from the neighboring eastside neighborhoods.

[Timmy]

Use the empty lots to connect Masten Park and Humboldt Park in an equivalent of Delaware Park on the Eastside connecting Artspace, City Honors, Center for Excellence in Life Sciences with the Science Museum...

Think about it.....Buffalos equivalent of Central Park running between Best and Dodge.

[therising]

End the Kensington at Jefferson/Best! That would help the eastside the most!

Basically make the Jefferson/Best the eastern entrance to the Center for Excellence in Life Science. Put the traffic back on streets like Virginia, High, Spring, Cherry, Michigan, Jefferson, Genessee, etc.

I didn't even know that there was a Center for Excellence in Life Science there. Are you talking about the Medical Corridor? So, where's the western entrance?

Eliminate the Elm-Oak Arterial and the downtown access ramps off I90

Basically make people get off at the Larkin District or the Cobblestone District instead of downtown. Put them back on the local streets like Hamburg, Louisiana, Exchange, Ohio, South Park, Perry, Swan, Seneca, Division, etc

You really do want to make people work hard to get downtown, don't you? No pain, no gain, I suppose.

[Stevenco]

me thinks you need to go back to the drawing board... preferably when sober.

I think that anyone who says me thinks should be banned. It's purposeful retardation and unacceptable.

[Timmy]

Its a mile or less....and your still driving....whats the big deal in eliminating the downtown access ramps....and incorporating more of the inner city neighborhoods into the fabric of downtown. I doubt an extra 5 or 10 minutes at 35 miles an hour is going to constitute a major barrier to downtown.

and yes...the Center for Excellence in Life Sciences (formerly the Center for Excellence in BioInformatics) is in the Medical Corridor. The western Entrance is for all intensive purposes is any of the intersections of Main and Carleton, Allen or High.

[ChesterB]

Methinks 'Timmy' isn't very familiar with Buffalo. The speed limit is 30

I also doubt that dumping traffic on a different part of town is going to help things.

[granpabob]

so your plan is to buy off the poor and build homes they cant afford. what do you have against poor people. most of the wages offered arround here dont let you buy these new homes you plan to build. then once you get all the new homes build you want to dirrect traffic through the neighborhoods so none of the children are safe dont you like kids either
your plan would make me avoid buffalo even more then I do now. if you make it harder to get down town more businesses will move out and more shoppers will stay in the burbs. if you want people to come you have to make it easier then the malls.
I think your road block Idea would have a real hard time in court. once you started the race cards would fly at you until you were buried. to pick a poor area for removal you are picking on the poeple who live there not the homes.

[300miles]

I think that anyone who says me thinks should be banned. It's purposeful retardation and unacceptable.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Billy Shakespeare.