The East Side

[Trolls_r_us]

I probably won't actually get out of my car, but I actually thought about taking pictures before anyway, now I have an excuse

[therising]

Originally posted by Trolls_r_us
WNY resident,

I will ABSOLUTELY do it!

Give me a week or two to get my digital camera back from the shop, and I'll take another drive over

When you're getting interviewed in your hospital room after getting beat up, ask Channel 2 to send Julie Wolfe. She's pretty hot

[WNYresident]

But if me and troll are in the hospital it will get the website exposure!

Plus there's risk always involved in anything you do.

[WNYresident]

Originally posted by Trolls_r_us
WNY resident,

I will ABSOLUTELY do it!

Give me a week or two to get my digital camera back from the shop, and I'll take another drive over

Pick a saturday or sunday in a week or two and we'll go.

[ERIEMAN]

Originally posted by therising
Anyone want to come back with a broken camera and 2 flat tires?

or no camera and cinder blocks?

[WestCoastPerspective]

There's plenty of blight to take pictures of...but I was just through to take some pics of the infill housing. Yes you get weird looks from the neighbors, but no one bothers you. Of course, I don't leave the comfort of my car!

Here's some of the older (mid-80's) Pratt Willert homes along Sycamore/Pratt/Hickory:


And some of the newer Pratt Willert homes on Broadway:

[Shovel ready]

Originally posted by ERIEMAN
or no camera and cinder blocks?

hah, you people are so igorant, even if you are totally joking, which is probably the case.

I bet neither you nor therising have ever stepped foor (out of your cars) in the East Side. I had a friend that live in a rough area of the ES and one that lived in a less-rough area. I used to visit them often,walk around, and never once had any trouble.

Black people aren't these monstrous gremlins whose eyes srart glowing red and jump out at the first passing white person they see. It's more like they will probably assume you are a cop if you walk around an area where no whites live.

[WestCoastPerspective]

One more Pratt/Willert street- this showing new with old:



New home in the Fruitbelt, not all that attractive, but an improvement to a vacant lot:

[WestCoastPerspective]

Cold Springs homes- located on Purdy and Elsie. Probably the best designed new homes being built today:



Another new home along Elsie- one of eight being built in Phase II (eight were built in Phase I):



I personally think its exciting to see foundations being poured in these old neighborhoods.

[WestCoastPerspective]

Last one.
One of ten new homes going in along Mulberry Street in the Fruit Belt:

[Trolls_r_us]

Westcoast,

Those places don't look that bad, maybe its just me

Where I was it looked like, if I described it yo you, you'd think I was lying it was so run down

WNY,

Trolls R US is a persona, only vaguely related to who I really am...

but if you still want to meet up for an East Side photo shoot, I'm game.....

LOL

[WestCoastPerspective]

Originally posted by Trolls_r_us
Westcoast,

Those places don't look that bad, maybe its just me

Where I was it looked like, if I described it yo you, you'd think I was lying it was so run down

Believe me, I've seen it. Many of the homes on the same block as the new builds are falling down. The good news is that the city has done a decent job of concentrating the new construction so that in some areas there are few vacant lots. They need to continue building along the main streets (Genesee, Broadway, Sycamore, Jefferson). Most of the new homes are on the side streets- Does the city really think retail is going to come back on the main drags? No need to landbank for new commercial development- get building new homes.

[Shovel ready]

Originally posted by WestCoastPerspective
There's plenty of blight to take pictures of...but I was just through to take some pics of the infill housing. Yes you get weird looks from the neighbors, but no one bothers you. Of course, I don't leave the comfort of my

Those houses built in the 80s don't look too bad. The more recent ones look more like suburban cookie-cutter tract homes. It's nice that the residents of this area have the opportunity to live in nice homes on well-kept steets. However my main problem with this type of infill is the apalling low density. Especially for areas so close to downtown. Horizontially oriented these home to take up wider lotspace on streets that were built for narrow houses is a terribly inefficient use of land. What should be built are three-four story townhouses with front garages at a slightly sunken grade. This would allow the garage to be partially hidden out of site at basement level, allowing more living space in the actual homes.

Subtley building at higher density ensures a safer neighborhood by putting more people on the street and more eyes on the street from windows of these houses.

Building suburbia in the inner-city guarnetees auto dependency for people who cannot afford cars. Any new commercial development will be a strip mall--convienent for those who can afford cars, a real drag for those who can't. Building a high enough density allows pedestrian oriented stores and services.

One of the main reasons why East Side streets that were once vibrant shooping strips are now lined with boarded up shops is because much of the East Side, through its stages of decay and abandonment, has become too low density to support small, curbside stores.

[WestCoastPerspective]

Good point, but I don't know how marketable the attached housing is. I know the first two phases of Pratt Willert had duplexes and they were a tougher sell. Most buyers desire a detached home with a garage. And I think most buyers are accustomed to a wide layout as opposed to a deep layout with narrow frontage. But a well-designed, high density project would likely do well. There's so much vacant land there's no pressure to build higher density. Most of the new builds are on 50' lots, narrow compared to the burbs but much wider than existing homes (30'?).

Here are some townhomes from the N. Division/Jefferson Ave. neighborhood:

[Shovel ready]

Originally posted by WestCoastPerspective
Good point, but I don't know how marketable the attached housing is.

I see what you are saying. I can imagine that many of these buyers want to buy something that emulates better off areas of the city and suburbs. I can see how attached housing and higher density might be sad reminders of a grim past of housing projects and slums.

Me being in NYC for almost 2 months now have grown too used to brownstones, rowhouses and high densities not often found in the Buffalo area.