Quote Originally Posted by WNYresident
There's nothing wrong with this concept if there was a way to make money off of it.

I do listen about thier concerns and all but the simple fact is money has to come into a community.

Does anyone here really think if every building a preservationist wanted to save in buffalo was pristine that tourism would ramp up to such as extent the economy would because positive again? Without the need of subsidizing 100,000's of peoples livings with support in one form or another because of the growth of jobs and spinoffs?
Exactly! Right now there are two major **** EYED views about "magic bullets" to "save" Buffalo.

The one "magic bullet" view is the CASINO.

The other "magic bullet" view is HISTORIC PRESERVATION.

These two groups have been so loud and have gained so much political clout yet I find it frightening that we are taking either of these groups as seriously as some do. Heck, even Byron Brown was swayed to the pro casino side... Because of the "well, it will bring JOBS" factor.

But with Buffalo's "fragile population" as one politician described it (I think it may have even been Joel Giambra... imagine that) a casino would bring more violence, crime and social ills...

I think that our economic revitalization (or maybe using the term "revitalization" here is too generous, more like "bringing it back from the dead" would be better) needs to be more REALISTIC and METHODIC.

We need to be realistic in terms of seeing our city as what it really is: a mostly poor, declining, economically suffering burnt out shell of a municipality. And now add 70 MURDERS A YEAR to the mix... There ARE some upscale and trendy parts of Buffalo, but face it folks THOSE AREAS ARE THE MINORITY... And even Elmwood, North Buffalo and the Delaware Districts are not immune to the effect of their neighborhoods surrounding poverty. When I lived on Elmwood I had my apartment and my car broken into within the same month... The crack heads were so desperate that they used to STEAL CHRISTMAS CARDS OUT OF OUR MAILBOX AND OPEN THEM TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANY MONEY IN THEM. Even the "upscale" areas are located within walking distance of really bad and really poverty and violence stricken neighborhoods... NO ONE CAN DENY THAT.

So first we need to say, "Hey! We are gonna do what we can to bring in some kind of businesses... Any kind of businesss... As a start." Even if we have to BEGIN with WALGREEENS and (I can't believe I'm saying this but) a freakin' WAL MART or SAM'S CLUB we need to do someting... In the world of choosing the lesser or two evils I'd rather see a WAL MART than a CASINO...

Also, being realistic means that we need to realize that the poor and disenfranchised are bringing the whole city down with them and that segment needs to be rehabilitated first.

STATISTICS SHOW THAT THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE OF THE ERIE COUNTY BUDGET GOES TO SOCIAL SERVICES. That shows that supporting the poverty stricken is making the rest of us poor. I lost my job with Erie County because of it.

And the POOR DON'T NEED QUAINT HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND TRENDY CAFES... THEY NEED FREAKIN' JOBS!

In terms of being methodic, we need to start from the bottom up... Immediately knock down the old burnt out buildings and crack houses... But back on out of town real estate flippers... We need to allow whatever business or development that wants to open here to open... Hotel, high rise, drug store, etc... JUST LET THEM OPEN! Because each thing that opens will bring in a tax base or a job...

I'm sorry if I went all Dennis Miller on you here, it's just that as a someone who is only in her early 30s, I have seen so much decline in our area and I hate to see how every year it gets worse and worse...