This could be an important step forward in developing a plan to reduce the massive surplus of housing in Bflo. Currently there is a battle among those who want to save VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING, vs those who want to tear down everything, too often wanting to "REDEVELOP" (build new SUBSIDIZED housing).

In a steadily shrinking city, there needs to be significant reduction of vacant housing, accompanied by creative use of vacant lots for uses other than housing . . . . & much more rehab of viable housing to make a visible impact on neighborhoods.

More new (subsidized) housing too often creates a dynamic of one step forward, one step back. The new housing too often simply sucks more folks from other struggling neighborhoods, speeding blight there & expanding the need for costly demolitions.

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregio...ry/396439.html

CITY HALL
‘Blight tours’ of Buffalo will serve up a reality ride
By Brian Meyer NEWS STAFF REPORTER, Updated: 07/21/08 6:47 AM


Call it Buffalo’s Bus Tour of Blight. City officials, smarting from criticism that their building demolition effort is doomed to failure because it lacks vision, will soon send invitations to local leaders challenging them to get an up-close look at decaying streets.

Critics who live in “leafy-green neighborhoods” need to see what city development officials are up against, Mayor Byron W. Brown’s finance chief said Friday as she proposed the bus tour.

Some people who have been “beating up the administration” for its handling of the vacant housing crisis live in “privileged neighborhoods” and don’t have a handle on the magnitude of the problem, Janet Penksa said.

She was responding to criticism reported in a recent Buffalo News series. For example, Catherine Schweitzer, executive director of the Baird Foundation, faulted the city for adopting a “demolition-only strategy” that has no sense of what should be saved.

Buffalo isn’t dealing with “charming historic cottages,” Penksa rebutted.

Those who think that Buffalo’s demolition efforts are misguided need to take a ride down streets like Sears, Lombard and Miller, said James Comerford, the deputy commissioner for economic development, permits and inspection services. He recalled encountering a woman who lived next to a blighted property and was crying in desperation.

“These are human beings who don’t want to live next to this squalor,” Comerford said.

Schweitzer expressed disappointment in the tone of some comments made by Brown administration officials. She said not-for-profit foundations have a keen understanding of acute problems in neighborhoods and have been working to help remedy them.

“It would be really nice if we could figure out a way to define solutions and not worry about the rhetoric,” she said.

But Schweitzer added that she would be receptive to participating in the tour of neighborhood blight.

Buffalo’s demolition strategy embraces a long-term vision, said Brian

A. Reilly, the city’s new economic development chief. Immediate priorities focus on tearing down dangerous structures and buildings near schools. But redevelopment is part of the larger plan, Reilly said.

City officials argued that, in an area that has 17,000 vacant structures, decision-makers can’t wait until redevelopment plans are finalized.

The director of a West Side community group that has been focusing on Buffalo’s housing crisis reacted to comments that Brown administration officials made Friday at a Citi- Stat accountability panel meeting.

It’s disingenuous to suggest all critics of the demolition program live in posh neighborhoods and are out of touch with what’s really happening, said Aaron Bartley of PUSH — People United for Sustainable Housing.

PUSH members are in depressed neighborhoods weekly, talking with hundreds of residents — including some of the city’s most impoverished citizens, Bartley said.

PUSH is not against demolitions, Bartley said, agreeing with city officials’ contention that many buildings must come down.

But demolitions must be part of a broader plan that includes rehabilitation. One would be hard-pressed to find more than seven properties in the city that were rehabilitated last year using public funds, he said.

Bartley said he would be willing to participate in a bus tour, adding that it might help spur more dialogue between the Brown administration and community activists. He said PUSH has made repeated requests to meet with the mayor and Reilly, and met several months ago with Deputy Mayor Donna Brown.

“We’ve offered to be a partner and a resource — not loud-mouths or a purely critical voice,” said Bartley.

bmeyer@buffnews.com