Gentrification and the City of Back Door Deals

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In actuality an item is only worth what someone is willing to pay. If someone is not offering him $40,000,000 million it isn't worth $40,000,000.

HAAAAAAHAHAHA! You guys are killing me. Expensive land that's not worth it, a race issue that's really "class warfare that happens to have skin color," ya'll about to drive me to drink.

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[WNYresident]

Only issue is people with money trying to make more money off the poor. Poor doesn't care what color your skin is.

[300miles]

HAAAAAAHAHAHA! You guys are killing me. Expensive land that's not worth it, a race issue that's really "class warfare that happens to have skin color," ya'll about to drive me to drink.

$2 million per acre would be $30 million, not $40 million. But it still comes back to Chapman. He accepted the deal. If the land was really worth twice as much then why didn't he demand twice as much? Why didn't he look for other sellers? Why didn't he just keep the land to sell someday later when the price would surely be higher? Like I said - to me this all falls on Chapman and is in no way a race issue.

[Linda_D]

HAAAAAAHAHAHA! You guys are killing me. Expensive land that's not worth it, a race issue that's really "class warfare that happens to have skin color," ya'll about to drive me to drink.

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The fact is that McCarley Gardens is 35 years old, and the complex is probably in dire need of major rehab. More than anything else, that's probably the reason Rev Chapman is looking to sell, and perhaps why he's willing to take less for the property than perhaps other nearby parcels are selling for. Certainly the presence of an aging housing complex from which tenants would have to be relocated before the place was demo'd significantly lowers the value of the property to buyers.

Why do you doubt that 150 townhouses could be built in the Fruit Belt neighborhood between 2017 and 2020? That's about 35-40 townhouses per year over 4 years or about 3 homes per month, which is NOT that much for attached housing. How would these new townhouses be detrimental to the Fruit Belt? More importantly, what alternative plan do you have for McCarley Gardens?

Finally, this plan is NOT some white plot to dilute the African American vote. It's part of a larger economic development plan that seeks to establish Buffalo as a national center for medical/technical education and research. Specifically, the McCarley Gardens sale seems like a smart move by a black minister to get out from under an aging housing project that is likely to become a money pit in the future if it isn't already that, but feel free to think whatever you like if it makes you fee better.

JMO, but if black Buffalonians who can afford to do so move to the suburbs, it's likely for the very same reasons that white Buffalonians do: they are sick of the high crime, the unplowed streets, and the crappy schools that come with living in most Buffalo neighborhoods, white or black, outside of the favored precincts of the Delaware District and the wealthier parts of North and South Buffalo.

[pointblank]

Why do you doubt that 150 townhouses could be built in the Fruit Belt neighborhood between 2017 and 2020? That's about 35-40 townhouses per year over 4 years or about 3 homes per month, which is NOT that much for attached housing. How would these new townhouses be detrimental to the Fruit Belt? More importantly, what alternative plan do you have for McCarley Gardens?

Why do I doubt? Past history, and an earlier version of urban renewal ma'am. Please read the following, this is really "a fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me" initiative and the opportunity is made possible by guys like Rev. Chapman who is old enough to see how it's done and enabled by young people like yourselves who don't know that similar plans have been pitched to us before to their eternal incompletion by people who took the money and ran:

The Forces of Decline

To gain insight into the forces that spawned the spectacular loss of population in the
Fruit Belt, itis necessary to examine the City’s approach to neighborhood development. During
the sixties, the Fruit Belt neighborhood was severely impacted by the City’s aggressive
demolition campaign and the Medical Corridor’s institution expansion strategy. The triggering
device was the Fruit Belt’s inclusion in the City’s Model Neighborhood Area (MNA), a
component of the Urban Renewal Program. In retrospect, the Fruit Belt MNA wasthe opening
chapter of a story called, Two Tales of the Same Neighborhood –The Fruit Belt Residential
Community and the Fruit Belt Medical Corridor. The ModelNeighborhood Area divided the Fruit
Belt into two components: Oak Street (the Medical Corridor) and the Fruit Belt Residential
Community. The western boundary of the Oak Street section extended from Main and Best
Street on the north to Goodell Street on the south. The southern boundary extended from
Main and Goodell to Michigan Avenue, while Michigan Avenue to Best Street formed the
eastern boundary. Best Street formed the northern boundary of the Oak Street section (blue
boundaries on the map). The boundaries ofthe Fruit Belt Residential Community are outlined in
light blue on themap below.

The MNA argued that improved housing was the most critical component of the
regeneration of the Fruit Belt. The main barrier to good housing was the omnipresent
dilapidated housing units, which needed to be replaced before new housing units could be
constructed. Back then, the conventional wisdom wasthat housing rehabilitation in distressed
neighborhoods was too costly. Therefore, new builds were the only feasible way to produce
good housing in the Fruit Belt. Using thisrationale,the city embarked on an aggressive housing
demolition campaign. The problem isthat the City tore down considerably more housing units
than they constructed." read more



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