Renovation of Lasalle Park

This one is already underway but I am excited about it. I have always had a special place for this park because it has always been in my backyard. The only thing, I thought it was always neglected. When you look at the park system in Buffalo you are amazed by what we have here but for some reason, Lasalle was not as beautiful as Delaware park even though it was located along the waterfront. All of that is about to change. The city is making strides to make Lasalle park one of the premier spots in all of Buffalo and I am giddy at the prospects. You can check out more at the link below.

http://regional-institute.buffalo.edu/project/imagine-lasalle/

Welcome to Buffalo Sign

Last weekend I had some visitors from NYC, and I took them out and about the town. They were selfie maniacs and any and every location to take a picture they did. It got me thinking why doesn't Buffalo have an iconic "Welcome to Buffalo sign?" We were in Grand Island, and we stopped over at the "I LOVE NY" 3d sign just so that they could take a picture with it. That in itself was an adventure after passing it a few times. I also remember when I went to Toronto not too long ago, and there was this 3D "Toronto" sign that lights up. I mean sure we have "Sharkgirl" but we need something that says Buffalo.

!!!UPDATE ON GIANT MURALS!!!

Here is an update. They are popping up all over the city and they are making the city more beautiful as a result. Check out this site to look at a few of them.

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-york/buffalo/best-murals-buffalo/

Municipal Broadband

Municipal Broadband. This is basically internet that is deployed and run by the city. Let's face it, in today's world internet is no longer a luxury but rather it is a utility. I believed everyone should have access to broadband internet and with all the colleges and the booming medical campus, our city has to have the technological infrastructure needed to lure the best and brightest minds in the world. When I look for a home check to see what kind of internet they offer at that location, right now if they don't have 1gig internet I don't want it.  That's just me and I am a geek. If our city had a municipal broadband we could create new jobs across the board that would be all locally sourced which would strengthen the community. It would also force the current providers to lower their prices to be able to compete with the municipal broadband pricing. There are many places around the US that are using this model and I believe Buffalo would be an ideal location to help this city be a smart city.

Shipping Yard Container Style Outdoor Multi-use Space

So I came across this location in Tulsa OK call the Boxyard. It was inspired by an Iconic London location called the Boxpark, and I think something along these lines would be fantastic for what is going on over by the Canalside in Buffalo.  It is an outdoor multi-use space made from Shipping containers. If you have seen HGTV's Container Homes, you will know that you can do amazing things at a fraction of the cost with shipping containers. I believe an idea like this would fit perfectly and give people another reason to come and walk around downtown Buffalo. Think of it, you would have pop up boutiques, salons, restaurants, whatever we can imagine we would be able to have it.

It's been years since I last visited my own blog. A ton has changed in my city and I see some of the things that I spoke about actually came to pass. I'm excited! I am going to use this platform to update the changes and also to continue to come up with new ideas for our city.

Giant Murals

We already have the Albright-Knox Art Gallery which is one of the premier modern art museums in the world so why not add more famous are to our community? I was in Philadelphia and I was seeing these "wonderful lights' (thanks TIME) shining in a fairly dark looking city and I thought to my self it would be a wonderful sight to see these kind of things in Buffalo. One location that I always wanted to see a mural painted is over by Broderick Park (the Foot of Ferry). That big cement monstrosity that when the bridge is down we see it as we pass by on the 190, that thing would no longer be an eye sore if some one painted a beautiful picture on it. Maybe even with some historical content being that Buffalo has a very rich history.

      

Occupy Rooftops

I know that one of the largest concerns about Downtown Buffalo NY is the parking situation. They don't want to continue to just build parking ramps but if you are going to why don't they add a garden or playground on the top of it? There is currently a large debate about putting one by the Marine Drive apartments over by the naval park. I say do it just give the residents a nice park with basketball courts a track and other things to enjoy. It will also be a nice sight to see from the Skyway.

Drive-in on the Water Front

What could be better on a summer night than watching a movie with the stars in the sky and the waterfront on your side with downtown's lights giving you that ambient backlight feeling.

  In our country one form of entertainment that we have recently gotten away from is the Drive-In. There used to be one on Harlem road until a few years ago, so now if we want to enjoy it we have to drive out to Transit. So why not build one over by route 5. I know people will say "What about the day time? What about the winter months?" Well the NFTA in our city has a "Park and Ride" system and it could be a place for people to park and ride into the city during the day and in the winter.  I could even envision people on boats watching the movies.

Casino Riverboats

People are always complaining about the lack of waterfront development in our City. I mean I totally understand who puts a Interstate Highway on the waterfront? BUT that was not our decision. One thing I think we could do to beautify the waterfront would be the addition of Casino Riverboats. Those elaborate creations that grace the Mississippi and other southern waters. Now just think about it. Its a nice summer day and you are at the casino on the waters of WNY. During the winter months they could dock over by Route 5, and if the water is not deep enough for this to be possible just build a building that looks like a boat.

 

Bring Back the Braves

Come on! I know there are people in the WNY area  that Love the NBA and basketball in general. Look at the great turn out we get with the NCAA tournaments. Look at the staples center it is home to probably the most famous nba team and holds a little more than 19,000 people. If the bills could sell roughly 74000 tickets with a bad team every week they have a game here I think Buffalo could sell out a stadium of 19000. I know there are more games than the NFL has but Buffalonians are always looking for a good night out. Shoot they could even play in the First Niagara Center.

The Maglev

Lets call Buffalo what it is a hub city, a cog in a larger area with very dense Metropolitan areas not that far from us. We have Toronto to the north, Chicago to the West, NY and Boston to the East and Philadelphia to the south. A train ride from Buffalo to NYC that would only take a little more than an hour? A Maglev train can go up to 361 MPH. I would take it to the city all the time. Think about how many people invest more time on their commute than that in NYC? I know someone who travels two hours each way just to go work in NYC and they live about 60 miles away from the city. This may also fix the dwindling population issue in Buffalo.

The Indoor Beach

Come on can you imagine being at the beach in December? In Buffalo? I know I could and thanks to the Japanese I now know that it is possible. It's called Ocean Dome. I could see it now, getting a call from one of my relatives around Christmas time and them asking me what I'm doing, and me responding "at the beach, in Buffalo". That would produce what I call drop jaw syndrome  because we will no longer be known as one of the worse places for winter. Get your swimsuits and "summer" diets ready because the surf's up.

ROME

Rome was not built in a day and neither will we. BUT one thing that I could say about the Romans is that they are amazing in being able to decipher what they should incorporate into their society from the surrounding nations of their time. Lets be like the Romans, Buffalonians we have to be OK with borrowing good ideas. Just look at every car you see that should be the perfect example of using someones good idea.