Saving Buffalo’s Untold Beauty by Nicolai Ourousoff

Wouldn't it be nice to read "Saving Cleveland's Untold Beauty"?

"The city’s rough edges are smoothed over to satisfy the hunger for more
tourist dollars. Shiny new convention centers and generic boutiques
follow. Yet schools, roads, bridges and electrical and power lines
continue to crumble." Sounds familiar, eh?

We read about this in the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative's recently published Cities Growing Smaller.

Though the articles have yet to be posted online there, I found this interesting article at the National Vacant Properties Campaign on Buffalo.

Blueprint Buffalo: Regional Strategies and Local Tools for Reclaiming Vacant Properties in the City and Suburbs of Buffalo - Policy Brief (2.3 mb PDF)

Blueprint Buffalo: Regional Strategies and Local Tools for Reclaiming Vacant Properties in the City and Suburbs of Buffalo - Action Plan (1.9 mb PDF)

Cleveland at the Croassroads is attached.  Makes one wonder why, oh why ODOT has 43 historic properties in their crosshairs, why Cleveland Restoration Society is not in the news more regularly considering how many homes and buildings in Cleveland need so much help. (Though their website does feature one that is on Mapledale.) And then there the ... where are we with this plan, you know - the update...

Rokakis' landbank legislation is a good first step, but why oh why can't we get serious about code inspections and enforcement? Too burdensome on low income residents? Take some of the study money and put it into hammers, nails, insulation, roofing, sweat - subsidize and assist the low income folk and send a bill to the bank owners.