The Blog

It’s estimated 10,000 Baby Boomers celebrate their 65^th birthday every day.  I know this because my mother was one of those Boomers who passed the threshold into senior citizen status.  What I wasn’t ready for was her decision to move back to Western New York and potentially give up driving.  Where was she going to live?  Without driving, could she get to stores, restaurants, the post office, health care facilities and more?  These questions and more are how senior citizens are driving a series of radical changes in the way communities are being transformed for the future.

It’s estimated one-fifth of the U.S. population will be 65 or over by 2020, and developers, planners and cities need to consider the growing senior population when planning housing and all that comes with it.  One way is returning to Pre-WWII traditional neighborhoods, taking the form of the design movement called New Urbanism.

The article by Jay Burney was originally published in The Buffalo News on September 30, 2012.   The author is founder of GreenWatch and the Learning Sustainability Campaign. Click here to visit GreenWatch on Facebook.

If you ride a bike or drive a car on the streets of Buffalo, you know that there are safety issues involving the conflicts between pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists.

All of that is beginning to change. You may have noticed in your own neighborhood that there is a lot of street construction going on.

After years of criticism focused on the complexity of maneuvering through the patchwork of zoning rules and regulations, the city is finally addressing its coding and zoning systems. Soon we will have a new, place-based land-use and zoning tool that supports livable neighborhoods and includes street redesigns. This promises to bring a better quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors.

The new tool is called the Buffalo Green Code. It is a land-use plan and a unified development ordinance that is described as "combining zoning, subdivision and public realm standards into a single document." In an interview with The Buffalo News, Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown said that "the Green Code is designed to help transform Buffalo into an economically competitive city by making our neighborhoods and districts more livable. This will benefit all of our citizens."

If you ride a bike or drive a car on the streets of Buffalo, you know that there are safety issues involving the conflicts between pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists.

All of that is beginning to change. You may have noticed in your own neighborhood that there is a lot of street construction going on.

After years of criticism focused on the complexity of maneuvering through the patchwork of zoning rules and regulations, the city is finally addressing its coding and zoning systems. Soon we will have a new, place-based land-use and zoning tool that supports livable neighborhoods and includes street redesigns. This promises to bring a better quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors.

The new tool is called the Buffalo Green Code. It is a land-use plan and a unified development ordinance that is described as "combining zoning, subdivision and public realm standards into a single document." In an interview with The Buffalo News, Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown said that "the Green Code is designed to help transform Buffalo into an economically competitive city by making our neighborhoods and districts more livable. This will benefit all of our citizens."

Click here to read the full article...

The following excerpt is from an article written by staff reporter Kathleen Ronayne of The Buffalo News and published on June 5, 2012.

Neighborhood integrity is top concern at hearing

The chief concern among residents of the Elmwood Village over a proposed comprehensive update to the City Code is maintaining the character and integrity of their neighborhood.

City officials say the new code is meant to do just that.

“The entire intent is to reinforce the fabric of the neighborhood,” said Brendan Mehaffy, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning.

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Brownfield Opportunity Area Open Houses Coming Up

by City of Buffalo on June 14, 2012 ( What's New )

Mayor Byron W. Brown invites you to three upcoming Brownfield Opportunity Area Open Houses to help create a long-term vision for the future of these three distinct areas that will then become part of the Buffalo Green Code.

Consultants working with the Mayor's Office of Strategic Planning will present preliminary development concepts for the Inner and Outer Harbors, Buffalo River Corridor, and Tonawanda Street Corridor and engage the community in a discussion of the long-term vision for these sites.

Please attend, participate, and encourage your friends and neighbors to join us in creating these important development strategies.

Visit the website at http://buffalobrownfieldopportunities.com/ for additional information.

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