Blueprint Buffalo
Jim Allen from the Amherst IDA sent along a link to this report on vacant properties in Buffalo called “Blueprint Buffalo: A Regional Strategy for Reclaiming Abandoned and Vacant Property in Buffalo”. You can check the policy brief here, and the action plan here (both in .pdf).
The report, released before supportive regional and local officials, business leaders, and civic groups, sets forth four leadership and four policy actions to prevent, abate, reclaim, and reuse vacant and abandoned properties within Buffalo and its surrounding first-tier suburbs.
whitney Says:December 28th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
two thumbs up for Blueprint Buffalo. lots of good ideas and examples.
Lisa Says:December 28th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
Thank you Pundit for posting the link to the report; it was a very interesting and informative read. I appreciate that it points out that addressing the issue of vacant and abandoned land in Buffalo and surrounding communities can be an opportunity.
Michele J Says:December 28th, 2006 at 5:50 pm
Strategic Landbanking has to begin!
Richard Kern Says:December 29th, 2006 at 9:49 am
A coordinated vacnt property management initiative is long overdue in a city with about 25,000 housing vacancies, and a state government that controls about 1500 derelict MBBA properties while doing nothing to cooperate with efforts by PUSH to resolve their blighting impact on 100’s of struggling neighborhoods.
There has been little focus on the destructive impact of 1,000’s of Bflo properties now being owned by far-away investor-flipper-scammers who have no interest in struggling neighborhoods where they are exploiting decline. The problem is worsened by a shrinking city building 100’s of new housing units in places folks never lived when the city was over twice its current size.
An important start is to gather better data about who owns what where. After “meltdown” of county government there was a sharp reduction in availabity of deed data. Instead of weekly deed date being emailed to me by the Clerk’s Office a week after deeds were filed, the most current public data is now 6 weeks old in Monday’s Bflo News. And that data omits deeds under $5000, where many scams begin.
Deed data on the city website is even more outdated (about 3 months old) & too often inaccurate.
The Mayor’s Anti-Flipping Task-Force (AFTF) allegedly now gathers & analyzes current deed data, but refuses to release it. They insist that doing so would compromise prosecution of criminal activity, an absurd argument that could justify keeping murders secret.
We need 21st century data gathering techniques to fight use of 21st century inter-net technology to flip inner-city Bflo houses to the world.
Dick Kern (in Mpls)
Dick Kern (in Mpls)