canal side presentation

8/8/2019 Canal Side Presentation

1/16

Canal Side:

Citizen

WaterfrontForumCity of Buffalo Public OpinionSolicitation

Mayors Office of Strategic PlanningByron W. Brown, Mayor

Brendan R. Mehaffy, Esq., Executive Director


2/16

Significant progresshas been made.

- Buffalonians have consistently demanded access tothe water.

- Federal, state, and local officials have respondedwith new streets, public spaces, walking and cyclingpaths.

- The waterfront is now more accessible than it hasbeen in decades.

- Canal Side infrastructure is nearly complete andsignificant development-ready parcels are ready forbuild-out.


3/16


4/16

Mayor Brown issues

call for ideas.- Mayor Byron W. Brown issued a call to the publicfor ideas for the development of Canal Side on August

10, 2010, and the public came back with anoverwhelming response.

- Solicitations for public feedback from hundreds ofpeople were collected by e-mail, personal letters,

and the Citys 311 web form and call line.


5/16

856 people

1,757 ideas

RESPONSE TO

MAYORS CALL


6/16

311 Web Form was a huge success.


7/16

A wide range of responses emerged from acrossthe region and beyond.


8/16

?

What does the public

have to say?


9/16

We have access to the water.

Now the public is demanding we take thenext step.


10/16

The ideas from the public were wide

ranging, creative, and comprehensive, yetprominent themes emerge that offer

direction on a course for action.


11/16

As simply stated by one respondent,Buffalonians love to eat, drink, and be

entertained.


12/16

1,757 ideas...


13/16

The public stresses the importance of historical andcultural authenticity in the waterfronts build-out.

STRONG PUBLICSUPPORT

National specialty restaurants and retail chains,particularly those that are not yet located in the Buffaloarea.

There is a strong desire for recreational, leisure, andsporting activities at the waters edge.

Civic gathering places and access to the water havewidespread support.

There is a strong desire for museum and interpretiveexperiences that relate strongly to Buffalos heritage,culture, and Great Lakes/Erie Canal location.

The public overwhelmingly supports the waterfrontsdevelopment as a setting for restaurants, coffeehouses, and bars.


14/16

The public expressed some concern about environmental standards, butdid not express any concern for a living wage as a prerequisite towaterfront development.

There is only limited support for use of the waters edge as an officelocation, indicating a widespread preference for its development as aresort or an escape from the 9 to 5 destination.

While there was a call for local retailers, there was a greater call for

national retailers.

LIMITED PUBLIC SUPPORT


15/16

The common thread across all the responses isa desire for the waterfront to become anexciting urban place, where restaurants,

retail, entertainment, recreational activities,and cultural and family destinations - in short,

things to do - are embedded into an

authentic, walkable district.


16/16

The feedback from the publicreinforces many of the overriding goals

and objectives of the Canal Side MasterPlan.

canal side presentation

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