EDITORIALS
Buffalo needs to start building on its strengths
Opportunity’s here, but help needed from Washington if not from Albany
Bringing about significant economic change is a fiercely difficult and complex task, but it starts with having a clear understanding of existing conditions. Robert Wilmers has that.
Wilmers is best known to Western New Yorkers as founder and CEO of M&T Bank, but since earlier this year he is also New York State’s top economic development official. Speaking in Buffalo on Tuesday, Wilmers clearly identified not only the major obstacles to upstate’s economic revival, but some solutions, as well.
Most broadly, Wilmers noted that upstate and Western New York require large projects to alter their economic trajectories. New York City’s economy — which is a different league altogether, anyway — has benefited from such projects, including the redevelopment of Times Square and Battery Park. Upstate, a vastly larger geographic area, has had little such attention, although Albany has benefited from the largess of former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.
In Western New York, Wilmers cited three prominent areas for new investment, and while they may be obvious — Buffalo’s waterfront, its trove of architectural treasures and Niagara Falls — it is encouraging when the person singling them out is the chairman of the Empire State Development Corp.
Wilmers — who deserves credit for tackling a tough job he didn’t want at a tough time, but now must deliver for this area — noted the depressing fact that while Niagara Falls is the No. 2 tourist destination in the state, three-quarters of its visitors go to the Canadian side. The reason is obvious: the American city offers little for tourists to do. “A huge amount could be spent to renovate the town and make a fantastic tourist attraction,” he said.
Although he didn’t mention it specifically, one project that could go a long way toward enlivening Niagara Falls is the apparently dormant 6-year-old plan to build the proposed $100 million Niagara Experience Center, envisioned as a world-class, state-of-the-art museum that would tout the region’s attractions and tell the story of the creation of the falls. Wilmers and the governor should focus on such an effort to bring Falls visitors through the Buffalo area instead of through Toronto and encourage them to remain and visit Buffalo and other regional attractions.
Similarly, he observed that Buffalo’s waterfront remains an untapped resource, and that “it will be dumb not to continue” improving it. He also called for stronger efforts to develop the city’s tourism potential by making better use of its renowned architecture. A fortune in time and money are being spent to restore the city’s great buildings, but only pennies have been put into marketing.
With New York’s economic struggles, there is little hope of significant new state investment in Buffalo or anywhere upstate. There’s always talk about what Buffalo deserves from Albany, but it has remained mostly talk; local politicians have risen through the ranks, but great seniority has not paid great dividends locally and our legislators too often use their clout to support their own turf instead of overall economic initiatives.
But, as Wilmers noted, the federal government can and should now be asked to help more. Indeed, with Washington planning an economic stimulus package, leaders of the state’s public and private sectors should be advocating for projects such as the Niagara Experience Center, which would have a long-term impact on the regional economy.
Upstate residents were encouraged when Gov. David A. Paterson appointed Wilmers as head of Empire State Development. With Tuesday’s appearance, he showed that he knows the lay of the upstate economic landscape, and that he understands the kinds of actions needed. If he doesn’t succeed, it won’t be for lack of understanding the challenge he has taken on.
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