FOCUS: CITY HOUSING
Can Buffalo lead the way in solving nation's vacant housing problem?
Some propose city as living laboratory
The notion of Buffalo as a hotbed of new ideas, an incubator of innovation or a model of cutting-edge thought strikes many as far-fetched, even unthinkable.
But a “living laboratory” devoted to solving America’s vacant-housing crisis is exactly the kind of bold initiative local housing leaders think is needed in Buffalo.
And while they enjoy the backing of the nation’s foremost experts, they lack the support of City Hall.
“What are the alternatives?” asked Joseph Schilling, an urban affairs professor at Virginia Tech and founder of the National Vacant Properties Campaign. “At some point, we have to realize traditional economic development approaches don’t work when you’re facing blight and abandonment that has become intractable.”
The idea that Buffalo could become a national laboratory dedicated to solving the vacant-housing crisis has its roots in Blueprint Buffalo, a two-year-old report developed by a team of experts and now touted by City Hall and local leaders.
Schilling gave new life to the proposal last month with a published article, “Buffalo as the Nation’s First Living Laboratory for Reclaiming Vacant Properties.”
Despite that endorsement, city officials see the living lab as just another well-intentioned idea without the money to make it happen.
“Good ideas are not enough,” said Brian Reilly, Buffalo’s commissioner of economic development, permits and inspections. “We’ve got a book of good ideas, but you can’t win a war with concepts.”
Higgins likes idea
At first blush, a living lab in Buffalo might seem like pie-in-the- sky thinking, but one of its supporters is a congressman with a keen interest in seeing it happen.
“Why wouldn’t I be interested?” said Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo. “A collaborative effort between the city, our foundations and local community groups can provide, in Buffalo, a demonstration that we can be creative and successful at urban revitalization.”
Local housing leaders see the high-profile initiative as an ideal way to bring more state and federal money to Buffalo. They also think it could open the door to funding from private foundations.
“Chasing national dollars is a good thing, and this is the type of project national groups like,” said Sam Magavern, a law instructor with the University at Buffalo’s Affordable Housing Clinic and a member of the Partnership for Public Good. “I also think we can use all the help we can get.”
The idea that Buffalo could become a national showcase for solving the vacant-housing crisis is seen as a strategy big and bold enough to deal with the immense problem facing the city.
A recent Buffalo News analysis discovered one out of every 12 or 13 vacant properties in Buffalo — a total of 7,000 to 8,000 — will soon be owned by City Hall, making it the city’s biggest landowner.
The series also found Buffalo’s vacant-housing rate to be the highest in New York and behind only Detroit and New Orleans among the 100 largest cities in the nation.
Attract national talent
Supporters say the creation of a one-of-a-kind living lab would bring with it national talent and expertise, the likes of which Buffalo is not likely to have access to otherwise.
Like Schilling, many of them are national leaders in the field of vacant and abandoned housing.
“This is coming from a very credible partnership,” said Michael Clarke, head of the Local Initiatives Support Corp., one of the national groups that funded Blueprint Buffalo. “This is a group that sees the opportunity we have.”
If there’s an obstacle to the idea, it may be City Hall. While Mayor Byron W. Brown is quick to cite Blueprint Buffalo as a valuable tool, his aides dismiss the living lab proposal as unrealistic.
When asked about it, the mayor’s point man on vacant housing said the proposal lacks the one thing Buffalo needs most — money.
Reilly isn’t shy about dismissing proposals he considers unrealistic or unfundable. For him, the only viable, long-term solution is a healthier local economy.
“A lot of these properties have no demand,” he said recently at a downtown forum on vacant housing in Buffalo. “That’s a fundamental problem you have to deal with.”
So far, the city’s primary response has been its massive “5 in 5” plan, a strategy for tearing down 5,000 vacant buildings over the course of five years.
At the same forum where he touted the city’s efforts, a gathering sponsored by the Partnership for Public Good, Reilly heard local housing leaders question Buffalo’s emphasis on demolition.
“On the West Side, we see things a little differently,” said Harvey Garrett, executive director of the West Side Collaborative. “Instead of knocking them down, we see vacant properties as assets.”
Garrett pointed to neighborhoods like Chenango Street and Essex Street as proof that vacant homes can be saved, rehabilitated and resold to homeowners.
Move block by block
The key, he said, is to move block by block, eliminating crime and blight as you go and insuring vacant homes are bought by homeowners. He pointed to Essex, which has gone from about 30 percent homeowners to nearly 100 percent homeowners.
“Breaking that disinvestment cycle is the key to bringing back these neighborhoods,” Garrett said.
It was billed as a forum on solutions, and several speakers endorsed the regional land bank that Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, proposes and Brown opposes. Hoyt’s legislation passed the State Legislature and is now before Gov. David A. Paterson.
Supporters say the bill, modeled after an award-winning land bank in Flint, Mich., provides a vehicle for the city to adopt a more comprehensive and strategic plan. It also ensures a regional approach to a problem that’s creeping into the city’s suburbs.
“It’s not just a city issue,” said Anthony Armstrong of the Local Initiatives Support Corp. in Buffalo. “It’s not just the city losing occupied houses and people.”
Armstrong also endorsed the living lab, calling it a way for Buffalo to “think differently” and avoid “doing the same thing over and over again.”
Supporters see the lab as an ambitious and exciting proposition, a way for Buffalo to attract expertise and funding as it tries to right size itself.
“The vision is stellar,” said Aaron Bartley of PUSH Buffalo, a West Side housing group. “The question remains whether our leaders in the public and private sector, who have failed so miserably to address the problem thus far, will recognize the need for regional cooperation and a less parochial outlook on development matters.”
Schilling said the lab would require a legal and operating structure that gives it the flexibility and clout to streamline existing programs and create new development models.
“We think the institutional home needs to be the University at Buffalo,” said Schilling. “We also envision a steering group made up of state, local and federal officials, as well as non-profit groups, that will set the policy agenda.”
