The East Side Transformation Demonstration Project is designed with the goal of transforming the east side of Buffalo, which is a predominantly African American neighborhood, into a “great place to live, work and play.” Dr Henry Louis Taylor Jr, Director of the Center for Urban Studies for the University at Buffalo, and one of the project leaders announced that the Broadway-Fillmore area has been the first part of the East Side selected for transformation. Dr Taylor mentioned the area's housing is one of the reasons it was selected first.
“The Broadway-Fillmore area had a unique combination of a large number of occupied housing units, a significant number of vacant lots, along with the large number of houses that are not for rent or sale, and so we felt that this combination created a rare opportunity to imagine and re imagine a neighborhood and a community on a scale that was not possible elsewhere.”
When Dr Taylor announced the decision to the community, he was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback. However, general concerns remained, specifically concerns about speculators buying the land once information about the project became widespread, as well as concerns of having a backup plan.
“One individual was concerned about large numbers of speculators buying the land once they knew this project was going and holding out. And what we said is that right now, a significant amount of the land, in that area is already controlled by speculators, but that the city also owned a significant amount of vacant property on Buffalo’s east side. There are also a number of lots that and houses there that are owned for rent, that are owned by people who both live on the east side and live inside of that neighborhood. So, our first look was to work with those people that were part of the neighborhood and work closely with the city to acquire and obtain the land, and we would worry about the land owned by the speculators at a later point.”
“Another great question was a gentleman said, Dr Taylor, what's your plan B? And I smiled and said, our plan B is to make plan A work. Black people have been living under plan B for too many years, too many decades. So, we no longer want a plan B.”
The King Urban Life Center is expected to serve as the place for community discussions regarding the project. A funding announcement for the project is expected to come in June.
