Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Buffalo Steeled for recovery
The folks in England think Buffalo is in for better economic times...especially with Spitzer at the helm........interesting read..........andy
“WHEN the wind blows right, everybody in downtown smells the Cheerios,” says Charles Rosenow, an economic-development official in Buffalo. Indeed, the scent is unmistakable even half a mile from the General Mills factory along the Buffalo river.
Few other relics from the industrial glory days of Buffalo are still working. The city's population has plunged by more than half since 1950, from 580,000 then to 280,000 today. Though Buffalo remains the largest city in upstate New York, sections of its waterfront are a picture of industrial ruin. All but two of the city's 17 concrete grain elevators lie empty, flanked by overgrown railway tracks. Bethlehem Steel closed its plant in 1983, laying off thousands. The remnant of the car industry is trying to buy out its Buffalo workers.
What went wrong? The city was riding high in the 19th and early 20th centuries as the Erie Canal, which has a terminus at Buffalo, opened up commerce between the Great Lakes and Albany (and, further down the Hudson, New York City and the Atlantic). The slump began in earnest after the opening in 1959 of the St Lawrence Seaway, which bypassed the Erie Canal. Free trade and outsourcing helped kill off the manufacturing plants.
But better times may lie ahead. Buffalo officials brim with ideas, and some are being implemented. A 110m-gallon (416m-litre) ethanol plant scheduled to open next year will put four of the gigantic grain elevators back into use for corn storage. The original terminus of the Erie Canal is being rebuilt to attract tourists and shops; and private developers, tempted by cheap property prices, are pouring money into old buildings. There is talk of making Buffalo a biomedical technology hub, complementing the city's enormous cancer-research centre, and of building a casino near the centre of town. One looming worry is commerce with Canada, which will be complicated by stricter passport rules next year as well as by delays in widening a bridge across the border.
The best news may be the election of Eliot Spitzer, who takes over as governor in January. Buffalo's relations with Albany, the state capital, have often been strained. Upstate New Yorkers fret that Manhattan gets too much money and attention, and that state regulations and taxes hurt Buffalo's ability to compete. But “I think the upstate cities are going to have a champion in Eliot Spitzer,” says Sam Hoyt, a state assemblyman from the region. Mr Spitzer made redevelopment of upstate New York one of his campaign priorities. He had the bad luck to be in Buffalo during the freak October snowstorm that dumped two feet (60cm) of snow on the city. Despite having to spend the night in the airport, he remains keen on Buffalo, even daring to visit again shortly after the election. That must be a good sign."
Few other relics from the industrial glory days of Buffalo are still working. The city's population has plunged by more than half since 1950, from 580,000 then to 280,000 today. Though Buffalo remains the largest city in upstate New York, sections of its waterfront are a picture of industrial ruin. All but two of the city's 17 concrete grain elevators lie empty, flanked by overgrown railway tracks. Bethlehem Steel closed its plant in 1983, laying off thousands. The remnant of the car industry is trying to buy out its Buffalo workers.
What went wrong? The city was riding high in the 19th and early 20th centuries as the Erie Canal, which has a terminus at Buffalo, opened up commerce between the Great Lakes and Albany (and, further down the Hudson, New York City and the Atlantic). The slump began in earnest after the opening in 1959 of the St Lawrence Seaway, which bypassed the Erie Canal. Free trade and outsourcing helped kill off the manufacturing plants.
But better times may lie ahead. Buffalo officials brim with ideas, and some are being implemented. A 110m-gallon (416m-litre) ethanol plant scheduled to open next year will put four of the gigantic grain elevators back into use for corn storage. The original terminus of the Erie Canal is being rebuilt to attract tourists and shops; and private developers, tempted by cheap property prices, are pouring money into old buildings. There is talk of making Buffalo a biomedical technology hub, complementing the city's enormous cancer-research centre, and of building a casino near the centre of town. One looming worry is commerce with Canada, which will be complicated by stricter passport rules next year as well as by delays in widening a bridge across the border.
The best news may be the election of Eliot Spitzer, who takes over as governor in January. Buffalo's relations with Albany, the state capital, have often been strained. Upstate New Yorkers fret that Manhattan gets too much money and attention, and that state regulations and taxes hurt Buffalo's ability to compete. But “I think the upstate cities are going to have a champion in Eliot Spitzer,” says Sam Hoyt, a state assemblyman from the region. Mr Spitzer made redevelopment of upstate New York one of his campaign priorities. He had the bad luck to be in Buffalo during the freak October snowstorm that dumped two feet (60cm) of snow on the city. Despite having to spend the night in the airport, he remains keen on Buffalo, even daring to visit again shortly after the election. That must be a good sign."
