Kudos from WNY Media and our good friend BuffaloGeek:
Yesterday, BuffaloPundit linked to a story about the proposed hipster flea market that would take up residence in the DL&W terminal along the Buffalo River.
Now, I will reserve comment on the idea of publicly funded silver bullet economic development projects and instead focus on the troubling undercurrent that was evident in the comments at BRO and on BuffaloPundit’s site as to the long term viability of The Broadway Market and Buffalo’s East Side.
A sampling of the comments:
“The Broadway Market is a charming place that you hate to see languish, but we all have to make decisions as to what can be revitalized and what can’t be – The Broadway Market can be stabilized, I suspect, but not brought back to what it once was.”
“The Broadway Markets day is done and gone, went there once, after 5 minutes we bolted. City’s with a waterfront tend to use said waterfront for this purpose. Housing, boardwalks, nightlife and… retail. Unless Buffalo gets an influx of say 200 thousand people moving back to the city, the East side is pretty much a wrap.”
“The condition of the Broadway Market is sad. But out of towners WILL NOT head to that neighborhood. Nor will 80 % of locals…sad, but true.”
All through the comments, it was pretty clear to me that many local blog readers are completely unaware as to the efforts of Broadway Fillmore Alive, the East Side GNPA, David Torke, Michele Johnson and the AFTF, as well as hundreds of dedicated volunteers that are working together to make the East Side and The Broadway Market a vibrant part of our city.
