A Plan that Bears Fruit: A Community Land Trust and Other Tools For Neighborhood Revitalization in the Fruit Belt

On December 1, 2015, the City of Buffalo’s Common Council passed a resolution placing a moratorium on the sale of city-owned lots in the Fruit Belt neighborhood. The Fruit Belt includes the area enclosed by Cherry Street, Jefferson Avenue, Best Street, Main Street, Goodell Street, and Michigan Avenue – a neighborhood where the City of Buffalo owns over 200 vacant lots. The City promised not to sell lots to developers until “a duly approved strategic plan” had been created. According to the resolution, the plan must protect Fruit Belt residents from “the adverse effects of development” and include the residents’ vision for “Fruit Belt revitalization.

The Niagara River Greenway: Fulfilling the Promise

According to the law and the settlement agreements that created it, the Niagara River Greenway was meant to be a linear system of parks, trails, and conservation areas linking Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. Progress on the Greenway has been hampered by the fact that Greenway funds are being spent on a wide variety of projects which, however worthy, bear little or no relation to a linear system of parks and trails. Only about one half of the projects funded have advanced the Greenway as originally envisioned

Nepali Bhutanese Refugees in Buffalo

Bhutanese refugees have a complicated history. In the late 19th and early 20th century, an influx of undocumented Nepali immigrants into Bhutan occurred. These individuals were settled in the southern region of Bhutan and referred to as Lhotshampas, meaning “southerners”. The Bhutanese government enforced the Bhutanese Citizenship Act of 1958 as an effort to more closely control the immigration. The government wished to promote cultural and national unity throughout Bhutan. Upon Bhutan’s first census in 1988, the government became aware of the vast extent of native Nepali individuals living in the southern region. After the census, the government began efforts to remove these groups. Since 2003, New York State has resettled 5,741 refugees from Bhutan, with 745 in the 2013 fiscal year. Many of these have been resettled in Erie County

Yemeni Immigrants in Western New York

The country of Yemen came into being in May of 1990 when North Yemen merged with South Yemen. Sanaa, the former capital of the North, became the political capital, and Aden, the former capital of the South, became the economic center. Because of the less-developed economy in Yemen, many Yemenites (predominantly males) have emigrated out of the country seeking employment, often to send money back home. In addition, a brutal police force and government have led to violence and discrimination against people in the country, especially those that have voiced disagreements with the government. Yemeni individuals have been migrating to America since the 1800s with large influxes from the 1970s onward. There are about 5,000 Yemeni residents in Buffalo and thousands more in near Buffalo suburbs, particularly Lackawanna, the heart of the Yemeni community

Refugees from Iraq in Buffalo

The country of Iraq suffers from war and terrorism on a daily basis. Currently the population of Iraq is approximately 28 million, of whom about 75% are Arab, 17% are Kurds and the remainder mostly Armenians, Assyrians and Turks. The turmoil in Iraq includes violent disputes among Sunni Muslim and Shi’ite Muslim; persecution due to political allegiance; and targeting of vulnerable populations, such as women, by militias and insurgents. Over two million Iraqis have relocated outside of the country to Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon and Turkey. Unlike other refugee groups, Iraqi refugees typically have not spent much time in refugee camps. Since 2003, New York State has resettled 2,614 Iraqi refugees, including 391 in the 2013 fiscal year. Many of these have been resettled in Erie County

Buffalo Niagara at the Crossroads: How State Energy Policies can Lead Western New York to a Green, Prosperous, and Just Future

Buffalo Niagara stands at a climate crossroads. Looking down one road, we can see a chance to rebuild impoverished neighborhoods with quality jobs, green affordable housing, community-owned renewable energy, urban farms, and community gardens, building on the highly successful example of the Green Development Zone on the city’s West Side. Looking down another road, we can see an inequitable region made even more unjust and vulnerable by climate change impacts such as heat waves, extreme weather events, and governments too overwhelmed with emergency response to provide quality services to their residents. Which road we travel will depend in part on the new energy policies that New York State is in the process of creating. With thoughtful legislation and regulation, we have a narrow window of opportunity to move rapidly toward clean energy and to make sure, in the transition, that our most vulnerable workers and residents gain, rather than lose, from the new economy that is rising around our eyes

Bangladeshi Immigrants in Buffalo

Bangladeshi immigrants have relocated to Buffalo, New York, at a pace that has surprised many. The size of Buffalo’s Bangladeshi population is unknown. The U.S. Census estimates that 316 Bangladeshis live in Buffalo, but Liberty Yellow Taxi alone employs about 367. Most Bangladeshi praise Buffalo, but some worry that social and religious intolerance is growing. A number of men in the mosque have expressed concern about anti-Muslim rhetoric on local talk shows. Like members of the Bangladeshi Society of Buffalo, they hope to raise awareness about diverse religious and ethnic groups and spread a message of tolerance

Why Buffalo Needs Inclusionary Zoning: Affordability, Job Access, Inclusion, and Quality Housing

Buffalo’s housing market faces four severe challenges: affordability, job access, inclusiveness, and quality. Inclusionary zoning is a proven tool for addressing all four issues. Inclusionary zoning asks that when a developer creates new housing units, it reserve a certain percent for affordable housing. Thus, inclusionary zoning leverages the power of the market to create more high-quality affordable housing units, often near job centers and transit lines, and to make neighborhoods more inclusive and less segregated. In 2014, recognizing the need for more affordable housing, the City of Buffalo committed to “lobby for regional acceptance of inclusionary zoning provisions.” In 2016, hundreds of Buffalo residents submitted comments supporting the adoption of inclusionary zoning as part of the City’s new Green Code. In passing the Green Code, Common Council members promised to promptly take up and pass inclusionary zoning legislation. This brief presents data demonstrating Buffalo’s need for such legislation

Immigrants, Refugees, and Languages Spoken in Buffalo

Buffalo has a low proportion of foreign born residents compared to other cities. But an unusually high percentage of the region’s foreign-born are refugees. Buffalo has become a top location for refugee resettlement in the nation

Eritrean Refugees in Buffalo

Eritrea was once part of Ethiopia, but began a struggle for independence in the 1960s and finally became established as a separate country in 1993. The civil war that preceded the separation lasted for approximately 30 years, beginning while Eritrea was still considered part of Ethiopia and continued until 2000, even after independence was granted. Three waves of migration from Eritrea to the US occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, as refugees escaped the violent civil war, finding safety in refugee camps in surrounding countries, and then more recently as individuals (mostly men) sought to escape the mandatory national service. Despite the peace treaty with Ethiopia signed in 2000, there has been escalating tension along the border, along with discrimination against evangelical Christians and ethnic minority groups. The most common ethnic group in Eritrea is Tigrean