Reclaiming the Waterfront, Reconnecting the City
Buffalo’s greatest assets are hiding in plain sight: miles of shoreline on Lake Erie and the Niagara River, an Olmsted park and parkway system widely regarded as the nation’s oldest, and a downtown full of historic architecture. Over the twentieth century, much of that inheritance was cut off by expressways, rail yards, surface parking and industrial land.
Change Buffalo PAC’s development plans would reverse that. Each is a detailed proposal with strategies, timelines and measures of success:
- Downtown Revitalization: bring residents back to the central business district, turn surface parking into public squares, and release government-owned property for private redevelopment.
- Outer Harbor Development: create a vast waterfront park with marinas, beaches and trails from the Buffalo River to the city’s southern border.
- Inner Harbor Redevelopment: mixed-use development on public land, a restored Ohio Street, and a historically styled street grid at Silo City.
- Black Rock Waterfront: relocate I-190 away from the Niagara River, create a waterfront park, and restore the historic street grid and wharves.
- Scajaquada Expressway: remove the expressway that bisects Delaware Park and extend parkland west to Black Rock Harbor.
- Humboldt Parkway Restoration: replace the Kensington Expressway with a restored Olmsted parkway, new homes and historic restoration loans.
These projects are part of the PAC’s Turnaround Agenda and our advocacy campaigns.
