As reported by Robert J McCarthy and Tom Precious at the Buffalo News, the 'Buffalo Billion' is still on track and into the next phase which will give a $500 Million boost to local projects.  This is great news, especially after some of the corruption and issues in the first part.

 

This next bunch of Benjamens has some big plans behind it, and if executed correctly we could see some more amazing change for the city as it continues its resurgence.  Some of the highlights of the next big spend are:

  • Extending the Metro Rail north to the University at Buffalo campus in Amherst and south to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Terminal near the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo.
  • Buying a swath of downtown Niagara Falls to spur redevelopment.
  • Buying and making "shovel ready" up to 1,000 acres of the former Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna.
  • Building a park on the Outer Harbor and reclaiming 135,000 acres of the Niagara Gorge.
  • Building a National Comedy Center in Jamestown.
  • Investing in "place-making" improvements on the city’s East Side, which the administration says would leverage private investments in the Central Terminal, around Martin Luther King Jr. Park and other locations.
  • Funding for improvements along 10 miles of Main Street, from the Outer Harbor to UB’s North Campus.
  • Moving Buffalo Manufacturing Works, the industrial innovation center operated by nonprofit EWI, to the Northland Corridor in the Fillmore-Ferry area.
  • Expanding greenway space in the Niagara Gorge corridor.
  • Additional state funding at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, historic sites, and in waterway access areas.

Now, and this is going to sound kind of crazy, but $500 Million doesn't buy what it used to.  This is a pretty big list so I'm not going to hold my breath, but if we can get even half of this accomplished we will be in great shape.

 

Now, for an even crazier statement, if everyone actually works together and has Buffalo's best interest in mind most of this could happen.  Don't hold your breath on this part, you will turn blue.

 

End of the day, if we can get Uber and a cool Comedy Museum I would be happy.  Maybe raffle off $1 Million to 500 different families in Buffalo and see what they would do with it.  Now that would make things really interesting!  What idea's do you have if you could spend $500 Million on Buffalo's development?

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