The 6 Dumbest Decisions Ever Made In Buffalo

Throughout the history of Western New York, there have been plenty of mistakes and bad ideas that have come about. If we had a chance to go back and do it over again, we’d made another choice.

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That said, I know for a fact that Buffalo has made a series of bad decisions that, maybe seemed like a good idea at the time, but have proven to be just a dumb idea.

Here are the 6 dumbest things that Buffalo has done:

1. Expanding the University at Buffalo Campus into Amherst

After The University of Buffalo was absorbed into the SUNY system in 1962, the need to expand the school was realized pretty quickly. Instead of finding space within the city limits, then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller advocated for the state to purchase land in Amherst where the current campus is.

2. Bills Stadium Being Built in Orchard Park

The Bills were wildly successful during their AFL days and many people have fond memories of attending games at 46,000 seat War Memorial Stadium, sometimes called the Rockpile. After the NFL and AFL merger in the 1960s, NFL rules required Buffalo to have a larger facility. Instead of looking at available space within the city, officials from Erie County settled on a site in Orchard Park. Rich Stadium, largely financed by county Bonds, opened in 1973

3. Building The Kensington Expressway Through Humboldt Parkway

This is, in my humble opinion, perhaps the dumbest thing we’ve done in Buffalo. The original Humboldt Parkway, which was described by its designer Frederick Law Olmsted as the widest and grandest street in Buffalo, was turned into a 6 lane below-grade highway which also destroyed multiple neighborhoods that were populated with untold families and businesses. Construction, which started in 1958, took 13 years to finish and completely changes the landscape of Buffalo.

4. Replacing Scajaquada Drive with the Scajaquada Expressway 

The 1960’s also brought about the need to connect the Kensington Expressway, which was under construction, with the also newly completed Interstate 190. While this new divided highway made it easier to travel through Buffalo, it also caused significant damage to several Buffalo neighborhoods and along with the original design of Delaware Park

5. The Braves leaving Buffalo

In an amazing moment in Buffalo history, the city was awarded an NBA expansion franchise and the Buffalo Braves took the court for the first time in October 1970 (the same year the Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers also took the court for the first time). Unfortunately, the Braves' tenure in Buffalo only lasted 8 years as they were sold and subsequently moved to California to eventually become the Los Angeles Clippers.

6. The Buffalo Sabres Debut the Slug Logo

2006 was a particularly bad year in Buffalo as they unveiled their new franchise colors and uniform. The new jerseys featured dark blue, maize gold, silver, and white colors with a new futuristic logo. Unfortunately, that logo was widely considered to be the ugliest logo in sports. However, we only had to live with the slug for 4 years as the Sabres switched back to their logo with the two crossed sabers in a blue and gold circle.

I wonder how life would be in Buffalo if any of these decisions went in another direction.

What about you, what do you think were bad decisions made by Buffalo?