The new year is an apt time to reflect on how American life is changing. A sea change in the way the built environment is being constructed, the way people communicate and interact, the way in which cities play a role in the global and local economy, are trends of particular relevance to Buffalo and to neighborhoods on the rebound, including the Larkin District and the Hydraulics.
Gas prices have risen and fallen, but the emphasis on transit use and walkability remains on the increase. Cities are a focus again, as Americans rediscover the authenticity and close contact of traditional neighborhoods. A reaction against suburban homogeneity and corporate standardization are making older urban areas, with their variety and local character, more attractive for private investment. Many realms of economic and social decision-making seem to be undergoing a shift, impacting where and how people live and do business. All of it seems to bode well for cities like Buffalo.
American cities seem to have some exciting developments in store, yet wrenches dangle over the proverbial machine. Global economies change quickly, but big government and big business tend not to do so, raising some big questions that hang over 2009. In current economic conditions, will there be a greater aversion to nonconventional projects (i.e. mixed-use, adaptive reuse, walkable, urban) and a renewed love affair with conventional sprawl? Will infrastructure stimulus funding pave new highways, but forgo opportunities to rebuild public transit and rehabilitate urban spaces? Will America miss a unique chance to invest in cities and strengthen conditions for global competitiveness?
The Hydraulics is still, to a great degree, in a severe hangover from post-industrial trends in American life. Seventy-five years of emphasis on automotive convenience, suburban expansion, and degradation of public spaces and the built environment, have not been kind to the neighborhood. But a changing direction in Buffalo, ahead of the curve of many struggling deindustrializing cities, includes a shift in thinking about the economic value of the neighborhood, a trend validated by cultural shifts in America nationally, which, one can only hope, will also be validated by American policy in the coming year.
Who knows what the future brings, but it’s always fun to ponder. In the meantime, here’s to 2009! May it be filled with historical anecdotes!
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