February 1996 Table Of Contents

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What happened to ‘landfront’?
By Jesse Haines

The two images below are figure grounds of the Buffalo waterfront produced by UB student Mauro Di Carlo as part of the research toward creating sustainable development on in the area. Figure grounds show simply the ‘foot print’ of buildings on the ground. Everything else is excluded: the height and nature of the buildings, the nature of the surroundings, and such.

Comparing the two images, however, is instructive in many ways. Most obviously, the current situation shows many fewer and much larger buildings. The space between them is so vast no pattern is evident. One hundred years ago the buildings were a lot more plentiful, smaller, and, they defined streets and squares rather well.

In the 1890s, this property was owned by hundreds of entities, with hundreds of buildings, with hundreds of public establishments of bewildering variety and some pretty animated wholesale ones as well. In short, a walkable, comprehensible city of consuming interest.

Thirteen property owners own all the land today between Columbia Street, Erie Street, and the Thruway. There is one retail establishment in this area, a convenience market/coffee shop in one of the x-shaped buildings of the Marine Drive Apartments.

Stating how this situation came to be would be to write a history of American cities in the post-war period. But the necessity of repairing the streetscape to its former utility and amenity seems obvious.