bbb Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Oddly enough, I went to the Bills game with a friend who brings his family up to Buffalo every year........He's orginally from here, but hasn't lived here in 25 years..........And, his wife is not from here. They have enough money to go anywhere, and he said it's funny how his kid's friends are all asking where they're going on vacation and they're all going to these exotic places, and his kids always say they're going to Buffalo! They love it - they stay at an old friend's place that is like a farm - they dirtbike, swim in a pond, all kinds of stuff like that...And, always go to a Bills game! So, don't count Buffalo out! If we can do somthing with the steel plant property then we'd really be talking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Oddly enough, I went to the Bills game with a friend who brings his family up to Buffalo every year........He's orginally from here, but hasn't lived here in 25 years..........And, his wife is not from here. They have enough money to go anywhere, and he said it's funny how his kid's friends are all asking where they're going on vacation and they're all going to these exotic places, and his kids always say they're going to Buffalo! They love it - they stay at an old friend's place that is like a farm - they dirtbike, swim in a pond, all kinds of stuff like that...And, always go to a Bills game! So, don't count Buffalo out! If we can do somthing with the steel plant property then we'd really be talking. 25 years and waiting. I was partying on Woodlawn beach in the mid 80's when the very last slag pour occurred. Remember the red glow on the horizon when they did that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 25 years and waiting. I was partying on Woodlawn beach in the mid 80's when the very last slag pour occurred. Remember the red glow on the horizon when they did that? does anyone know for sure that the City of Buffalo even has rights to try to develop that? Or would it take a lot of Lackawana Palm Greasing to get anything done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 does anyone know for sure that the City of Buffalo even has rights to try to develop that? Or would it take a lot of Lackawana Palm Greasing to get anything done? Good question. Maybe to much Lackawana politics involved? If thats the case they are cutting their own throats.[How unusual] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted August 18, 2009 Author Share Posted August 18, 2009 You give me $80 mill and I'll give you $4 million of income every year....guaranteed for the rest of your life. You blow through that and you deserve to summer in Buffalo. Given your line of work you mayknow a few ... but it is sad to think that there are people who say they can't "get by" on $4MM a year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Given your line of work you mayknow a few ... but it is sad to think that there are people who say they can't "get by" on $4MM a year Oh they can get by and get by real well. But Americans aways seem to live beyond their means. It's insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 This is why BFLO's waterfront is a "dead-end." At work a few minutes ago we had the Nina and Pinta sail on through the lock, down river to the MS and then OH on it's way to the Tenn-Tom WaterWay and the Mobile, AL (Gulf of Mexico)... They are replica of the actual wooden ships Columbus used... No Santa Maria, they don't have that one and it would have to draft 14 feet to scale anyway. But anyway, they came through the Great Lakes via the Hudson and Erie Canal... BYPASSED BFLO at OSWEGO to go to Lake Ontario and then up the Welland. Now, I am not sure if they turned down lake and stayed in BFLO (didn't sound like it to me) when they left the Welland at Port Colbourne?? Yet, why would they??? Why didn't they stay on the Erie (pain in the ass... Too many locks... Too many rules... Too many tolls...) and head to Lockport, NY and then to the Niagara? Why? Because BFLO is a "dead-end." It would have been FREE!... Yet, they chose to pay a toll on the Welland through Canada! Go figure!? Oh, the Inland Waterway in the US is FREE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Oh they can get by and get by real well. But Americans aways seem to live beyond their means. It's insane. that, and the hundreds of babies id have, a la Travis Henry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I haven't been to Buffalo in years. Did they ever do ANYTHING with the steel plant property? Who's they? Shouldn't it be the owner's responsibility to clean up their mess? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Who's they? Shouldn't it be the owner's responsibility to clean up their mess? So who is the owner? I heard they put windmills on it. I doubt Bethlehem steel would do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 What about the green pools of goo in Lackawanna? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Buffalo, New York. The only place in the world that lists the ability to go elsewhere as an attraction. When did the City of Buffalo do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 I haven't been to Buffalo in years. Did they ever do ANYTHING with the steel plant property? We have wind mills... A brief history of the Lackawanna Steel Company in Buffalo - when they decided in the late 1890's to move from Scranton to Western New York to take advantage of reduced shipping costs along Lake Erie, they employed Ontario Power Company president John Albright (of Albright-Knox Art Gallery fame) to buy the land without raising suspicion and fueling land speculation. He bought up all the land for a mere $1.1M in 1899, under the pretense of using the land for the upcoming Pan Am Exposition of 1901. (He would often take John Milburn, President of the Pan Am Expo, along on his purchase visits to add credence to the ruse - one anecdote, perpetuated in Lauren Belfer's City of Light, is that the land would be used to grow flowers for the exposition!) As you know (and can see in this ), the site is massive (at over 1300 acres, it is almost twice the size of Cornell University's Ithaca campus). The problem with that site is the exorbitant cleanup costs of all the toxic wastes, as well as what to do with the tremendous amount of infrastructure (railroad tracks, power grid rights of way, towers, aerial transmission cables, etc.) that traverse the property. Myself, I say it's a great site for a new football stadium - right on the lake, easy access off Route 5, Milestrip Road, and the NYS Thruway, and who cares about brownfields and removing toxic waste, when you're only gonna pave it all over for parking lots and use it 8-11 times a year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 We have wind mills... Speaking of windmills I was shocked at the number of them that have sprung up in Wyoming County along route 77 between routes 78 and 20A. I was there a year and a half before and there were none and then went through there a month ago after visiting my dad and there were dozens of them. They're very cool but also an eyesore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 We have wind mills... A brief history of the Lackawanna Steel Company in Buffalo - when they decided in the late 1890's to move from Scranton to Western New York to take advantage of reduced shipping costs along Lake Erie, they employed Ontario Power Company president John Albright (of Albright-Knox Art Gallery fame) to buy the land without raising suspicion and fueling land speculation. He bought up all the land for a mere $1.1M in 1899, under the pretense of using the land for the upcoming Pan Am Exposition of 1901. (He would often take John Milburn, President of the Pan Am Expo, along on his purchase visits to add credence to the ruse - one anecdote, perpetuated in Lauren Belfer's City of Light, is that the land would be used to grow flowers for the exposition!) As you know (and can see in this ), the site is massive (at over 1300 acres, it is almost twice the size of Cornell University's Ithaca campus). The problem with that site is the exorbitant cleanup costs of all the toxic wastes, as well as what to do with the tremendous amount of infrastructure (railroad tracks, power grid rights of way, towers, aerial transmission cables, etc.) that traverse the property. Myself, I say it's a great site for a new football stadium - right on the lake, easy access off Route 5, Milestrip Road, and the NYS Thruway, and who cares about brownfields and removing toxic waste, when you're only gonna pave it all over for parking lots and use it 8-11 times a year? Thanks, good report but a stadium? You think Orchard park is windy? Maybe a domed one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Speaking of windmills I was shocked at the number of them that have sprung up in Wyoming County along route 77 between routes 78 and 20A. I was there a year and a half before and there were none and then went through there a month ago after visiting my dad and there were dozens of them. They're very cool but also an eyesore. I realize those things (windmills) are useful, but nothing beats Altamont Pass for sheer ugliness - plunked right at the entrance to CA's beautiful Central Valley region... Altamont Pass - Livermore, CA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Thanks, good report but a stadium? You think Orchard park is windy? Maybe a domed one. Yes Jim - given our current QB, definitely a dome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 So who is the owner? I heard they put windmills on it. I doubt Bethlehem steel would do that. No, Bethlehem Steel filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and won't even honor its obligations to its pensioners. In 1983, Bethlehem Steel shut down almost all of it's Lackawanna NY facility - which once employed over 20,000 at the 4th largest steel-making facility in the world. In 2003, the Lackawanna NY plant and other assets were acquired by International Steel Group, which itself merged with Ispat Int'l and LNM Holdings in 2004 to form Mittal Steel, which then joined forces with Arcelor in 2006 to form ArcelorMittal - the current owners of the old Bethlehem Steel site thru their wholly owned subsidiary, Tecumseh Redevelopment Inc. (Follow all that?) The plan was to remediate the site and develop it into a 'business park' Since then, there have been announcements, proclamations, proposals, etc., but, at least on my regular drive-bys, little progress has been noticed. Supposedly, studies were to be finished by this summer and available for public review. As you can see from the photo in this report, the site is massive, stretching from Route 5/Fuhrman Blvd. in the lower left corner of the photo, all the way out thru Lackawanna and into Hamburg, and west all the way to the Lake Erie shoreline... Cleanup Activities Begin at Phase I Business Park Site in Lackawanna I really can't imagine the current economic climate is conducive to this type of development on this massive a scale, especially here in depressed WNY, but we'll see - maybe Barry Obama can throw some stimulus $$$ our way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 I realize those things (windmills) are useful, but nothing beats Altamont Pass for sheer ugliness - plunked right at the entrance to CA's beautiful Central Valley region... Altamont Pass - Livermore, CA And people are idiots. They are currently not even operational because they kill thousands of birds every year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Movinon Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Speaking of windmills I was shocked at the number of them that have sprung up in Wyoming County along route 77 between routes 78 and 20A. I was there a year and a half before and there were none and then went through there a month ago after visiting my dad and there were dozens of them. They're very cool but also an eyesore. An eysore indeed, however a huge tax break for property owners. My cousins real estate tax bill was cut in half as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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