Some points of discussion:

• What goals for community improvement do you and your organization(s) work to achieve? How do these help contribute to building a civic and sustainable future for Buffalo and the region?
• Why do you work toward these goals? What is it about Buffalo’s history that makes these goals important? What is it about Buffalo’s history that makes these goals achievable?
• What perceptions of (or stories about) Buffalo and the region can sometimes be obstacles or barriers to reaching these goals?
• What opportunities and conditions exist to help you and your organization(s) realize these goals?
• Why should students learn to “read” and “engage” in writing the story of their community? What can they do to contribute to the long, hard work of building civic and sustainable communities? In what ways is personal success only meaningful in the context of community?
• What are the personal challenges and rewards of actively engaging in your community and working to make it a better place?

Medaille Website

The People's National Fuel Stakeholder Meeting

THURSDAY, MARCH 10TH @ 4PM

St. Paul's and St. Mark's UCC (Niagara and W. Huron)

National Fuel executive are on their way to Florida, where they will be making a plan to increase their profits while we are left out in the cold. But tomorrow the community will have a voice too! We'll be passing our own resolutions and delivering them to National Fuel!

Spread the word far and wide: Buffalo is tired of big corporations like National Fuel taking resources out of our communities and leaving families to make tough choices just to stay warm.  Why is National Fuel CEO David Smith making $3,500 an hour while WNY families struggle to pay their bills? National Fuel needs to partner with this community because we have the solutions and we deserve better!

We'll be meeting on Niagara St then marching up to National Fuel to send a strong message that we can't afford to be left out in the cold any longer. When we show up in big numbers, people listen! We need you!

The People's National Fuel Stakeholder Meeting
Thursday, March 10th – 4pm
St. Paul's and St. Mark's UCC (corner of Niagara and W. Huron)

See you all tomorrow,
Your Friends at PUSH

P.S. Check out the National Fuel Accountability Coalition website for more info!

]]> http://www.buffaloreuse.org/blog/2011/03/from-our-friends-at-push/feed/ 0 http://www.buffaloreuse.org/blog/2010/11/buffalo-green-code/ http://www.buffaloreuse.org/blog/2010/11/buffalo-green-code/#comments Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:41:31 +0000 Scott Kozak http://www.buffaloreuse.org/blog/?p=3300 Starting next Tuesday, November 16th there will be a series of three public meetings to inform city residents about the new zoning code that the City of Buffalo is going to create over the next couple years.

As stated from the Buffalo Green Code website;

The new Buffalo Green Code will be the first opportunity Buffalonians have had in nearly sixty years to establish a new regulatory framework for the development of our neighborhoods.

Zoning is the tool by which we build our communities.  It determines what gets built and where.  It’s essentially Buffalo’s DNA.  The process to re-imagine the city’s future and write a code that matches the community’s vision will be an exciting opportunity for the people of Buffalo.  As this process gets rolled out, over a period of three years of serious work, encouraged that all citizens in every section of the city participate and take an active role.

If you do not know what zoning is, the question and answer section of the green codes website does a decent job covering the topic.  It definitely is a very important tool in creating and maintaining cities and is going to be a key part to Buffalo’s accrued success moving forward.

We have one of the most friendliest and enthusiastic cities out there and it shows as you walk up and down the streets of Buffalo, no matter what neighborhood you are in.  So please come out and continue the support and give your input on our City’s own future.  If you want something done you have to go out and do it.  Things don’t happen on their own. So come out and have a say next week, there will be three different meetings that are held to provide Buffalonian’s an opportunity to have a say in our promising future we all have known this City is capable of.

Tuesday, November 16th, 7pm.   Central Public Meeting

Buffalo Musuem of Science. 1020 Humboldt Parkway, Buffalo, NY,  14211

Wednesday, November 17th, 7pm.  North Region Public Meeting

Bennett High School. 2885 Main Street, Buffalo Ny 14214

Thursday, November 18th, 7pm.   South Region Public Meeting

Tosh Collins Community Center. 35 Cazenovia St. Buffalo NY 14210

Keep up with the Buffalo Green Code’s development by becoming a fan of their facebook page and signing up for the website’s newsletter. Issue #1 is already out. Follow this link to read more.

CITY OF BUFFALO
LANDLORD TRAINING
Friday, November 5
8:30am – 4:30pm
At Belmont Shelter Corporation
1195 Main Street
At the corner of Dodge

If you are a landlord or considering property management, don’t miss the opportunity to learn valuable information such as

• eviction proceedings
• mold prevention
• lead poisoning prevention
• funding sources
• housing court procedure
• the role of the police
• inspection procedures
• detecting drug activity on your property
• crime prevention techniques
• fair housing
• rental assistance corporation, belmont resources
• social service information
• leases and the best tenant selection processes

To register, please visit the City of Buffalo’s website.

Join us at 298 Northampton St.

There’s a need from Grace Community Church (175 Potomac Ave) for rides and/or carpooling to this event–not sure how many people. If anyone can assist, please coordinate with Matt Kauffman of the Homebuyers Club–maybe meet there at 1:30pm and then head over to ReUse before 2pm.

Dennis Maher – lover of all things deconstructed, and we don’t mean words and sentences and paragraphs . . .

Carl Lee – our favorite filmmaker; his exhibited work will be familiar to demolition fans . . .

JM Reed – photographer, real estate broker and supporter/advisor of Buffalo housing activists such as ourselves . . .

All three are exhibiting at the Burchfield-Penney Art Center at Buffalo State College. Opening reception is this Sunday, 2pm to 4pm.

Sustainable Stewardship: Greening Historic Buildings

Barbara A. Campagna, FAIA, LEED AP

Graham Gund Architect of the National Trust for Historic Preservation
Larkin at Exchange Building, 6th Floor, Barton Room
726 Exchange Street, Buffalo NY 14210

Tuesday, April 13
2 – 4 PM

Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN) is hosting a free lecture on making historic buildings – and all older building – more energy efficient. As the construction and operation of buildings accounts for more than 40% of the United State’s carbon dioxide emissions, reusing and retrofitting our existing buildings can reduce emissions dramatically.

Barbara Campagna, a Buffalo native, is the chief architect for the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She will discuss the National Trust’s Sustainability Program and how the 29 historic sites of the National Trust are integrating historic preservation values with green building practices – from green housekeeping techniques to sustainability master plans to LEED certification for historic rehabilitations. The National Trust’s efforts are demonstrating that conservation and improvement of our existing built resources, including re-use of historic and older buildings, greening the existing building stock, and reinvestment in older and historic communities, is crucial to combating climate change.
According to Barbara, “Older buildings are one of our greatest renewal resources and everyone concerned with the environment should also recognize the value of keeping older buildings energy efficient and viable.”

Henry McCartney, PBNs executive director, stated “It will be great having Barbara here. Preservationists like Barbara know older buildings and how to care for them. But one difficulty we have is we are not selling anything and thus we don’t have advertising money to get our message out. We’re hoping this lecture will give design professionals, planners, contractors, public officials, environmentalist and others the information they need to inform the public about appropriate, often low cost ways to obtain greater energy efficiency in older buildings.
This lecture is part of a series organized by PBN with the support of the New York State Council of the Arts and PBNs Partners in the Field program funded by the National Trust, the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo and the Western New York Foundation. The series’ corporate sponsor is Canon, Heyman and Weiss.

The workshop is free but pre-registration is required. To register, email info {at} p-b-n(.)org with your full name, affiliation, address and contact phone number or call (716) 852-3300. The workshop will be held in the Barton Room on the 6th floor. Click here for parking details and map.
Preservation Buffalo Niagara, 617 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203

Phone (716) 852-3300 Fax (716) 852-5340
Email: info {at} p-b-n(.)org
Website: www.PreservationBuffaloNiagara.org

The UB Chapter just finished this project for Gracie, a disabled woman in Niagara Falls. The group of students installed two grab/safety bars in her bathroom and replaced her original basement stairs which were far too steep. In its place, they built a winding staircase that leads to a new landing with better hand rails on either side of the stairs. Next stage: to replace the existing handicap ramp that is too steep.

These students are awesome, and they got all of their building materials from Buffalo ReUse

I remember very little about FDR. I remember that he was our longest running president, he died in office and he created jobs for artists and others in a time where no jobs existed, he got through the Great Depression.  In that historical context, FDR drafting another set of rights–an Economic Bill of Rights made perfect sense.  Here they are:

• The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
• The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
• The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
• The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
• The right of every family to a decent home;
• The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
• The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
• The right to a good education.

Wow.  These seem so simple, why do they sound so revolutionary?  Don’t these seem like rights we already believe we are entitled to? and this was six decades ago.  If our government did actually work toward securing these basic rights for citizens–how different would our nation be?  Roosevelt drafted these to ensure equality in our individual pursuits of happiness–because people who are desperately trying to survive–are not truly free.

Call for artists

The art show is designed to show by picture and word, how to be aware of, how to identify and how to protect your children from dangers and toxins in the environment. 

The show will highlight the conditions of and remedies necessary to take an unsafe, unhealthy home and make it a safe and healthy environment for all members of the family, especially children.  Artwork in all medium and written word which embodies the aforementioned themes presented will be graciously accepted for exhibit.

We anticipate works showing the positive themes (good nutrition, safe homes, and active kids) as well as negative themes (deteriorated housing, urban blight, and under-utilized parks).  We invite works that highlight urban problems, and offer solutions for green and healthy homes, in Buffalo and beyond.

Show:  April 16^th-22^nd at 464 Gallery, 464 Amherst Street Buffalo, NY 14207

Hours:
Friday, 4/16/10: 12-6pm
Saturday, 4/17/10: 11-6pm
Monday, 4/19/10: TBD
Tuesday, 4/20/10: Reception time TBD
Wednesday, 4/21/10: 12-6pm
Thursday, 4/22/10: 12-6pm

For more about 464 Gallery:  http://www.mindweb.us/Welcome.html

To offer a piece for the show email to Marcus Weiss at: mindweb.us {at} mac(.)com