Projects are broken down into three categories: The City Project, The Buffalo Urban Studies Project, and The Community and Economic Development Project. The first category deals with highly theoretical issues designed to deepen our understanding of the city, broadly defined to include the entire metropolitan region. The next type deals with subject matters that can be directly applied to the areas we study. The last category encompasses applied projects. Based on the knowledge gained from the first two types of projects, intervention strategies are developed and can be used in our applied projects. As our applied projects progress, they will give insights to the first two levels of projects.
Labor Policy and the Black Worker Project. This project deals with the study of the formation of federal and state labor policies that regulate the growth of unions and their combined impact on the work experience of black labor. A central mission of the project is to determine how the intervention of the State in labor issues affected the experiences of black workers in the United States.
The Westbrook Family History Project. This project will use a study of the experiences of the family of Joseph Westbrook between 1940 and 1970 to gain insight into the relationship between black culture, family stability and job acquisition and the ability of migrants to make the transition from rural to an urban way of life.
Toward a Theory of Residential Space Project. This study represents an effort to develop a theory of neighborhood transformation and change. It seeks to develop insight into the social, economic and political forces that give birth to communities and redevelopment over time. The Rockefeller Institute's Neighborhood Typography Project and Urban Neighborhoods Study Project. This is a nationally based project that is developing a system for classifying America's neighborhoods. The focus of the project is to study minority working and middle class urban neighborhoods. The underlying concept is that not all intercity neighborhoods in distressed areas share the same demographic make up of the larger area they are located in. Therefore, a system of how to classify neighborhoods is necessary to truly determine a neighborhood's condition to better inform development strategies. (Note: this project is listed in two categories because of the way the project evolves it will be both high theory and applied.)
The Rockefeller Institute's Neighborhood Typography Project and Urban Neighborhoods Study Project. This is a national based project that is developing a system for classifying America's neighborhoods. The focus of the project is to study minority working and middle class urban neighborhoods. The underlying concept is that not all intercity neighborhoods in distressed areas share the same demographic make up of the larger area they are located in. Therefore a system of how to classify neighborhoods is necessary to truly determine a neighborhood's condition to better inform development strategies.
The BMHA Resident Management Project. Sponsored by the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority, this study seeks to develop a model of resident management that addresses the issue of improved property management and economic development and that determines the feasibility of using such a model in Buffalo, New York.
The Office of Urban Initiatives. This project is designed to build a neighborhood based model of job creation, small business and entrepreneurial development, that will build economic development capabilities in distressed neighborhoods and infuse those locales with a "corporate culture" that stresses worker ownership, building enterprises that are accountable to the community and that views economic development as a vehicle for rebuilding and revitalizing neighborhoods. The vehicle will be a worker-owned home improvement company that seeks to capture economic development opportunities flowing from extensive housing construction, rehabilitation, and repair activities.
The University Heights Project. The purpose of this project is to rebuild the neighborhoods surrounding the University, by uniting residents around a shared vision of neighborhood development. The ultimate goal of the project is to build a lively, cross-class, multi-cultural community with a high quality of life and culture. A comprehensive redevelopment strategy will be developed focusing on housing, commercial development and urban design.
The University Community Project. The University Community Master Plan and Development Project is a joint project among the University at Buffalo, the Town of Amherst, and the City of Buffalo. The project's goal is to formulate and carry out a comprehensive plan to recreate and redevelop the University Community. The planning area encompasses the University District and is located in the northeastern corner of Buffalo City and extends into the southwest corner of the Town of Amherst and southeast tip of Tonawanda Town. Currently the area is going through a troubling process of social transformation. The project's goal is to stabilize, recreate, and develop the community. The master planning and development project will be built around eight policy areas: neighborhood environment, image, perception, and design; housing, family, and neighborhood development; schools, community, and lifelong learning; economic development, job creation, and workforce development; community safety and security; neighborhood health and human services; parks, leisure, culture, and recreational activities; and building community capacity for sustained development. The project will create a unique working relationship among university faculty, Amherst and Buffalo City planners and housing specialists, politicians, civic leaders, stakeholders, and community residents. The project will emphasize interaction between community residents and planners and will stress building community institutions that can sustain development after the planning and development process ends.
The Buffalo General Hospital Vision 2020 Project. This project is a collaborative effort of residents, health care providers, public and private agencies, government, business, clergy, and academic leaders which seek to redevelop the area just north of the Hospital and its surrounding neighborhoods. To revitalize the community both commercially and residentially, short and long term strategies will be developed that focus on housing, economic development, job training, education, health services, retail and neighborhood services and crime.
The King Urban Life Project. In the effort to renovate a deteriorated Roman Catholic Church and convert it into a model pre-K through second grade school and community center, the King Urban Life Center was born. This renovation effort acted as a catalyst to begin the revitalization process of the community in which it serves. This King Urban Life Center, housed in the heart of a distressed inner city neighborhood, was born out of a desire to help the children living in this distressed area and revitalize this inner city neighborhood. The project brought together a consortium of experts in child development to develop a national pilot program aimed at providing outstanding care and schooling to children from infancy to second grade. The King Urban Life Center will also provide services to children's parents and will be the site for community development seminars and neighborhood activities.
The Metro Buffalo Visioning Project. This project is designed to develop a common vision for the residents of Erie and Niagara Counties and Southern Ontario. This vision will encompass the formulation of a common view of the future of the region and will contain strategies to work toward bringing that future into existence. In this project we are working with a broad range of people and organizations from all three sections of the region.