September 8, 2017
Got myself to Buffalo
Home of the buffalo wing, and I'm having a hamburger instead. With hurricane Irma bearing down on the Atlanta area, I headed north to meet up with my bike 🚴🏼, check in to my hotel room, and assemble the bike for the journey ahead.
With the assembly complete, I did a walking tour of Buffalo shoreline and the downtown area. The city was the western terminus of the Erie Canal, and in its heyday, was an economic force to be reckoned with. The Canal brought commerce from the Great Lakes all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The first journey departed buffalo on October 26 1824, and made it to New York City on November 4, a journey of 10 days. Sure, that seems long to travel the ~350 miles, but this was in the early 19th century.
The harborside contains a WW2 battleship, destroyer, and a submarine. Since I've been on several of these era vessels, I decided to skip the "war tour" and head downtown on Friday afternoon.
Walking downtown was an adventure. There were a bunch of historical buildings and plaques on the structures explaining the significance of the architecture, or why anyone should "care" about the building. For instance, one mentioned Millard Fillmore (13th president of the US) had his house on the site in the years leading up to his death. Now the site has a mirrored glass modern monstrosity on the site. I can't say it's a travesty because I don't know what the original house on the site looked like - I can only imagine it had more character.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The downtown, however, seemed economically depressed. The area is not blessed with natural resources - its location as the gateway to the Erie Canal made it a center of economic commerce. Now that the Canal is commercially (mostly) obsolete, the city exists as a government seat. With some really GREAT buildings, by the way. But consider the experience of the Main Square, a downtown indoor 2-level mall. I walked inside (partly to avoid the rain) and expected to be assaulted with shops and sales and glitzy advertising, but it looked deserted, and almost the half expected it to be used as a "Walking Dead" location. It's decor looked like it hadn't been updated since the 80's and it was only about 20% occupied. Not with any high-end stores, but Dollar stores, Rainbow fashion, and the biggest name brand I recognized, Payless Shoes. I guess those that are still in the mall survive, but the clientele are not those that would support and Apple Store or REI. I really hate to see this level of reduced use. Urban decay, with nature taking over abandoned spaces, can have its own type of aesthetic, but a mall still operational hanging on life support just speaks of some care. Maybe even repurposing it for something else.
| Heart | 1 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 5 miles (8 km)
Total: 5 miles (8 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |
6 years ago