11. Banham, Mary. 1984. “High Hopes, The Rise and Decline of Buffalo, New York Mark Goldman.” Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians 43 (3):273-274. doi: 10.2307/990015.
This ar cle was much different once I started reading into it further. This ar cle appeared in the Journal
of the Society of Architectural Historians as a book review of the work by Mark Goldman, tled “High Hopes, The
Rise and Decline of Buffalo, New York.” I originally thought Mary Banham wrote this piece upon quick inspec on,
but being just a review, Banham brings up some good points. This par cular work focuses on the overall social
history of Buffalo from the perspec ve of the everyday worker, rather than the capitalist. I feel understanding
Buffalo’s history and why we want to preserve it can serve as a valuable background for this paper.
Fixler, David N. 2008. “Is It Real and Does It Ma er? Rethinking Authen city and Preserva on.” Journal of the Society of
Architectural Historians 67 (1):11-13.
David Fixler raises important ques ons for preserva onists everywhere in his ar cle “Is it Real and Does
it Ma er? Rethinking Authen city and Preserva on.” Fixler ques ons to what degree should we value the origi-
nal intended use and message in a structure? These monumental, historical buildings have undoubtedly evolved
over me and now have different uses and needs with modern accessibility and technology changing the use
and structure of buildings. He uses Jack Quinan’s restora on of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Mar n estate here
in Buffalo as an example. Quinan’s team focused on the most significant message Wright would have intended to
be communicated and focused their restora on and preserva on to ensure that message survived while taking
into account the evolu on of the estate, uses, and surrounding areas since its construc on. This ar cle will be
cri cal to this paper, as it helps give a basis and idea of which and what buildings and structures to preserve, and
how to preserve those structures.
Heintzelman, Mar n D., and Jason A. Al eri. 2013. “Historic Preserva on: Preserving Value?” The Journal of Real Estate
Finance and Economics 46 (3):543-563. doi: 10.1007/s11146-011-9338-8.
Heintzelman and Al eri dove into how historic preserva on efforts effect home values, both of the
preserved loca ons themselves and the surrounding loca ons. Their focus was on areas that are declared to be
“Historic Districts” and how the home values change. Their findings seemed to be counter-intui ve in that values
inside the districts decrease, while surrounding home values rise slightly. This ar cle gives another valuable
insight into the cost and opportunity-cost of historic preserva on and the impact historic preserva on might
have, even outside of just the structures in ques on. Focused in a major Massachuse s MSA and their declaring
historic districts, this ar cle is interes ng in that it could reveal a larger trend in any place that declares historic
districts to enable easier historic preserva on. Valuable informa on pertaining to the actual value of historic
preserva on is included in this ar cle and could prove invaluable to my research.
Hollander, Jus n B., and Bernard Cahill. 2011. “Confron ng popula on decline in the Buffalo, New York, Region: A close
reading of the Erie-Niagara framework for regional growth.” Journal of Architectural and Planning Research 28
(3):252-267.
This ar cle by Jus n Hollander and Bernard Cahill is interes ng. They undertook a project to closely read
the Erie-Niagara Framework for Regional Growth and to understand the implica ons behind the project. I chose
this source because it is important to understand the goals for the future of the area and the city to understand
how preserving history in those areas can fit in. Without knowledge of how the historically significant sights fit
into the mold going forward, we cannot hope to efficiently and correctly preserve the most important parts of
our history. This reading by Hollander and Cahill is cri cal in that it looks at both smart growth and smart decline
in the Buffalo-Niagara region.
Kohtz, David J. 2012. “Improving tax incen ves for historic preserva on.” Texas Law Review 90 (4):1041-1064.
This ar cle by David Kohtz examines the impact of tax incen ves and tax breaks on historic preserva on
and similar efforts. The author focuses on Aus n, Texas but again this ar cle has further implica ons towards
what changes in tax code and designated tax areas can do. The author argues that tax breaks and exemp ons
cost ci zens of surrounding areas millions every year. While Aus n is a larger city than Buffalo, our small-ish city
of Buffalo surely has more and more significant architecture worth protec ng. The author both counters and
supports historic districts and tax incen ves for historic preserva on and its efforts, and the cause and effect
rela onship associated with those efforts.
Banhan, Reyner. 1981. Buffalo Architecture: A Guide. 1982 Edi on ed: The MIT Press.

12. Reyner Banham’s book “Buffalo Architecture: A Guide,” is my chosen book to read for this essay. This
book has interested me from the start in that Banham breaks down the magnificent architecture we are lucky
enough to have in Buffalo by area and occasionally specific neighborhoods. We are fortunate to have famous
architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Dankmar Adler, and Louis Sullivan with actual standing buildings in Buffalo
we can s ll go visit to this day. It is important to me to understand what we are trying to preserve, both for our
sake and the educa on of others within the world when the me comes that less and less history is readily avail-
able to us.
Lewis, David A. 2015. “Iden fying and avoiding conflicts between historic preserva on and the development of renew-
able energy.” New York University Environmental Law Journal 22 (3):274.
This author, David A. Lewis, brings an important ques on to the forefront regarding historic preserva on
while keeping an eye towards the future. Lewis examines the rela on specifically of power lines and the neces-
sary transmission of high-voltage power across distances, some mes interfering with historic resources and their
necessary preserva on. Overall for this paper, my goal is to examine the role of historic preserva on and the
necessity not to overlook development for the future for the sake of historic preserva on. This paper and ar st
argue that both historic preserva on and development can and must cooperate for the preserva on of our rich
history and the development of our soon to be rich history.
Otero-Pailos, Jorge. 2009. “Historic Preserva on in the Americas.” Future Anterior: Journal of Historic Preserva on, His-
tory, Theory, and Cri cism 6 (2):iii-iv.
Jorge Otero-Pailos examines specifically historic preserva on in La n America and the challenges faced by
preserva onists across mul ple La n American countries. Otero-Pailos focuses on the preserva on efforts pres-
ent in roughly the 50 year stretch from 1910 to 1963. Examining preserva on efforts in Mexico and other La n
American countries proved to be a useful case study into preserving different cultures, with Mexico and other
areas housing history in the form of the remains of the Mayans, Incans, and other ancient cultures. This can prove
especially to us studying the West Side of Buffalo and its racial diversity. While each group of se lers into Buffalo
bring their own culture, we need to figure out how to mold their culture and the Buffalo culture into one.
Quinan, Jack. 2008. “Frank Lloyd Wright, Preserva on, and the Ques on of Authen city.” Journal of the Society of Archi-
tectural Historians 67 (1):5-10.
Jack Quinan examines historic preserva on from the lens of what does “authen c” mean and how do we
actually apply that to preserva on of structures and important areas. Quinan uses the preserva on of the Dar-
win Mar n house in Buffalo as an example. While the most staunch supporters of Wright wanted to see nothing
changed and that rever ng to the original design didn’t most accurately depict the history and intended use of
the sight, a happy medium had to be met for the preserva on efforts to be dubbed authen c to the original intent
and use Wright intended for the compound. Quinan goes on to further ques on what we consider as authen c
through the lens of history and how that has changed our perspec ve of historic preserva on.
Ryberg-Webster, Stephanie, and Kelly L. Kinahan. 2014. “Historic Preserva on and Urban Revitaliza on in the Twenty-first
Century.” Journal of Planning Literature 29 (2):119-139. doi: 10.1177/0885412213510524.
Stephanie Ryberg-Webster and Kelly L. Kinahan thoroughly examine the intersec on of urban revitaliza-
on and historic preserva on in modern ci es. Both authors thoroughly understand the importance of preserving
our rich histories and why we need to keep our history alive; so we can enrichen our knowledge as well as learn
from past successes and mistakes. Ryberg-Webster and Kinahan focus on four major aspects: the New American
City, place ma ers, anchor ins tu ons, and legacy ci es. They break each category down and explore the intersec-
ons between revitaliza on and preserva on and how each of those different scenarios interact and how they are
unique yet strikingly similar. Examining different scenarios can educate us towards what exact approach is best for
preserving our extensive history in and around Buffalo.
Saito, Leland T. 2009. “From “Blighted” to “Historic”: Race, Economic Development, and Historic Preserva on in San
Diego, California.” Urban Affairs Review 45 (2):166-187. doi: 10.1177/1078087408327636.
Leland Saito uses three buildings to examine how race and historic preserva on intersect and how those
results can be used to gather a be er idea how preserva on efforts are shaped and executed in modern Amer-
ica. Saito finds that while development, revitaliza on, and preserva on efforts aim to be racially neutral, they
are o en subject to rose-colored glasses and end up having varying degrees of racial mo va ons. I feel this is an
extremely important ar cle because Buffalo has a rich ethnic mix, especially including the West Side of Buffalo.
Understanding how race and ethnicity has played into decisions in the past and how it can effect revitaliza on and
preserva on efforts in the future is cri cal to a successful campaign of preserving our substan al, racially mixed

13. history.
Shao, Q. 2012. “Ci zens versus Experts: Historic Preserva on in Globalizing Shanghai.” Future Anterior: Journal of Histor-
ic Preserva on, History, Theory, and Cri cism 9 (1):17-31.
Shanghai has been an example city of the impact of globaliza on and rapid growth in modern mes. This
rapid growth and the impact it has on historic preserva on is the focus of Shao in this paper. Shao focuses on the
neighborhood of Lincoln Lane, a historic community within Shanghai that was facing demoli on and development
due to growing needs for high-density development. This neighborhood has been around since the 1920’s and has
a historical importance. Ci zens in Lincoln Lane fought to save their home, pe oning local government, poli -
cians, even reaching out to Springfield, Illinois, the home of US President Lincoln, for support. Shao examines the
interes ng dynamic between globaliza on development and the increased resources afforded to ci zens to fight
that development. This is important to my research in that it involves ci zens figh ng back against development
over historically rich areas, even if it is a major city on the other side of the globe. The dynamic between develop-
ment and preserva on is present in ci es and neighborhoods from Shanghai to Buffalo.
Thompson, Eric, David Rosenbaum, and Benjamin Schmitz. 2011. “Property values on the plains: the impact of historic
preserva on.” The Annals of Regional Science 47 (2):477-491. doi: 10.1007/s00168-010-0373-9.
Thompson, Rosenbaum, and Schmitz aim to expose the true effects of historic designa ons on single fam-
ily rural homes in various Lincoln, Nebraska neighborhoods. Rather than use assessed prices of homes, they focus
on actual values such as resale values for those homes. This gives a more accurate and perceivable portrait of the
effect of historic designa ons on individual loca ons and neighborhoods. Their findings include that historic des-
igna ons lend themselves to an average increase of almost $5,000 on the average sale value of said homes. This
is an important ar cle in that it lends actual numerical value to historic designa ons on homes. It is interes ng to
consider how such designa ons effect property resale values here in Buffalo, and that is a ques on I aim to answer
in this paper.
Williams, Stacy D. 2011. “Historic Preserva on Vocabulary, Designa ons, and Resources.” Planning for Higher Educa on
39 (3):228.
Stacy Williams offers up a very important guideline here for my paper on Historic Preserva on. Williams
breaks down commonly used terms and vocabulary that are used in historic preserva on efforts. This is essen al
to many to read. This ar cle is useful in that it breaks down useful and common terminology and prac ces, as
well as more uncommon phrases that can come up over the course of a normal project, mee ng, etc. concerning
historic preserva on. Williams focuses on the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Proper es. The Standards for the Treatment of Historic Proper es act as a guideline of sorts, allowing for a singu-
lar, consistent language concerning historic preserva on. Obviously such a resource is essen al to a student such
as myself looking to learn more and grow my knowledge of historic preserva on through this project and others.
Yin, Li. 2013. “Assessing Walkability in the City of Buffalo: Applica on of Agent-Based Simula on.” Journal of Urban Plan-
ning and Development 139 (3):166-175. doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000147.
Li Yin provides one of the more important ar cles towards my paper, in that she breaks down an im-
portant aspect of any quality neighborhood; walkability. Feeling comfortable walking through and living in your
neighborhood is a huge qualifier for a “nice” community. A decline in comfortability in a neighborhood leads to
declining popula on numbers as well as declining sa sfac on for residents. Yin looks qualita vely and quan -
ta vely at the walkability of Buffalo as a means of assessing the city as a whole. I believe a key aspect to quality
neighborhoods is the history of those areas being preserved, and preserva on of key elements of history leads
to quality neighborhoods so I believe those aspects are inseparably hand in hand.

15. Preserving History on the West Side of Buffalo,
New York
William Murtagh, the first keeper of the National Register of Historic Places, has summarized historic preserva-
tion as such; “It has been said that, at its best, preservation engages the past in a conversation with the present over
a mutual concern for the future.” Murtagh summarizes why historic preservation is critical, and most importantly,
why we must fight for ongoing historic preservation of all significant architectural history. We have always been told
to learn from our past, learn from our mistakes and other people’s mistakes, to gain valuable lessons from the past
to teach us about our future. Buffalo as a city has a very rich architectural history that needs to be preserved amid a
promising renaissance that is engulfing the whole city and area. I aim to break down how and why we need to enact
and enforce historical preservation, and how that can benefit us in a time when the majority of actions and decisions
are geared towards the future.
If we want to preserve our past, then we need to understand what we are preserving and why we want to
preserve it. History has always been fascinating to me in that it gives us a glimpse into the past and the thoughts and
decisions that went into shaping individuals and society at that time as well as what it is today. My main objective
of this paper is to understand what historic preservation is through a lens focused on Buffalo and its history, and
then apply those lessons to what our future decisions and motivations should be. Any research into any topic should
start with acquiring a basic understanding of what you are researching into, and a great resource for me was “Histor-
ic Preservation Vocabulary, Designations, and Resources.” (Williams). Understanding basic vocabulary and terms
makes it much easier to read and sift through some of the more word-dense scholarly articles pertaining to historic
preservation necessary to gain a deep and broader understanding. Once a basic understanding of most terms was
attained through this greatly written, simple primer for preservation, I turned my full efforts towards research and
answering my questions.
Through all my research, I answered many questions I had, but many more arose than were answered.
Among those questions that arose, most important in my mind is how do we emphasize preservation without com-
promising the future, and to what degree do we have to consider true original intent and purpose compared to reality
when preserving historically important items? David Fixler confronts the same point in his work “Is it Real and Does
it Matter? Rethinking Authenticity and Preservation (Fixler).” Fixler argues the balance between historic intent, and
actual use and importance over time using Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin Complex in Buffalo, NY. Preserva-
tion efforts were lagged by Wright purists declaring that the structure be restored to its original plan and design as a

16. family home, while others such as Fixler advocated for a restoration more to the actual importance and place in Buf-
falo History as an example of FLW’s architectural genius rather than just a single residence. Questions like these are
important enough to warrant extra attention in the form of “Frank Lloyd Wright, Preservation, and the Question of
Authenticity (Quinan).” Quinan raises the same questions and to what degree do we consider importance of authen-
ticity over actual historic uses and changes over time? Both Fixler and Quinan provoke thoughts and force the reader
to read into and evaluate what exactly their own views are concerning preservation and authenticity.
Buffalo, New York has a rich history of architecture and culture to preserve, but with the recent decline of
a once great city, many historic structures and locations face destruction by lack of effort and funds. Mary Banham,
reviewing work by Mark Goldman (Mary Banham, 1984), reviews and gives her take on the rise and fall of a city
that was once most of the technologically advanced, most profitable cities in North America. Anybody that has lived
in Buffalo for any amount of time is familiar with the history; a once great break-of-bulk city, connected to all major
ports and serving as a stepping off point, saw industry leave and get replaced by better technology, and take its tax
base and citizens with it. Banham and Goldman examine that rise and decline from a social, rather than capitalist,
point of view.
While we need to evaluate what and how we want to focus preservation efforts, we also need to have a deep
understanding of what exactly it is we are preserving. By this I mean that we need to comprehend our history and its
significance to understand the value behind preservation. In “Buffalo Architecture: A Guide, (Banhan, 1981)” Reyner
Banhan explores and breaks down Buffalo’s architectural history and its significance in our city, as well as the role
the rich architecture played on a national and global scale. Banhan looks at individual neighborhoods and each areas
most significant and important buildings and what each building’s place in architectural history is. Frank Lloyd
Wright is an important figure throughout, as well as Frederick Law Olmstead for his work on the parks and parkways
system in Buffalo.
While Banhan points out what we should be preserving, Hollander and Cahill lay out what the plans for the
future are in Buffalo and how the Erie-Niagara Framework for Regional Growth fits into the future design of our area
(Justin B. Hollander). The authors focus on the impact of population decline in recent decades in Buffalo, and how
the Erie-Niagara Framework aims to counteract and confront that decline. This is important to preservationists in that
preservation has to be an important focus as to not jeopardize history for development, but we also need to realize
that development is inevitable and powerful, and preservationists cannot hope to completely stop development. The
best we can do as historically focused preservationists is to work hand in hand with development to preserve our
future and to enhance our history at the same time. While examining how to balance preservation and development,

17. “Historic Preservation and Urban Revitalization in the Twenty-First Century, (Stephanie Ryberg-Webster)” argues
similar points in that we need to focus on development while minding our rich history. Ryberg-Webster and Kinahan
break down preservation efforts in four distinct kinds of settings: the New American City, place matters, anchor in-
stitutions, and legacy cities. Each different setting provides unique challenges and benefits. We can learn from efforts
to interact history and near future by learning from other cities and their successes and failures in order to help avoid
similar mistakes in Buffalo. David A. Lewis also attempts to examine the fine line between development and pres-
ervation, especially the development of renewable energy (Lewis, 2015). Buffalo was once the epicenter of cheap,
renewable energy with power plants on the Niagara River and taking advantage of Niagara Falls. Development is
inevitable, and the better we can utilize renewable energy sources, the longer we as a society and species will be
around to appreciate our rich history.
Preserving our history has both negative and positive connotations with it, and it can be argued more positive
than negative. Preserving large, antiquated, ornate buildings and structures is no cheap feat, and the funding behind
such efforts have to come from somewhere. David J. Kohtz examines such funding problems in his article “Im-
proving tax incentives for historic preservation, (Kohtz)” Kohtz argues for and against tax incentives for designated
historic preservation areas and how they impact property values and citizens in such areas and surrounding com-
munities for areas designated as historically important. Historic preservation effects properties and values in more
ways than just what tax bracket areas fall into, in that historic designations have been viewed as positively effecting
property value in those designated areas and surrounding communities. Martin Heintzelman and Jason Altieri aimed
to see exactly what quantitative value there is in historically designated areas vs. other “normal” areas (Martin D.
Heintzelman). Heintzelman and Altieri found that there is actually a counter-intuitive result in that historically pre-
served areas actually resulted in a decrease in home values, while surrounding neighborhoods gained a reputation as
a nicer community and a value increase followed. Their research was focused in a major Massachusetts Metropolitan
Service Area, their results are not singular, and competitive results have been found. “Property Values on the Plains:
The Impact of Historic Preservation, (Eric Thompson)” found that property values actually increase in historically
designated areas. Their research found that average sale price of homes, rather than valued prices, reflected a $5,000
increase in sale price. These conflicting results lend credence to the notion that values change depending on geo-
graphic location, and especially depending on the kind of history being preserved.
Feeling comfortable in your neighborhood and being able to properly enjoy it also depends largely on the
walkability of said neighborhood, as examined by Li Yin (Yin, 2013) in her research about exactly that; an agent-
based simulation based on the walkability of various Buffalo neighborhoods. While preserving our history is import-
ant, it does not do anybody any good if people aren’t walking or enjoying the neighborhood the preservation efforts

18. are taking part in. A boots-on-the-ground approach to such research is often the best research, as it lends credibility
and a human aspect to the research.
The economic value of historic preservation and the area designations that follow can be argued, but the hu-
man/social impact can be debated to be the most important aspect. Since I will be focusing exclusively on the West
Side of Buffalo in the final paper, it is important to consider that an area with a high immigrant population, and thus
varying cultures, needs to be handled carefully when it comes to preservation efforts. This was a big focus of my re-
search and resulted in various sources and perspectives to consider. I chose the articles “Historic Preservation in the
Americas, (Otero-Pailos),” along with “From Blighted to Historic: Race, Economic Development, and Historic Pres-
ervation in San Diego, California, (Saito)” and finally “Citizens versus Experts: Historic Preservation in Globalizing
Shanghai. (Shao)” These articles all examine how historic preservation works and doesn’t work from the viewpoints
of various racial and ethnic backgrounds, and how race and ethnicity do or do not affect preservation efforts. Saito
covers how race plays an unconscious role in decisions for preservation and development, despite the best intentions
to be race-neutral. Otero-Pailos examines how multiple cultures and groups in Latin American countries approached
historic preservation and the continuation of their rich cultures and traditions through preserving their structures.
Finally, Shao examines how citizens in Shanghai fought to save their neighborhood, named after American president
Abraham Lincoln, from globalizing and development efforts. These articles all involve an aspect of race or ethnicity,
and show that at the bottom of it all, we are all the same and just want to preserve our history for us and future gener-
ations to enjoy for decades and centuries to come.
To paraphrase William Murtagh, historic preservation engages the past while keeping an eye on the future.
The future is looking brighter and brighter in Buffalo every day, as any quick news search can tell you. It is our histo-
ry that we must make sure does not fall victim to this development and re-birth taking place in Buffalo.

39. The Fragile Fabric of History on the West Side
Introduc on
Buffalo as a city is rich in architectural history. Famous names such as Frederick Law Olmstead, Frank
Lloyd Wright, H.H. Richardson, Dankmar Adler, and Louis Sullivan all have significant architectural contri-
butions within the city. The West Side neighborhood of Buffalo harbors some of the best examples with H.H
Richardson’s Buffalo Psychiatric Center, Kleinhans Music Hall Designed by Eliel & Eero Saarinen, Trinity
Episcopal Church, Lafayette High School, and the Connecticut Street Armory. The question in this paper is how
are we to preserve all that history while minding future development and growth that is now becoming apparent
across Buffalo and Erie County? The author’s research has resulted in troubling findings that while it is known
that the area has a rich history, not enough is being done to preserve it, and some sites, along with the general
housing stock, are in perilous danger of falling into disrepair and being destroyed by the ravishes of time and
lack of preservation effort. Throughout this case study, the author is going to utilize field visits, quantitative and
qualitative data, and literature reviews and research to examine these questions and provide suggestions for the
future.
Research Methods
The qualitative data in this essay was all gathered by the author, a male college student aged 21, who
conducted multiple site visits, one via automobile, and two more by foot. An interview with a homeowner, a Mr.
James Sutton, of 226 Breckenridge, was conducted to gather qualitative information regarding a resident’s per-
spective of his neighborhood and its historical importance. The interview spanned about 25 minutes after a brief
introductory period with the homeowner by the author to explain why the author was seeking an interview and
what the intended purpose of said interview was. The interviewer asked five open-ended questions: How aware
are you of the historical structures in the neighborhood? What efforts in the neighborhood go towards historic
preservation? What is your involvement level with preservation? What has been your interaction with histor-
ically important sites, such as Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo Psychiatric Center, and the Connecticut Street
Armory? How do you see the physical infrastructure of the area, and significant sites, looking in 5 or 10 years?
Of course such means of data gathering can be flawed due to lack of experience in the neighborhood,
having been limited to only 3 visits and one interview with a resident. Like any attempts at research, efforts can
be assisted my more depth of research and more time to really delve into the depths of the subject and the data

40. that gets exposed. The author has also utilized previous policy memos, literature, and literature reviews to help
clarify and emphasize findings in the data that might otherwise be missing due to limited chances to gather data
from a boots-on-the-ground approach.
Findings-
Personal Experiences from the West Side (Field Observa ons, October 8th, 13th, 15th, 2015.)
Overview- the West Side is without a doubt a very diverse community. With a large portion of the pop-
ulation being immigrants or descendants of immigrants, the population lends itself to be a sort of melting pot
of race and culture taking place on the West Side of Buffalo. The neighborhood can also be characterized as an
older neighborhood (Bureau, 2009-2013), with a significant chunk of the population being well older on aver-
age than the rest of Erie County. More pertinent to the author’s topic, the West Side contains many historically
significant buildings and locations, such as: H.H Richardson’s Buffalo Psychiatric Center, Kleinhans Music
Hall Designed by Eliel & Eero Saarinen, Trinity Episcopal Church, Lafayette High School, and the Connecti-
cut Street Armory (Buffalo, n.d.). These buildings are an essential part of the historical fabric of the West Side
and of Buffalo, NY in general. The structures are there to make the West Side of Buffalo an important architec-
tural destination, but overall, the physical infrastructure of the neighborhood is lacking. The road surfaces are
less than ideal, sidewalks are difficult to walk on, and impossible to navigate with anything wheeled, such as a
wheelchair, skateboard, etc. The general housing stock seems to be suffering due to age and a lack of financial
support necessary for preservation and renovation (Bureau, 2009-2013). The lack of maintenance of the physi-
cal infrastructure is shocking, especially considering the advanced age of a large chunk of the population.
The deteriorating physical infrastructure is the most disappointing aspect. Upon undertaking this proj-
ect, the goal was to examine the historical preservation of the various important sites that have previously been
listed multiple times. Now it is apparent that the overall physical infrastructure needs more preservation and/
or restoration than the major sites. Naturally, the attention-gathering major sites were found to be getting the
necessary maintenance, as they were all still active. These site visits bring about the idea that maybe the pres-
ervation needs to be focused more on the community than the major sites. If no one is living around the area to
really care about and take pride in their magnificent architectural monuments, than what is the point of having
them. Residents need to be able to live comfortably, and live in such a clean and attractive manner that tour-
ists and visitors feel comfortable to stay and visit and marvel at these major, some world-famous, architectural
achievements. This is all easy for an outsider of the neighborhood to say, as it would be an absolutely massive

41. undertaking to revamp and preserve the physical infrastructure across a major neighborhood, not to mention
enormously expensive. Insight from residents of the neighborhood would be needed to ensure that the efforts are
focused where they are most immediately critical to implement.
A Residents Perspective
The residents seem to be mostly content with their way of life, although again that is easy for a visitor
to say without more exposure and interaction with residents on a deeper level. The author sought to gain a bit
deeper understanding, so he undertook an interview with a resident. He sought someone who was actively in-
volved in the community and has lived there for a meaningful amount of time (Sutton, 2015). Mr. James Sutton,
of 226 Breckenridge, was just such an individual to hopefully add some depth to this research, using the five
questions explained above in Research Methods. The author ran into Mr. Sutton out maintaining his property,
preparing for the Buffalo winter. After a brief introduction and explanation of why the interview was happen-
ing, the author got down to the interview. Mr. Sutton stated that he was aware of the major sites, although as a
resident, he didn’t do as much to enjoy these sights as he could, citing the busy schedule and tasks of day to day
life that we all are more than familiar with. The interviewee admitted that he was not very personally involved
with preservation efforts, but he did state that the condition of the buildings over time led him to believe that the
problems associated with older buildings are being managed to keep the locations operational and aesthetically
pleasing. Most importantly, Mr. Sutton agreed that while he saw the major structures maintaining their status in
the neighborhood, that other buildings in the area that carry a local tradition and history are falling into disre-
pair, and without intervention, faced a crises in the coming years. If someone didn’t come out to help restore
and preserve these buildings, Mr. Sutton agreed that many of them might not be standing a decade down the
road. The interviewee was very straightforward and seemed honest about his answers. Mr. Sutton understood
the importance of the work that needed to be done and that it is and would be a massive undertaking, but one
that needs to be done. Whether this work is done gradually, on a schedule, all at once, or however is best to ac-
complish it, it does need to be done for the good of the neighborhood. In Mr. Sutton’s views, the neighborhood
can’t decently survive without good buildings for residents and businesses, and improvement of buildings and
businesses isn’t going to happen without more citizen involvement and action. Mr. Sutton cared about the future
of his neighborhood and vowed to be more involved. Saying increased involvement on a personal level is com-
ing is easy, following up on those promises is another. Hopefully Mr. Sutton will be more involved and become
a force for change and a leader in the efforts to fix and rejuvenate the West Side.

42. Conclusion
Most people can easily find out that Buffalo has a rich architectural history with many important projects
by a variety of important architects. What most don’t know is that while the vast majority of buildings aren’t
anything spectacular, they deserve just as much attention for the local history and memories they carry with
residents. There is no way to argue against the preservation of major, significant sites, but there needs to be an
argument for the preservation of standing buildings and their history within the historical fabric of our beautiful
Buffalo, New York.
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