Public forum this evening will showcase results of long-range planning workshop for Buffalo Niagara

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The public will have an opportunity this evening to weigh in on the work completed earlier this week by more than six dozen participants of a workshop aimed at imagining the next 50 years of the Buffalo Niagara region. Media are invited to cover the public forum.

• What: Public forum: What's Next for Buffalo Niagara?
• When: 6 p.m. today (Oct. 26)
• Where: Buffalo Niagara Convention Center, 153 Franklin St., Buffalo

On Wednesday, about 80 people — comprising local stakeholders and urban and regional planning students and scholars from around North America — spent the day in Hayes Hall on the University at Buffalo’s South Campus.

Their task: Take a long-range view of what Buffalo Niagara needs to do to ensure that life here in the 21st century is healthy, prosperous and equitable in the face of daunting challenges.

The workshop focused on five key sectors: environment and energy, economy and employment, housing and neighborhoods, land use and transportation, and governance and civic culture.

Participants included faculty and graduate students from UB, SUNY Buffalo State and ACSP conference attendees from a number of colleges and universities.

They were joined by representatives from the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls, Erie County, Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, Greater Buffalo Niagara Regional Transportation Council, Hamburg Development Companies and Buffalo Erie and Niagara Land Improvement Corporation, in addition to staff from several regional community organizations.

Tonight’s public forum offers the larger Buffalo Niagara community a chance to hear the results of the workshop and to share their thoughts.

The workshop was made possible by major support from Friends of Tony Masiello and Ashai Design Consulting Corporation, with additional support from The Baird Foundation and Foit-Albert Architects.