NY Times article on Buffalo (UB)

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/nyregion/buffalo-pins-hope-for-revival-on-university-expansion.html

[Spun]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/nyregion/buffalo-pins-hope-for-revival-on-university-expansion.html

 

I like the proposal but I understand the economic realities. Downtown Buffalo needs some positive infusion of cash, people and ideas that become reality. The empty storefronts are frustrating (AM&As, Kleinhans, Hengerer's, etc.). Until the world, national, state and city economies show some significant progress financial commitments will shut down the optimism. The periphery of downtown is a hornet's nest that threatens every day safety especially downtown and especially at night. I would rather have a booming downtown U.B. campus than an underutilized Bass Pro. Keeping a downtown ECC campus is essiential to keeping higher education accessible to the less wealthy (like me). As for the poverty issue, those in poverty would do better to stop hurting themselves in Buffalo and elsewhere. To sell that idea to those in poverty is difficult.

 

I think the article was a fair assessment of the situation. Don't sugar-coat Buffalo's negatives. Downtown has a lot of potential but as it stands right now it is a ghost town. Sometimes we like to attack critics of the city (Willis McGahee and Emerson Etem) but sometimes those critiques are right on. Having traveled around the U.S. quite a bit, Buffalo stands out as a very unique city that could and should be doing a lot better. To the state legislators: A thriving downtown U.B. campus in downtown Buffalo could be a major boost for the city, don't shut the door.

[DC Tom]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/nyregion/buffalo-pins-hope-for-revival-on-university-expansion.html

 

Great idea.

 

Never gonna work. It would have to be a world-class facility from the start to revitalize the area, which means spending a shitload of money attracting talent and research opportunities to the facility even before it's completed. No way they get that much money (not out of a NYS legislature that sees NY as "NYC and the unwashed masses" - they're more likely to put it on Long Island or in Peekskill, and can't understand that a tax base requires an income base). And if they do, no way they do anything but waste it on something that ends up being a white elephant.

[zow2]

Even though it's a bit of a pipe-dream it's been good to see UB and Buffalo out in front leading this campaign. UB2020 left a bitter taste in the mouths of Albany, Stony Brook and Binghamton for trying to branch out on their own and become sort of the "flagship" university of SUNY. Now these other SUNY centers want a piece of UB2020 and the state will probably divy things up evenly and grant some concessions to everybody. They all have UB to thank for starting this initiative and pushing the envelope.

[PromoTheRobot]

There isn't enough money to pay off all the people you'd have to pay off to make this happen.

 

PTR

[ExiledInIllinois]

Even though it's a bit of a pipe-dream it's been good to see UB and Buffalo out in front leading this campaign. UB2020 left a bitter taste in the mouths of Albany, Stony Brook and Binghamton for trying to branch out on their own and become sort of the "flagship" university of SUNY. Now these other SUNY centers want a piece of UB2020 and the state will probably divy things up evenly and grant some concessions to everybody. They all have UB to thank for starting this initiative and pushing the envelope.

 

Why doesn't NYS have a "flagship" school like many of the MidWest states do?

[billsfan89]

I don't think that Buffalo could work as a college town. Even if all those plans went through would University of Buffalo see the surge in attendance and tuition in order to pump that money back into the Buffalo economy.

 

I think that rather than pumping money into a university the state and city should look into attracting private self sustaining enterprise into the city of Buffalo and Western NY in general. Tax incentives as well as other methods might be more effective than trying to get a ton of public funding from a bankrupt state legislator.

[BuffaloBill]

I don't think that Buffalo could work as a college town. Even if all those plans went through would University of Buffalo see the surge in attendance and tuition in order to pump that money back into the Buffalo economy.

 

I think that rather than pumping money into a university the state and city should look into attracting private self sustaining enterprise into the city of Buffalo and Western NY in general. Tax incentives as well as other methods might be more effective than trying to get a ton of public funding from a bankrupt state legislator.

 

 

It might depend on whether research done at the U has the effect of spinning off into local businesses. If so, this would be a very positive development for the region.

[zow2]

Why doesn't NYS have a "flagship" school like many of the MidWest states do?

 

I don't really know the specific answer. All the colleges and Universities in SUNY are state supported. They probably all want an equal piece of the pie so no one school has emerged. The four university centers are UB, Albany, Stony Brook and Binghamton and they are the unofficial "flagships". UB and Stony Brook are members of the very prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU). Univ. of Nebraska was just booted out of the AAU and Syracuse U. is supposedly not far behind (leaving voluntarily so as not to get the boot).

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_American_Universities

[Spun]

I agree with the posts that state that a downtown U.B. campus should have a connection to Buffalo jobs. A lot of students have studied in Buffalo but many have moved to other locales for more promising opportunities. This result is sadly true of way too many young people from WNY and those from elsewhere who have simply studied in WNY. This mass exodus also happens to a lesser degree at many other locations but it is more pronounced in Buffalo because the job situation is so underdeveloped. Downtowns thrive when they offer a lot to the most people. Look at the cooler cities in this country and abroad and that is what you will see.

 

Montreal is a city that has a variety of universities and colleges in it's downtown area (McGill, UQAM, University of Montreal and Concordia). Montreal also has lot of other activity in it's downtown but having universities and colleges in the downtown area created demand for a more infrastructure.

 

Now is not the time for NYS to start spraying big money around but now is the time to plan for what could be a major positive for U.B. and downtown Buffalo. This isn't Bass Pro. This is a very good idea that is worth putting into reality. Keep the idea in the news! Nice article NYT!

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

Why doesn't NYS have a "flagship" school like many of the MidWest states do?

 

The main reason is its relatively youthful age compared to other state universities. SUNY really did not exist until 1948. By that time, the "major" universities in the state were private institutions. In 1948, the original formation of SUNY was basically an amalgamation of 30 existing colleges and universities, rather than something that was created from scratch.

 

People always forget that UB was a private university until 1962.

Edited May 21, 2011 by \GoBillsInDallas/

[ExiledInIllinois]

The main reason is its relatively youthful age compared to other state universities. SUNY really did not exist until 1948. By that time, the "major" universities in the state were private institutions. In 1948, the original formation of SUNY was basically an amalgamation of 30 existing colleges and universities, rather than something that was created from scratch.

 

People always forget that UB was a private university until 1962.

 

 

Thanks for the history update GBiD! I knew UB was private, but didn't know it was as late as 1962! I graduated from UB, 1990... I know... Hard to believe! Standards must have been lower!