A common refrain heard in Buffalo, and much of the Rust Belt, is that you can’t appreciate the place until you’ve left it.

A crop of young Buffalonians have put this idea into practice in the past several years by combining an appreciation for their hometown with the innovative resources and ideas they’ve gained through education and experiences in the world outside the Queen City.

Megan McNally, a senior at Barnard College in New York, used a school grant to purchase a home (pictured above) on Buffalo’s blighted West Side. Picking up renovation tips from the non-profit

Readers of Rust Wire (and citizens of the Rust Belt in general) may know that some of Buffalo’s strongest assets are its spectacular architectural treasures.
The city is wisely trying to capitalize on these structures for tourism and economic development purposes.
Take a look at this video from The Buffalo News about efforts to restore the Richardson- Olmsted complex (formerly the Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane).
I’ve driven by this building before, I’m eager to see what the inside is like.
What asset or piece of unusual architecture do you think your city …

Rust Wire is pleased to share an interview with Greg Ames, the author of Buffalo Lockjaw, a fantastic novel mostly set in Buffalo.
Here’s a passage:
“Turned out that Buffalonians loved talking about Buffalo, especially during happy hour, which lasted from five o’clock to midnight. Many of them felt an immense tenderness for this town. They were proud and protective of Buffalo. They dipped their pizza crusts in puddles of blue cheese and argued about where to find the best chicken wings in the city. They celebrated happy hour most nights and …

The Infrastructurist has an interesting post on seven major, urban, old-school freeways that should be torn down to improve aesthetics, neighborhoods, or even traffic.
Topping the list: Cleveland and the West Shoreway. Rust Wire (and many other observers) have complained that Cleveland does a very poor job of utilizing one of its strongest assets – its Lake Erie waterfront. One big reason: there’s a highway there preventing people from having easy waterfront access.
As the Infrastructurist points out, removing a big highway has been done before, notably in Milwaukee.
Other cities of interest …

An episode of the Travel Channel show “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” set to air Monday will showcase the culinary delicacies of Baltimore, Detroit and Buffalo.
I’ve never seen the show, but this preview, from The Buffalo News, describes Bourdain’s style as “acerbic” and “salty” as well as “not really Chamber of Commerce material.” Despite that, this writer says, the host manages to keep the show balanced by praising the cities’ cuisine as well as some of their assets, such as Buffalo’s famous architecture.
The show will be on Monday at 10 p.m.
Thanks …

Buffalo Weekly Art Voice has an interesting piece about the obstacles Anti-Poverty workers face in caring for the poor as their ranks swell.
Author Bruce Fisher points out that experts in the area have determined that the stimulus will have no impact on the region’s long term problems, unless it is tackled through a region approach.
Anti-Poverty workers are already battling uphill, with more and more families falling under federal guidelines for low-income.
Adding to the insult, county legislator Robert Reynolds deferred to public employees rather than casting the vote that would have consolidated …

Filmmaker Billy Erhard has filmed the insides and outsides of dozens of abandoned homes in Buffalo, New York, as they are being torn apart by workers. This six-minute video is an attempt to preserve the images of the mostly 1920s-era bungalows after they are demolished.

The city of Buffalo has more than 20,000 abandoned homes. Mayor Byron Brown has been leading an aggressive demolition campaign there.
Preservation Nation magazine, who tipped us off to the project, has posted a great story about the film here.
Erhard produced the video for the “Story about …

Our friends at Great Lakes Urban Exchange (aka GLUE) are featured this story in Artvoice, Buffalo’s alternative weekly paper.
GLUE-sters will be in Buffalo this week for their summit, “Great Lakes Metros and the New Opportunity: Remaking Policy and Practice in a Time of Transformation,” on Thursday, June 18 and Friday, June 19 at Buffalo State College.
“The goal of the conference is threefold: to identify ways to filter federal stimulus money into Great Lakes cities; to develop policy that nurtures the region and helps urban areas grow into sustainable units; and …

The Buffalo News’ “The ‘Burbs” blog posed a question yesterday that has been asked by many a municipality: should public employees be required to live where they work?

(Sorry for this lame picture. I couldn’t think of any other way to illustrate this story.)
Their post dealt with the Buffalo suburb of Amherst, but it’s a question that has been asked throughout our region.
Typically, municipal leaders – and oftentimes voters as well – favor such rules, which are often opposed by police and firefighters unions.
This has been a hot topic in Ohio …

It’s kinda nice to read a story about the housing crisis that isn’t set in my backyard (Cleveland) for once.
This time, my hometown of Columbus is front and center in the sad story of houses without owners. A neighborhood in west Columbus was found to have the highest vacancy rate in the country, according to an Associated Press analysis, based on Housing and Urban Development and Postal Service data.
This is kinda unusual because Columbus is generally regarded to be the golden child of Ohio in these parts.
I know the Columbus …