Mr. Donovan, tear down this house.
And this one. And this one. And that one over there.
That's the message federal Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan should take with him from his visit to Buffalo last week. It should help him, and others in power in Washington and in Albany, see the need for more state and federal aid to help this and other cities deal with the growing problem of abandoned and derelict houses.
Buffalo, with its shrunken industrial base and declining population, has neither the need nor the wherewithal to rehabilitate all of the thousands of houses that stand unused and unloved.
And moves to save those structures that could again become affordable homes for Buffalo families cannot succeed until those that are beyond repair are razed and the remaining cavities reclaimed, either as new building sites or community parks and gardens. It makes no sense to spend public or private money to save a house if will still be surrounded by decaying, vermin-sheltering, drug-hiding structures.
This is a problem that cries out for help from the state and federal governments -- to which Buffalonians pay significant taxes -- and not just because we can't afford it on our own. The collapse of any city ripples throughout regional economies, shrinking tax bases and encouraging urban sprawl as developers, home buyers and governments collaborate in an ultimately futile attempt to outrun the blight.
That's why New York Gov. David A. Paterson wants to use Buffalo as the launching pad for an initiative that would provide money for demolition of the houses that need to go and for environmentally responsible rehabilitation of those that can feasibly be saved.
And that's why Buffalo's U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins and New York's Sen. Charles E. Schumer are asking Congress to pass their Community Regeneration Act. It would give Donovan $400 million over three years to distribute to 30 cities -- with criteria that fit the description of Buffalo -- as examples of how cities with large swathes of blighted neighborhoods can be restored.
It makes little economic -- and zero environmental -- sense to keep plowing up acres of farmland for new residential subdivisions and strip shopping centers when so much of Buffalo, Detroit, New Orleans, etc., etc., already have so much expensive urban infrastructure in place. The streets, the utilities, the police stations and the schools are here. The houses, to the degree that the market demands them, should be, too.
The land that's left over, and there will be a lot of that, cannot just be ignored. Someone has to oversee its transition into open space, gardens, parks and playgrounds -- some publicly owned, some in private or institutional hands.
The state and federal plans are complementary with one another and with the efforts by Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown to demolish more irredeemable houses, making the houses that remain more attractive, valuable and cherished.
