By Dave Majewski
In Western New York we are undergoing an amazing transformation this very day. Canalside, Lafayette Hotel, Buffalo Public Schools renovations, Statler City, Medical Campus, Central Terminal, Fuhrman Blvd and the Outer Harbor, various infrastructure improvements, and many other “development” projects too numerous to list.
Are these good? Of course they are. They create pride, jobs, tax rolls, community enhancement, tourism, enjoyment, and so on. Perhaps even more potentially exciting is the recent notice from Albany regarding $1 billion in incentives should Buffalo work at attracting businesses to our city. All good things and good for the economy. Economy means $ – maybe not for us all – but perhaps it would “trickle down” in some form?
Did I leave anything out? Let’s see: jobs, development, taxes, money, infrastructure, preservation, opportunity, heritage, education, pride, etc…. nope, all there.
What about the environment? We are surely progressing and giving much needed focus on the economy no doubt; but what about the focus on our environment? Isn’t it worth something as far as dollars go? I know that all the above economic components can have an estimated dollar value assigned to them somehow – it is often done by planners, economists, municipal leaders, banks, etc… But, does anyone assign a dollar value to our environment?
Environment meaning: soil, birds, air, water, trees, bees, insects, habitats, flowers, etc… you get the point. How progressive would it be if we had: ecologists, horticulturists, biologists, hydrologists and ornithologists all sit at the same table as: developers, planners, economists, banks, construction managers, architects and politicians? Wow!
All representative industries singing off the same sheet of music for the same common goal for us all: The Economies of the Environment, or, E2.
This does not imply that we never again build a parking lot, or 20 story condos, or commercial office parks, new homes, banks, etc… We need all those things – sure. But, can we do it more intelligently and more cooperatively and with less political interference and less focus on the quick buck? Sure we can. It is being done in other parts of the world.
There are groups and organizations that have spent years on calculating the worth of the environment – and also the worth of a healthy environment as it relates to the success of industry and certainly communities and the residents; i.e. you and me!
Perhaps we are all kind of guilty wherein we have grown accustomed to perceiving economic development in the form of cranes, convoys of trucks, roads, tall buildings, guys with jackhammers, asphalt, scaffolding, backhoes, and hard hats, etc…
We like to pave paradise. We like to see new home developments that clear cut 100+ acres of all trees, soils, water bodies, plants, etc… and then we name the streets of this new development after all the trees removed! Elm, Oak, Maple, Pine, Ash….. To most of us, in part, this is what we have always considered as economic progress.
There is a solution though. Focusing on the Economies of the Environment; E2.
How? By having all the involved parties at the same table to start with; or as many as possible. By being sincere, flexible and practical. Too much to ask for? Maybe, maybe not. Won’t cost us an extra dime though.
Economic development does not have to equate to simply building structures and roads and parking lots and developments the old way. We can have the best of both worlds; if we are more intelligent and aware.
More in an upcoming post.
Dave Majewski is the Principal of SRG Buffalo and is on the City of Buffalo’s Sustainable Development Task Force. He is the project lead and developer of the Urban Habitat Project at the Buffalo Central Terminal.