Ed Healy On Bringing “bifocal intellectuals” to Buffalo
"When Russ Maxwell gave the staff of the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau a tour of the Davidson House earlier this spring and introduced his plans to us for restoring the house and making it available for overnight stays, we were genuinely impressed and excited. Russ impressed us as someone who intended to take his responsibility as a steward of a Frank Lloyd Wright house very seriously, someone who was going to make a significant investment in restoring the house and its grounds, someone who was extremely sensitive to the history of the house and its place in Buffalo’s amazing collection of American architecture, and someone who wanted to make a contribution to Buffalo’s growing appeal as a cultural tourism destination.
"We walked away from the tour very excited, realizing that the Davidson House would have tremendous appeal to the many cultural tourists who are finding their way to the Martin House, Graycliff and the Roycroft Campus. We knew these well-educated, upper income visitors who revel in every nuance and detail of our amazing architecture would jump at the opportunity to stay in Wright-designed accommodations. We also realized that the Davidson House would add another very compelling thread to the story of our city’s emergence as a first-rank visitor destination and would serve to make travel journalists sit up and take notice. Premier cultural tourism destinations like Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina have scores of charming and unique B&Bs and small inns scattered throughout their historic neighborhoods. These accommodations are an integral part of the visitor experience in both cities and nicely complement the museums and tours that are at the core of a visit to each city. The Davidson House would play just this type of role for visitors to Buffalo. After a day spent touring of the Martin House and admiring the art at the Albright-Knox these upscale visitors would have a truly unique accommodation awaiting them at the end of the day.
"The CVB’s research consultants describe the typical visitor to the Wright properties and the Roycroft Campus as “bifocal intellectuals” -- the kind of visitors who quietly savor the fabric of a community and leave behind a lot of money at area attractions and businesses. These visitors would surely be a welcome and unobtrusive addition to any Buffalo neighborhood."
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Comment Options
Perry
Finally, someone with some sense on this whole situation. This is what the city is losing thanks to the NIMBY's.
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BuffaloDrift
Perry: Not NIMBYs, neighbors. And the neighbors did not stop anything from happening. I have no problem with B&Bs and inns and appealing to the type of tourists this article mentions, but that is not the issue with 57 Tillinghast Place. It is not an Inn nor a B&B.
Queenseyes: Did you ask Mr. Healy what he thought about the B&B at 500 Lafayette that was also pulled from a rezoning meeting due to neighbors’ complaints?
It is interesting that Mr. Maxwell discussed his plans with so many people, except those on the street. Why is that? And when we found out that the house was on the Parkside home tour a few weeks ago, we were told we could “buy a ticket to see inside.”
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Einstein
Mr. Healy: Are there any plans to add signs and directions to the Darwin Martin house along the Youngman and Kennsington, maybe the Thruway? I drove through Virginia last weekend and was impressed by the huge signs advertising the "FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT - POPE LEIGHEY HOUSE" along Interstate 95 near Springfield, VA. I took an unexpected detour to visit and found the route well marked and easy to navigate.
I was visiting the loop in Chicago a few weeks ago for business and was impressed by the signs that highlighted specific buildings and their architectural or historical significance. I was also impressed with the sculptures and the parks, and most impressed with the police officers on foot, bikes, segways, ATVs, and of course police cars. They were available to answer questions and were genuinely knowledgeable about the streets, the buildings, and the city. Do we have plans in the works to make Buffalo easier to navigate or to increase the police presence on the streets?
I am sure that the precious time of the BNC&VB could be better spent focusing on the larger issues that could help attract visitors instead of these minor, yet locally controversial, matters that have little impact to the bigger picture. It is time to think in the larger scale. I see a lot of advertising for Nashville, Charlotte, and Detroit in my travels, and almost nothing relating to Buffalo / Niagara. Why is that?
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AtwnMike
Am I the only one who finds it inappropriate for the organizers of this site to use it for their personal agendas?
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anthonycapone
what are you talking about? This is their site , they can write whatever the hell they want , if you dont like , dont read it !
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Jim
Buffalo Drift - Umm... that's how these house tours work. You pay for a ticket that usually benefits a community organization, in this case Parkside's, and then get to see the inside of the house...
And neighbors can be NIMBYs, but they aren't always. The "back yard" portion of the phrase implies proximity, as in "neighbor."
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Buffalopundit
Bifocal intellectuals. Now I've seen everything. We pay these guys with county revenue?
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BuffaloDrift
Jim: Indeed...I understand how these tours work, I have no problem with them, and I think they are a good thing. The point was not that these shouldn't go on, it was that many, many other people got a "free" look inside, while the neighbors were offered the chance to pay to see inside.
And I know what NIMBY means;This is not a NIMBY situation because it is about the zoning variance that caused the problem with the plan, and I do not support the concept of the variance in anybody's back or front or side yard. Therefore, NIMBY does not apply.
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pegger
And ,"These visitors would surely be a welcome and unobtrusive addition to any Buffalo neighborhood." Apparently, there is one exception.
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kfitzgerald
At the risk of repeating myself from other threads, I would again point out that trying to maintain the character of a neighborhood is called activism unless you or a business with whom you're alligned doesn't get their way - then it's 'NIMBYism.'
It is not incumbent on Mr. Maxwell's neighbors to make his apparently ill-considered business work. It is his responsibility to convince us that there are credible and compelling reasons to support his application for a zoning variance.
Given the vehemence and one-sidedness with which the editor of this site has approached the issue, I have to ask - does Newell Nussbaumer or anyone affiliated with BRO have an interest in Mr. Maxwell's proposed business? I realize that Buffalo Rising is not an actual newspaper and has no obligation to adhere to basic journalistic ethics, but I would think full disclosure of this type of thing would be a gesture of good faith on BRO's part.
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Perry
BuffaloPundit - once again you speak without knowing the facts. The CVB is funded by bed-tax...not one penny comes from Erie County residents. In fact, if you recall, the County takes over 60% of the money raised by the CVB. This has been in the paper for like five years now - thought you'd pick up on that.
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BuffaloGeek
Perry, bed tax monies are county revenue. hth!
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Perry
Buffalo Geek - you're right...it is county revenue...stolen from the hospitality industry. The bed tax money was established many years ago by the hospitality industry to self-fund their marketing efforts (therefore Erie County residents didn't have to fund it). Only in Buffalo can the government steal from it's own people.
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Buffalopundit
Perry - once again you write without knowing the facts. I don't have a recollection of calling you on the phone and speaking with you.
I wrote that the CVB is funded by county revenue. The bed tax is county revenue. So, where am I wrong?
The CVB is funded by a bed tax which the hospitality industry asked for. It furthermore asked the county to act as a passthrough for that money.
If the objective was for the local hospitality industry to pool resources together, and, e.g., charge an extra $5.00 per room to fund some sort of joint marketing plan, then that's what they should have done.
Instead, they asked that the county intervene and raise revenue through taxation.
When the county is in dire financial straits trying to pay for things like healthcare for the poor. You know - things more important and pressing (and state-mandated) than the attraction of "bifocal intellectuals" or contact-lensed 60-something day-tripping Vegans or monacled Austrian counts.
There are obstacles to utilizing this bed tax revenue for its original purpose, as the revenue is currently dedicated for other uses in the general fund. Therefore, it is imperative that a new budgetary approach be utilized so that we are not “robbing Peter to pay Paul” through dedicating the bed tax revenues to the CVB and then cutting another quality of life service offered by the county. By utilizing performance-based budgeting, conducting annual audits, and looking for savings in other departments, we can determine how much money the CVB actually needs to accomplish its mandate, and direct funds accordingly.
If the CVB did a little less whining and a little more effective marketing, perhaps that county bed tax revenue would go up.
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sbrof
shame... and lost opportunity. I still don't understand how allowing this house to be rented out would be been such a detriment to the neighborhood that 90% of the residents would be opposed to it.
This isn't just some random house being rented and leased out to people. This is a guest house where only a certain group of people would be allowed to stay there.
It really is a case of the NIMBY's because I can't think of any other reason to go against it besides unfounded fear of something 'different.'
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EricOak
What happened to the Coit House B & B plan? Still waiting for answer BRO.
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