Feedback Buffalo Report's readers say. . .
Buffalonian Hiram Pratt sent this comment on the Govindaraj housing report:
Tuesday, 24 Dec 2002
As much as this is a very welcome development for the City to embark on, the Govindaraj sisters are apparently unaware of some additional information that makes the picture a bit more nuanced than their report would indicate.
There is an underlying assumption in the article that all areas of Buffalo are dilapidated and in need of strengthening. In fact, the two areas (North and South Buffalo) where most homes have been purchased under this program are among the strongest in the City.
Mention is also made of living near your work. While this is often a component of EAH programs, and is at Canisius, there's no indication that thatıs the case here. Living in South Buffalo and working at City Hall is better for our tax base than living in Hamburg, but it doesnıt mean you live near your work in any really meaningful way.
As is noted, many public employees are required to live in the City anyway, so offering them an incentive to do so is meaningless, unless it is an incentive to live in a neighborhood that needs the support a wage-earning owner-occupant can provide, or it gets a car off the road and out of a downtown parking lot.
This program is important, if for no other reason than that it increases everyoneıs familiarity with the EAH concept, but thereıs room for improvement. EAH will begin to have a truly significant effect on Buffalo when major private sector employers like M&T, HSBC, Delaware North, and the components of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus sign on to programs that include a live-near-your-work requirement. Let's hope they donıt wait too much longer.
© 2002 Buffalo Report, Inc.