Buffalo, New York

The Jefferson Avenue corridor was once a thriving Black business district and mixed-use urban neighborhood. In recent decades, the theaters, black-owned businesses, and homes have suffered a severe decline in business investment and a rise in the poverty levels of its residents. Additionally, on May 14, 2022, this tight-knit community of legacy African American families suffered an unspeakable tragedy when a man opened fire at the Tops neighborhood supermarket located on Jefferson Avenue. As the entire city grapples with the aftermath of this tragedy, a look into the past to recall the resiliency of Buffalo's East Side community is now more critical than ever.

The Buffalo Branch of the NAACP, in partnership with the Buffalo Urban League, with the support of the City of Buffalo, the Local Organizing Committee (LOC), community stakeholders, and the ULI WNY regional satellite district council asked ULI to convene an Advisory Services panel to offer community-driven recommendations for a framework to revitalize Jefferson Avenue. Specifically, the ULI Advisory Services panel was asked to address questions around the market and development potential of the corridor, potential obstacles to revitalization,  physical infrastructure needs, strategies and tools to strengthen surrounding neighborhoods to support commercial development, potential catalytic actions or projects, equitable development approaches, how to preserve the culture and history of the corridor, public investment opportunities, and what organizational structure might be helpful for implementing revitalization recommendations.

Conversations and interviews with local stakeholders, including residents and business owners, highlighted three overarching themes that the panel used as the foundation for their subject-matter recommendations.

• Strategic Connectivity: Build on existing city investments in a way that cohesively connects them to local impact and leverage these investments to strategically communicate with stakeholder. Develop a holistic approach to communication that demonstrates coordinated efforts that may have gone unnoticed.
• Strategic Leadership: Lead collaboratively, with all oars rowing in the same direction and with communication up and down the planning process. This increases the importance of coordination between and among local community-based organizations and collaboration with public, private and philanthropic partners. Focus on equitable development that is centered around the needs of the neighborhoods and helps to intentionally mitigate any negative effects upon the community.
• Strategic Communications: Prioritize the social, cultural, and economic aspects of investments in Jefferson Avenue, empower the community to participate to facilitate more effective communication and build trust.

The panel offered a wide range of recommendations in the following areas: community infrastructure, physical infrastructure, market and development, economic development, business retention, expansion and attraction, small business development, and cultural placemaking.