BUFFALO — Mayor Byron Brown announced Tuesday that the city’s revitalization planning efforts, entitled the “South Buffalo Brownfields Opportunity Area” is one of three large scale projects in New York State that was recently designated a Brownfields Smart Growth Spotlight Community by Governor David A. Paterson and Secretary of State Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez.

“Amid concerns over sprawl, land use and climate change, cities are essential players in America’s environmental future by reusing urban land and making it productive again,” said Mayor Brown. “Smart growth means urban revitalization. Efficiently reusing already developed land rather than incurring the environmental and fiscal inefficiencies of development in former agricultural land and natural areas. Buffalo is now a proven leader in the Great Lakes Cities for clean up and reuse of contaminated and underutilized properties.”

In New York State, this designation will link the Mayor’s South Buffalo BOA to the Governor's Smart Growth Cabinet. This state-local partnership will demonstrate how existing state programs can support and complement local efforts to redevelop urban land, stimulate neighborhood revitalization and advance smart growth objectives. The greatest environmental impact of a building is where it’s built.  Urban redevelopment is compact and efficient, it conserves resources and reduces emissions and lessens impacts to our waterways.

The City of Buffalo has been awarded a significant grant through the New York State Departments of State and Environmental Conservation Brownfield Opportunity Areas Program to conduct a Nomination Study for the South Buffalo Brownfield Opportunity Areas.  The Nomination Study will be an in-depth analysis and master plan for approximately 1,900 acres of strategically located, but largely underutilized land in South Buffalo.  The City of Buffalo’s Office of Strategic Planning has been working with Urban Strategies, a consulting firm from Toronto, ONT, the New York State Department of State and Department of Environmental Conservation, the Erie County Industrial Development Agency and community members on the planning process for the BOA.  Hundreds of Buffalo residents and business people have participated in public workshops organized by City Hall to define a community-based vision for the transformation of these mostly former industrial lands into sustainable development.