Pearl Street
I recently took a stroll along Pearl Street in downtown Buffalo. There's been some buzz around this road lately, including the long overdue paving of the street opening up two way traffic last year and announcements of rebuilding the parking garage across from the Lofts on Pearl. Both are great to hear, but Pearl Street has a long way to go with several obstacles in front of it. As you head north from the famous Pearl Street Brewery, you'll see some amazing examples of architecture hard to find anywhere else in the United States, including the breathtaking Guaranty Building, the Dunn Building and St. Paul's Cathedral. These several city blocks on the south end of Pearl are just loaded with history and beauty! Sadly, the story changes as soon as you head north to cross Church....
Main Place Mall - One of Buffalo's greatest ideas! OK, heavy sarcasm here... This part of Pearl Street is a freakin dead zone, and what a shame... Up until the late 1960's, the blocks around Eagle, Pearl and Main used to be filled with small and medium mixed use business and ordinary buildings (see picture from 1964). In 1968, the city politicians, media and local big business felt that by creating a clean, attractive and centralized "mall", they'd be able to pool businesses together and attract suburban and Niagara families for a one-stop shopping experience. Good idea in theory, except for the fact that it never materialized and now is arguably the ugliest 2-block section in downtown Buffalo. Actually, it might be second.... I forgot we haven't gotten to the next block north, where one walking down Pearl Street can view the backside of the Convention Center....
OK, I don't want to dwell on all the negatives here, because once you get past these two horrible buildings, and the backsides of a couple hotels, and several more parking ramps..... Yikes, this is a seriously ugly 5-6 block stretch of downtown Buffalo. North of Chippewa it gets a little better. There's still a ton of dead space and parking lots, but some of the old Buffalo charm can be found in the remaining buildings with businesses like Cabaret, Alleyway Theatre and Encore. Anyways, it's not best to dwell on the past but what we can do in the future. A significant shot of retail and storefront's could go a long way reviving Pearl Street, but with it's current layout of serving as loading areas for the Convention Center and many other businesses, that idea might be far fetched. Regardless, there are a ton of cool views and sights to be had while walking down Pearl Street, offering views that aren't commonly seen when you see downtown. Here are a few images, feel free to click on each for full size!
