Buffalo Shakes Off Some Rust

Buffalo made its fortune in long-gone heavy industries such as steel. Now a new industrial revolution—in renewable energy—is bringing new life to the coldest, northernmost city of the American Rust Belt.

2 minute read

July 27, 2015, 1:00 PM PDT

By Josh Stephens @jrstephens310

jiawangkun / Shutterstock

When the steel industry went under in the 1970s and 1980s, so did Buffalo. The city in northwestern New York has lost a third of its peak population. It belongs to the ignominious ranks of Rust Belt cities that lost jobs to robots and overseas companies and lacked the economic diversity and sense of innovation necessary to make a pivot. Its frigid climate didn't help.

Now, things are turning around. Aided in part by a $1 billion redevelopment assistance plan from the state, the Buffalo region now has a healthy 5.3 percent unemployment rate. Some of those jobs are at high-tech companies, including Yahoo, that are capitalizing on the region's cheap energy, powered by Niagra Falls, which the defunct factories no longer use. Cheap real estate doesn't hurt either. Equally importantly, an emerging industrial economy is taking the place of the old one, building turbines and windmills near places that used to make girders and rails. There's a green energy complex, and the solar power company SolarCity has built a factory.

"Under the [redevelopment] plan, developed after a study from the Brookings Institution along with local community and business organizations, the state is trying to seed a cluster economy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, targeting several areas, including advanced manufacturing, health and life sciences and tourism. Seeing the opportunities for renewable energy came out of that process."

While the region has an extensive industrial infrastructure, it also has a robust social infrastructure, which has stuck around since Buffalo's heyday.

"Despite the long decline, much of that infrastructure remains — including transmission and rail lines, professional schools and fine art museums. All of that, along with generous government subsidies, is proving attractive to new industries like clean energy and advanced manufacturing."

The city is even attracting hipsters.

"Nowhere is the transformation more evident than in Larkinville, a collection of 19th-century buildings once clustered around the Larkin Soap Company that has become a work, entertainment and dining destination inspired by similar districts like Dumbo and Williamsburg, Brooklyn."

FULL STORY: The Wind and Sun Are Bringing the Shine Back to Buffalo

Monday, July 20, 2015 in New York Times

Community / Economic Development Energy New York Buffalo Renewable Energy Rust Belt upstate New York View More

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Learn More

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.