[pdxstreetcar]

thats great to see Buffalo following the Pearl district model because i think Buffalo has a tremendous amount of unrealized potential and the warehouse district is very similar to what the Pearl district used to be. one major component to the success of the pearl and many other cities (like Providence) that gets overlooked are developers with a vision beyond just maximum return on investment, the developers with this vision look and care about the environment on the street, how to keep vitality going all day and well into the night, open space, green components in the buildings and putting parking underground. many developers will see these things as unnecessary and a waste of money but developers with a vision realize doing the "right thing" actually makes them more money by creating a very desirable neighborhood and addresses which people are willing to pay a lot of money for.

another city that buffalo might want to look at is Tacoma, WA which has really turned itself around by investing in a lot of public infrastructure and facilities which in turn is now attracting private investment.