VISIONARIES: You
Posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010
by block club
You didn’t think we’d forget the most important, the most visionary, person in Western New York, did you?
With due respect to the aforementioned 15, and with a tip of the hat to the scores of others in this great city who we could not fit in this issue, the most valuable player on Team WNY is staring you right in the mirror.
The achievements and accolades earned by this group of visionary minds is extraordinary and well-deserved. Their innovative ideas, their unwavering determination, their hours of sweat equity are emblematic of a bigger picture of urban progress. If we don’t help ourselves and each other, then who can we expect to help us? What are we waiting for?
You may not see yourself in all of the stories you’ve just read. Maybe you can’t afford to buy an abandoned building like Prish, or start a non-profit like Creighton and his friends, or fundraise like Leslie. But maybe you can do something that they haven’t. Maybe you can put your talent and interest into something no one else has done before. Maybe you can discover solutions no one else has.
Follow the lead of these committed people, organizations and businesses. Businesspeople like Mike Hananel of Horizon Realty, who is implementing energy-efficient initiatives in 300 of the company’s apartments. Or historians like Chuck LaChiusa, who remind us of Buffalo’s past so that we may learn valuable lessons for its future. Or CurbSide Croft, which is helping to introduce urban farming to city neighborhoods. The list goes on…
A lot is being done. And a lot needs to be done. The only question is, what are you going to do about it?
-Ben Siegel
