Why is “No News Good News”?

There has been so much discussion about the recent announcement that the Elmwood Village was named by the American Planning Association as one of the country’s 10 best neighborhoods.

You’ve got supporters who think this news is just wonderful, who see it for what it’s worth as a grant-friendly PR campaign anchor; and you have those who look past the ceremony of the news and see the announcement as a self-congratulatory parade on the part of the Elmwood Village Association.

I say it’s both, but in equally positive ways.  It’s essential for public and private funding and economic development to have this sort of distinction.  And it’s also a chance for the EVA to congratulate—no, acknowledge—their own successes and assess what they’ve accomplished so far.  (And no, they are not responsible for designing the Elmwood neighborhoods, though they are for building upon it and maintaining its economic and social landscape.)

There are cynics out there, everywhere.  You can’t avoid them nor their scorned mentality which they wear on their sleeves the way we, the supporters, wear our hearts.  It’s a bitter divide when citizens of an area cannot pitch in to help support their own backyards, financially or physically or otherwise.  Living with that kind of cynicism—that is, not seeing good news for something other than what it is, good news—is akin to living in a cage, in my eyes.

Local bloggers and their commentating readership have given their thoughts in great detail (and with great ambiguity as well) about what this could mean for the Elmwood Village and Buffalo.  Much has been said of the ranking alongside richer communities in Seattle and Austin, Texas and Chicago and San Francisco—wow, that we would be mentioned in the same breath as Texas!  Wippee!!!!

But really, take a look at the APA’s list.  I cannot pretend to care that these places are awesome; we know them to be in one way or another.  I’ve been to three of these neighborhoods (besides living in our own) and I can attest to their greatness.  But we don’t live there.  We live here, and we should focus on our own strengths and challenges more than we should be reveling in the pros of other cities.

This is an attitude I’ve never understood here:  Why must we be like another city in order to be recognized?  I know what people mean when they say, “Look at Chicago.  Why can’t we be like Chicago?” I get it.  Chicago’s awesome.  But it’s not what Buffalo is, or what it should become.  We are what we are, who we are, where we are.  And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Look through the links on this page (and this year’s complementary Great Streets distinctions as well) and see where we stand nationally.  But open your door and open your windows and ears and see where we rank locally.  What really matters, after all, is that we appreciate and celebrate this news and not use it as another lame excuse for what we are not.

Posted by on 10/05 at 01:24 PM