More than 50 people turned out for a public meeting, on May 18, 2023 at the Urban Erie Community Development Corp.’s E.F. Smith Quality of Life Learning Center, 2046 E. 19th St., to learn about the City of Erie’s plans for redevelopment of their east Erie neighborhood.
In partnership with the House of Mercy, the Eastside Grassroots Coalition and the UECDC, City Neighborhood Planner Erin Carey laid out the long-range development plan for the Buffalo Road Neighborhood, which is bounded by Bayfront Parkway, East 12th Street, Franklin Avenue, and East 16th Street from Franklin Avenue to Bird Drive. The plan calls for, among other things:
• Proactive code enforcement and blight mitigation
• Demolition of distressed properties
• Investment in commercial property facades
• Beautification of Fairmount Parkway
• Rodger Young Park improvements
What they said:
• “This community is in urgent need of your beautiful ideas to play its role in providing work, effort and production. Among them are farmers, workers, thinkers, and those who speak more than one language,” said Musa Ahmad, an Eritrean immigrant who has lived in the Buffalo Road neighborhood for 22 years. “We have the energies and determination, and the projects, plans and ideas that you put forward will advance the community.”
• “(Tonight’s presentation) tells me that, of all the projects underway in the community,” said Gary Horton, Executive Director of the UECDC, “this, tonight, exemplifies what community engagement is all about, from a culturally responsive, all-inclusive approach.”
• It’s good to see people so enthusiastic about (the Buffalo Road Neighborhood Plan),” said Erie Mayor Joe Schember. “And we want to move it forward.”
Also in attendance:
• Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz
• State Rep. Bob Merski, of Erie, D-2nd Dist.
• Sheikh Mazin Alsahlani, director of Almakarim Islamic Foundation
• Erie developer Donald Crenshaw
What’s next:
City officials will present the Buffalo Road Neighborhood Plan for approval to the City of Erie Planning Commission
