#buffalo green code

[brandondonnelly]

The Buffalo Green Code

At the end of last year, Buffalo, New York approved the first major overhaul to its zoning code in 63 years old. 

It is officially called the Buffalo Green Code Unified Development Ordinance, but, not surprisingly, most people seem to be just calling it the Buffalo Green Code. Its name should give you clues as to what it is trying to accomplish.

Here’s a snippet from a City Journal article by Aaron M. Renn:

The Green Code is a so-called “form-based code,” encouraging mixed uses. Buffalo will be only the third major city in the U.S. to adopt a citywide form-based code. The goal is to encourage development of buildings in a more traditional, Main Street style.

As an older city, Buffalo is already built like this in many areas. But past zoning choices have had lingering negative consequences. “Sixty years ago planners sought to replace the city with a suburban auto-dominated (dominated, not oriented) model,” says Brendan Mehaffey, Buffalo’s executive director of strategic planning. “Most of the city as built was non-conforming with the existing development. Through urban renewal and other programs, planners sought to replace the city’s built environment block-by-block.”

Perhaps one of the most noteworthy changes being ushered in with the Green Code is the complete elimination of parking minimums. This change makes Buffalo the first city in the United States to remove this requirement on a citywide basis.

The Green Code also dramatically simplifies the current code, taking it down from 1,802 pages to 338 pages.

I haven’t yet gone through the Green Code in detail (you can do that here if you’d like). But already other cities are starting to look to Buffalo as a model for how to rewrite their own zoning codes.

[whatsnewbuffalo]

Buffalo Ranks as 6th Greenest City in Amerca

Western New York is not only the happiest region in the nation, it's also one of the greenest. Buffalo ranks 6th and Rochester ranks 4th as two of the country's greenest cities. Rochester and Buffalo have better air quality than New Orleans, Seattle, Boston, and Pittsburgh; more parks than Greensboro, Minneapolis, New York City, and Portland; and better commuter efficiency than Cincinnati, St. Petersburg, and Honolulu. The results of the study, conducted by Nerdwallet, also had this to say about Buffalo:

"Once nicknamed the “City of Trees,” Buffalo is home to more than 180 parks and recreational facilities, most of which fall under the Olmstead Park System, the staple of the city’s green space. Buffalo’s land use and zoning policies are in the midst of a historic revision under a process called the “Green Code,” which will guide the city’s development over the next 20 years and aims to improve the environment and create a more sustainable community."

[whatsnewbuffalo]

Buffalo Green Code

Previously we discussed the Brownfield Opportunity Areas (BOAs) that are being revitalized in the city. But how will the revitalization of these areas be determined? The answer is with Buffalo's newly updated zoning code touted by the Mayor Brown as the Buffalo Green Code. Updating the code has been one of Brown's biggest projects as it hasn't been revamped since 1953.

Mayor Brown says the Buffalo Green Code is rewriting Buffalo's "development DNA" and has involved the public in the updating of the code as well as developing the BOAs. The Buffalo Green Code has had a positive public reaction and is centered around sustainability.