I’m not sure why so many believe it best to tear down the Skyway. It is the jewel of the area down there! If it is “ugly,” then paint it—yes, that nasty green is ugly.

Every foreigner I bring to the area takes pictures of it. “It looks futuristic,” they say. Why don’t we take the money and address the sewer situation so it doesn’t smell like shit in the canal. The sewer is the adult decision Buffalo can’t make, maybe due to existing construction affiliations and politicians needing visual accomplishments, such as moving a road in Niagara Falls, which seems like a silly waste when such a serious problem exists below the city. Canalside ping-pong with nasty stench don’t jive.

We should light and promote the Skyway like the projections on the grain towers. Make the whole area a crazy multi-media spectacle. Hang the proposed gondola from it, or build a scaffold stair observation deck attached way up there. Someone said there is parking under there which needs to be protected, and I agree. During a daytime drive by there this week I noticed the entire area packed with cars. An unfortunate reality, they too need somewhere to be. Maybe the money could be allocated to adjust the access road situation so it isn’t such a maze to even access the area.

Nearly every local I know considers themselves lucky when they pass the puzzle to Canalside. Will we as a city come together to allocate resources to solve this puzzle best? Or spend a ton of money (and years) demolishing and create new expensive puzzles to solve?

> Jake Cassel, Buffalo

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