Great Youth Turnout at Buffalo Green Code Meetings!

During the week of November 15th, the City of Buffalo held three public meetings to discuss the planning of the new Buffalo Green Code - an overhaul of the existing zoning code and the development of a new land use plan for the city. The meetings were informative and interactive - allowing participants to share information about the places they liked and disliked in the city - giving the planning department and the consultants a good idea about what we value in our city.

There was a great youth turnout! At both the Tuesday and Wednesday meetings, youth 19 and under made up 10% of the participants! Middle school and high school students turned out with friends and family to share their views on what matters most to them.

For now, the consultants will take the information that they heard and continue to work with stakeholders in the community. Another round of public meetings will take place in the spring - we hope to see even more families and youth participating in the next round!

Photos courtesy of Erin Sharkey and the Massachusetts Avenue Project.

Great Turnout at the Youth Ambassador Training!

Around 30 Buffalonians came out for the Youth Ambassador Training last Thursday at the Innovation Center on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. HKHC Buffalo and the Massachusetts Avenue Project worked with local high school students to plan and run a meeting that prepared young people in Buffalo to participate in the city's Green Code Process.

The training included land use planning activities, including a map activity that allowed the students to design their own city. Students were given a quick crash-course in land use and zoning - then given maps to design a city that they would want to live in.

Other activities included P/P/P - Policy, Program, Project. This activity helped students to understand the difference between the three, and narrowed their focus for what the Green Code meetings would be about.

Finally, students drafted their own talking points for the Green Code meetings. They asked themselves what is good about my neighborhood? What should change? Each student committed to going to at least one meeting, and found partners that were attending the same meeting. Students were able to create an accountability network to motivate and support each other at the meetings.

A big thank you to the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo for supporting the youth training. And thanks to all the great youth that came out! We hope to see all of Buffalo at the Green Code meetings!