Magavern — Volume 65, Issue 1

Magavern and Bartley describe a comprehensive strategy to address housing equity in Buffalo, New York through the creation of a Green Development Zone. The initiative combines community organizing, policy advocacy, workforce development, green infrastructure, and affordable housing with neighborhood renewal. Buffalo's economic decline from 1970s onward—following deindustrialization of steel, automotive, and chemical sectors—created sprawl and disinvestment. The metropolitan region's population dropped from 580,132 in 1950 to 261,310 in 2010, with concurrent suburbanization that federal housing policies encouraged by directing infrastructure investment and mortgage backing away from city neighborhoods. The article traces Buffalo's transformation from an industrial hub and immigration destination to a city with increasing refugee populations from Burma, Bhutan, Somalia, and Iraq. Contemporary housing patterns reflect these shifts: the city had a 15.7% vacancy rate by 2010, with 67.3% of housing units built in 1939 or earlier. Poor housing stock contributes to health disparities including elevated lead poisoning rates, particularly in predominantly Black neighborhoods. The authors ground their analysis in Buffalo's demographic and economic history to contextualize housing equity challenges, positioning the Green Development Zone as a multifaceted intervention.

Topics: Property · Civil Rights · Environmental Law

Keywords: Buffalo housing crisis · Green Development Zone · affordable housing · neighborhood renewal · lead poisoning · suburbanization · housing equity · refugee resettlement