Applied Sciences Group, Inc.

By Samantha Maziarz-Christmann
News Business Reporter

Edward Glaeser, a Harvard University professor of economics, first raised eyebrows here last fall when he posed the question "Can Buffalo Ever Come Back?"

But what really got folks buzzing was his answer:

"Probably not -- and government should stop bribing people to stay there."

Glaeser's question and answer were contained in an article he wrote for City Journal, a quarterly urban policy magazine published by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a think tank.

He will elaborate on those views Friday as part of "Resurrecting Buffalo," a local forum and panel discussion using the article as its centerpiece. Local community leaders will discuss policy issues affecting the city, then sit for a question-and-answer period with the audience.

Judging by the response to Glaeser's article, he should have a large turnout.

"A lot of bloggers were pretty angry with me. I was surprised at the extent to which an attempt to understand the past history of a city can be construed as a personal insult, but that's my own naivete," he said.

Glaeser's article traces the history of Buffalo's economic rise and fall and chronicles what he calls the "scores of close to worthless urban projects [that] have received government funding" during its attempt at renaissance.

Such blunt criticism has gotten Glaeser -- who is also director of the Taubman Center for State and Local Government at Harvard and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute -- into hot water in the past. Responses to the columns he writes for the New York Sun and the Boston Globe can be swift and brutal.

Detroit's alternative weekly newspaper, the Metro Times, named him runner-up for "Boob of the Year" in 2007 after he unofficially titled a report on the city's decline, "Why Does Anyone Still Live in Detroit?"

A native of Manhattan, Glaeser became interested in Buffalo after designating its decline a counterweight to New York City's revival.

"And particularly, I was tired of picking on Detroit," he said.

Still, it's not Glaeser's analysis of the past that the event's organizers are interested in. It's his prescription for the future.

His suggestions for a revitalized Buffalo denounce solutions tied to building things and urge instead solutions based on people.

"I'm quite angry at 50 years of urban renewal consistently putting infrastructure ahead of people," he said. "We need to invest in things that are as flexible as possible -- skills and ideas, not old smokestacks."

The key, he said, is investing in "human capital," by making education the top priority, as well as lowering taxes and easing regulations to attract "private innovators."

He warns Buffalo not to try to recapture its former "boom town" presence and population, but to "become a much smaller but more vibrant community -- shrinking to greatness."

Organizers of "Resurrecting Buffalo" hope the event will spark collaboration among leaders, politicians and the community, and bring forth ideas that can be implemented in the city.

Though many bristle at Glaeser's advice, dismiss it as old hat or claim that he misunderstands their communities altogether, he said his greatest concern is to advocate policies that will most benefit the very urban dwellers who condemn him.

"I anticipate a vigorous, intelligent and challenging discussion, and I look forward to it," Glaeser said. "While I certainly expect people to be angry at me, this is more of a debate about urban issues and public policy."

The panel will consist of Anthony Armstrong, program officer of Local Initiatives Support Corp.; Paul Buckley, president of Applied Sciences Group; Robert Gioia, president of the John R.Oishei Foundation; Richard Tobe, Buffalo commissioner of economic development, permits and inspection services; and Cynthia Zane, president of Hilbert College.

Margaret Sullivan, editor and vice president of The Buffalo News, will moderate the panel discussion.

The 2 p. m. event is co-sponsored by the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, the Buffalo branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the University at Buffalo's Regional Institute.

It will be held in WNED's Main Studio at Horizons Plaza, Lower Terrace. Registration is $30 and includes the reception to follow.

For more information, call 541-1770 or visit www.thepartnership.org/events.

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