Reimagining the DL&W Corridor: Ideen für einen urbanen Grünkorridor in Buffalo (US)

The DLW is an opportunity for residents to connect with nature and explore public spaces in dynamic new ways. The potential presented by the former DL&W Corridor is undeniable and can offer 44 acres of accessible public park space, over 3 miles of greenway and pedestrian nature trails, enhance native ecologies with an emphasis on the varied seasonal environments, and become a neighborhood and destination park for the residents of Old First Ward, Perry, Valley, and Buffalonians at large.
The DL&W Corridor and its surrounding communities sit wedged between two regional networks. Interstate 190 conveys a flux of people in and out of Buffalo and the surrounding region daily. Similarly, the Buffalo River travels westward from the confluence of the Cayuga Creek and the Buffalo Creek through historically industrial active areas and residential neighborhoods and is an estuarine ecosystem that provides habitat and foraging opportunities for the region’s flora and fauna. These networks convene to build the foundation of the Buffalo Conveyor; an urban nature trail that emphasizes the interface between community and nature, history and restoration, wildlife systems and urban fabric.
Two paths travel along the Corridor that weave along the former rail line as circulatory streams. In this way, the DLW aims to create a dynamic experience that is both pastoral and social, and encourages moments of respite, anticipation, gathering, and celebration. The paths follow the general topography that remains from the rail line berms and utilize its width to promote gathering moments that are screened from neighbors and connections at grade with the three primary cross streets; Louisiana, Alabama, and Hamburg. Access points to the trail are critical links to the neighborhood where people are encouraged to spur off the path to explore cultural and recreational destinations in Old First Ward and beyond.
At the core of our proposal is an urge to preserve memory and create new spaces for exploration. The industrial nature of Buffalo is inseparable from its character and the DLW is a space to rediscover this heritage and reconnect future generations with this indelible landscape.