St. Joseph University Parish

 

 St Joseph University Catholic Church, located at 3269 Main Street, is a treasure of the University Heights neighborhood.  Unlike the average Catholic city parish, St. Joseph has experienced an increase in membership over the last two decades, with a current total membership of over 1800 households coming from over 50 different zip codes.  The parish has dedicated itself to the neighborhood and to community outreach.  One of the more prominent efforts of the parish has been its school.  The St. Joseph University School is the oldest continually operating Catholic elementary school in the city of Buffalo, first opening in 1850.  The school reflects the diversity of the parish and the neighborhood with a student body that is 63% minority and non-Catholic.  This institution provides quality education for its students, as reflected in 100% of graduating eighth graders who were accepted to their first choice high schools in 2012. 

In addition to its school, St. Joseph University Parish takes seriously the Catholic Social Justice Teachings: staffing two soup kitchens on the second Saturday of each month, one located in Black Rock at Assumption RC Church and the other downtown at the Friends of the Night People; providing monthly donations to four different food pantries in the city; collaborating with Sts Columba-Brigid Church on Hickory Street in hosting homeless families through Family Promise; establishing a Habitat for Humanity crew; forming an active VOICE core team dedicated to neighborhood improvement; and organizing a Social Justice Concerns Committee, which educates and works for change at the national and international levels.  St. Joseph also has a variety of social and liturgical ministries that provide parishioners with other opportunities to participate in the work of the parish.  

St. Joseph University Church is an English Gothic building designed by a Buffalo architect, Duane Lyman and built in 1925.  The parish is known for its hospitality, its outstanding music, and it’s challenging homilies.  The Sunday morning 10:00 am service features a traditional church choir and organ; the 11:30 am service has a more contemporary sound with a mix of gospel and jazz.  The parish also provides religious services for students of the University of Buffalo’s South Campus.  

The mission of the pastoral staff and the congregation is “All Are Welcome!”

Public Transportation in University Heights

The University Heights neighborhood contains several easily accessible public transportation options. The area contains two Metro Rail stops, oneat the University Station, located at the University at Buffalo’s South Campus,and the other at the LaSalle station, located at LaSalle Avenue and MainStreet. The Metro Rail travels along Main Street in Buffalo from UB’s South Campus to the First Niagara Arena in downtown Buffalo. With daily rider ship of over 20,000, the Metro Rail is a proven asset to the community. The Metro Rail allows residents of UniversityHeights to travel to their place of employment, or provides access to one of Buffalo’s many entertainment districts, such as Allentown or the Downtown Theater District. Additionally, people who do notlive in the University Heights neighborhood can take advantage of the Park andRide option at both the University and LaSalle stations by leaving their car inthe parking lot (free of charge) and taking the Metro Rail to their finaldestination.

Additionally,local residents also enjoy access to Buffalo’s Metro bus system. The Main Street bus line provides residents with access along Main Street from University Heights to downtown Buffalo. The location of the neighborhood also allows residents access via bus to the surrounding suburbs of Tonawanda and Amherst,as well as UB’s North Campus. The availability of both the Metro Rail and bus lines allows residents ofUniversity Heights the convenience of traveling to many destinations across the city and suburbs.

-Kevin Ryan

University Community Farmers Market (UCFM)

Just a reminder to all of the University Heights Community and our surrounding neighborhoods that the University Community Farmers Market (UCFM) will again be open for business from mid May until mid October. Located at the corner of Main St. and Kenmore Ave., in the University at Buffalo - South Campus Allen Hall parking lot, the Market is held on Saturday between 8:00AM and 1:00PM. Stop by and purchase delicious local grown fruits and vegetables and equally tasty artisans food products. We have a couple of new vendors, educational programs and a few surprises for this year. This is a great venue to meet your neighbors and celebrate spring, summer and fall. Don't forget that we can always use volunteers to help out during the course of our season so if you have some extra time and energy please contact gwillsky@buffalo.edu to sign up.

University Heights Buffalo News Article

THE UNIVERSITY DISTRICT/BUFFALO

A diverse, walkable community

While the district is primarily a residential area, it also is home to the South Campus of the University at Buffalo and has two commercial districts, Bailey Avenue and Main Street. There are several parks and an involved, diverse population, which, according to Buffalo Common Council Member Bonnie Russell, has increased by 5,000 people since the last census. Housing in the district ranges from developments to single-family homes.

What makes it unique:

Its diversity. Because of the campus, there is a large student population. According to several residents, it’s not unusual to see the students shoveling driveways for the district’s seniors. It also has several active community groups, including block clubs and crime watch neighborhoods. It’s a walkable community.

Where to go:

There are many stores, shops and restaurants for residents to enjoy, including O’Connell’s Clothing, Ming Cafe, Shango’s and the Lake Effect Diner. There are several parks in the district — including Shoshone, Roosevelt and McCarthy parks — as well as Linear Park, a small “pocket” park. There is also a full-service supermarket, Budwey’s, in the University Heights area.

A person you should know:

Cassandra Hayes, known to just about everyone in her neighborhood as Candy, moved to the University Heights area of the district in 1975. Retired from her work as a medical technician at Roswell Park, Hayes spends much of her time looking out for her neighbors as chairwoman of the Heath Street Block Club, which she co-founded.

Q: How did you get involved in community service?

A: After I retired, I noticed the area had been changing somewhat. There had been a few burglaries. I realized we really needed to know each other. Cheryl Rybicki saw a need for improvement at the same time I did, and we got together and started this block club for the protection of the neighborhood about four to five years ago. It’s just better that you know your neighbors.

Q: How has the neighborhood changed over the years?

A: It’s improving. Young families are moving into the district. They’ve made the choice to live in the city and to live in this area. They plan on staying and raising their children here. That’s what keeps a neighborhood vital.

Q: What do you see happening in the district in the future?

A: For a while, people were getting lackadaisical. Now we’ve kind of spruced up. And we’re not running to the suburbs. It’s just a very, very good place to live.

hjones@buffnews.com

Operation Student Safety

Please pick up a copy of the "UB Neighbor", at Allen Hall, if you haven't received yours by mail. Great article on the efforts of UB and the University Heights Community to hold landlords renting to students more accountable. Please advise Dan Ryan, Director of Off Campus Students Affairs of your comments and concerns. His number is 716-829-3536.

Templeton Park, University Heights

Gingko Tree, Templeton park -photo by patrick Willett

University Park Historic District- One of the finest neighborhoods in all of the city of Buffalo.

PBN newsletter article on this nomination (.pdf) portions of Larchmont Road, Niagara Falls Blvd, Radcliffe Road, University Ave, Allenhursst Road, & Pellhan Drive in Buffalo.
The University Park Historic District is a remarkable, intact example of an early 20^th century planned residential subdivision in the city of Buffalo. In the broad context of the city’s turn of the century development, the location and development of University Park reflects the importance of the streetcar and the rise of automobile use which determined much of the city’s expansion. The themes of suburbanization in the city of Buffalo are covered extensively in the National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF), Multiple Resources Associated with the Suburban Development of Buffalo, New York. For Residential Subdivisions to be added to the MPDF, the registration requirements state: The property type must represent the range of residential subdivision structures associated with the growth of the city into a new form during the period between the Civil War and World War II (1860-1945).

http://www.preservationbuffaloniagara.org/buildings-and-sites/preservation-resources/national-register-listings/

Housing Issues Addressed

The City of Buffalo and UB are collaborating on an effort to address issues relating to the housing stock in the neighborhood. "Operation Student Safety" has brought City and University officials into the neighborhood on Saturdays to ask students and other renters to allow licensed building inspectors into their apartments.

WIVB reported on the effort here, and the Buffalo News ran a story here.

The project will be discussed in greater detail at an upcoming UHC meeting.

South Campus, a neglected jewel

Photo © Patrick Willett

UB's South Campus, also known as the Main Street campus, located on 154 acres in northeastern Buffalo, is the former grounds of the Erie County Almshouse and Insane Asylum, of which four buildings still remain (Hayes Hall, the former insane asylum; Wende Hall, a former maternity hospital; Hayes D; and Townsend Hall, a former nurses' quarters).The college was designed by architect E.B. Green in 1910, and was intended to resemble Trinity College, Dublin.

Adjacent to the UB South Campus is the UB Anderson Art Gallery, a converted elementary school with an all-glass atrium exhibit space.

Stay classy UB!

This piece from UB's "operation Doorhanger" really helps to class up UB's image in the University Heights neighborhood.
My first reaction was -"are you serious"?

Promise Neighborhood Community Meeting

A community meeting to learn about the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood and give your input will be held Saturday, April 30, 2011 from 10:00am – 12:30pm at the Westminster Community Charter School 24 Westminster Avenue, Buffalo, NY.

A continental breakfast will be served at 9:30am.

Featured Speakers are Honorable Byron W. Brown, Mayor, City of Buffalo; Mark Czarnecki, President, M&T Bank and Dr. Yvonne Minor-Ragan, Principal, Westminster Community Charter School.

RSVP: Buffalo Urban League 716-250-2400

Buffalo was only one of 21 communities around the country to receive a competitive neighborhood development planning grant last October from the U.S. Department of Education’s $10 million “Promise Neighborhoods” program. The local partnership, called Buffalo Promise, will receive a total of $750,000 from the federal government and local funders, including M&T Bank and the John R. Oishei Foundation.

Source

University Park District Lecture

Information about the University Park district, now added to the National Register of Historic Places, will be shared on March 29.

Who: Lecture by Kerry Traynor
President, KTA Preservation Specialists

What: UB at Noon with Kerry Traynor luncheon program
Learn about University Park, the National Register of Historic Places, the planned suburban neighborhood, NYS Historic Residential Properties Tax Credit Program & the future of the University Park neighborhood

When: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at noon

Where: Allen Hall, Room 100
UB South (Main Street) Campus
University at Buffalo

Registration required by Tuesday, March 22nd
Cost: UB Alumni Association Member, $10
Non-Member, $12
Hosted by the University at Buffalo Alumni Association
Online registration see:
https://secure.www.ubconnect.org/olc/pub/BUF/event/showEventForm.jsp?form_id=69639

University Park could earn place on National Register

Buffalo News story:
Buffalo neighborhood nominated for historic designation

By Jay Rey

News Staff Reporter

National recognition is being sought for a triangular-shaped neighborhood that sprouted in the northeast corner of Buffalo as an urban subdivision in the early 20th century.

University Park, a slice of the city's University Heights neighborhood, was nominated for the National Register Historic District in November as part of a University at Buffalo class project.

Supporters are hopeful the national status will be granted in the spring, after the application is reviewed by the National Park Service.

"To be listed on the National Register is an honor," said Kerry Traynor, a clinical associate professor of architecture and urban and regional planning at UB.

University Park is made up of 252 homes and a park on portions of Larchmont Avenue, Niagara Falls Boulevard, Radcliffe Road, University Avenue, Allenhurst Road, Pelham Drive and Capen Boulevard between Main Street and Kenmore Avenue.

The neighborhood is ripe for the National Register, Traynor said, not necessarily for its Craftsman, Bungalow and Prairie Box homes, but for its planned design, which provided a gated, suburban flavor next to Main Street.

"It really was a good example of early suburban planning," said Traynor, an architect and architectural historian, who owns the consulting firm, KTA Preservation Specialists. "It makes it an interesting component in the history of Buffalo."

There are only 11 historic districts in Erie County recognized by the National Register, including Allentown, Delaware Avenue between North and Bryant streets, the Roycroft Campus in East Aurora and the Parkside neighborhood, which was designated in 1986.

The idea of a University Park Historic District was first raised last spring as a possible class project in Traynor's historic preservation course at UB. Her students did the preliminary research and work assessing the properties. UB graduate student Annie Schentag further developed the project as an independent study, using the information to complete the lengthy, detailed National Register application.

The University Park property was developed in 1913 by Anthony J. Huck, who wanted to capitalize on the purchase of land across the street for the university, Schentag said.

University Park boasted wider streets, manicured medians, larger-than-normal setbacks and garages to account for the rising popularity of the automobile. The neighborhood's development continued throughout the 1920s and '30s.

"It was sort of seen as this respite for this middle-class person who wanted to leave the crowded, crazy industrial City of Buffalo at the time," Schentag said. "What's really special is you can go there today and feel the sense of that pastoral environment."

The process for seeking the national designation has the support of the City of Buffalo and the New York State Historic Preservation Office, which listed University Park on the New York State Register of Historic Places in early December.

University Park homeowners seem receptive to the recognition, too, Traynor said.

It opens up property owners to tax credits for rehabilitating their houses, Traynor said, but homeowners aren't necessarily required to restore residences to their original historic condition to be eligible.

"We'll definitely do a project like this again," Traynor said.

jrey@buffnews.com

The UB Anderson Gallery - a gem in our midst

As home to the University at Buffalo’s permanent art collection, the UB Anderson Gallery is a museum that manages and exhibits the school’s visual resources and serves as a venue for scholarly exhibitions. The UB Anderson Gallery provides students with hands-on experiences in museum studies and arts administration while offering faculty and graduate students curatorial opportunities.

Situated between the university and the larger Buffalo community, the UB Anderson Gallery has become a cultural crossroads and an important part of the Western New York arts scene. Located in University Heights, it plays a vital role in the community by offering innovative educational programs and working collaboratively with other local institutions to highlight collections and present scholarly exhibitions focused primarily on the post-war period.

Future plans for the gallery include the creation of a prints and drawing study room and the development of the Martha Jackson Research and Archive Center.

O'Connell's Featured in New York Times Style Magazine

The long time Heights clothiers O'Connell's was recently featured in the New York Times Style Magazine in recognition of their unique stock and style. Please click on this post's title to view the full article.

Higher Heights Basketball Clinic

This month the UB Division of Athletics, in conjunction with the Office of Community Relations, will be co-sponsoring the Higher Heights Basketball Clinic, Saturday September 18, 2010, at Good Year Basketball Courts – next to Allen Hall (South Campus). Rain site is Clark Hall on UB’s South Campus.

The clinic, which will run from 9:30am until 2:00pm is free and open to boys and girls, ranging from grades 3-8, who are residents of South Campus Neighborhoods. Each child will receive a complementary t-shirt and lunch.

Directing the clinic will be head men’s basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon; head women’s coach Linda Hill-MacDonald, who will talk to participants about the value of an education; and assistant men’s basketball coach Jim Kwitchoff.

Participants will receive instruction in six basketball skills, including shooting, ball handling, passing, defense, footwork, and rebounding. The kids will also have the opportunity to ask questions of UB coaches and student-athletes. The children will also have the unique opportunity to travel to North Campus and tour Alumni Arena, player locker rooms and weight rooms.


Due to the high level of interest for this event, participants are encouraged to pre-register by completing a pre-registration and consent form found at the following locations: Gloria J. Parks, Ed Saunders, Highgate Heights, Westminster, Phoenix computer lab, Ken-Bailey housing and St. Joes. Parents will have the opportunity to register on-site on the day of the event is there is availability. The form must be completed and received by the Office of Community Relations in 1010 Allen Hall or by fax 829-3912 to ensure placement. The first one hundred and twenty (120) completed forms received will be chosen to participate.Don’t miss the opportunity to share in this positive and fun-filled event.


Complete and return your form today!

Photos by Nancy J. Parisi