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Catherine Schweitzer: City of Good Neighbors lives up to its moniker

Catherine Schweitzer is co-chairwoman of the National Preservation Conference held in Buffalo in October 2011.By Catherine Schweitzer

January 18, 2012
 

On behalf of the local Steering Committee, we extend our profound thanks to the Buffalo Niagara community for its help welcoming guests to the National Preservation Conference. The extraordinary experience for more than 2,500 visitors was due to thousands of local people who assisted in every way imaginable. The triumph of the National Preservation Conference belongs to the greater community on both sides of the Niagara River.

In a selfish world, the Buffalo region demonstrated what it means to be the City of Good Neighbors. At a time when communities are less engaged, more indifferent and more impersonal, Buffalo defined the word community through the helpfulness of more than 2,000 formal and many unaffiliated volunteers who demonstrated

personal warmth, random acts of kindness and deep generosity with gifts of time, talent and treasure too numerous to count or even for us to know.

The great success of the conference — the highest attendance recorded in 65 years at 2,547—was much more than an attendance record with people from all 50 states and several foreign countries. Gifts of interaction and genuine experiences with our community are the true measure of success and the reward for years of investment and sacrifice by so many.

Five years ago, Buffalo was not likely to win the bid to host this conference. Negative national press about Buffalo had been delivered at the last minute to the selection committee; all seemed lost. I made a promise to Dick Moe, president of the National Trust, that Buffalo would open every door for this conference: the doors to our public homes, corporate homes, spiritual homes, personal residences and, most of all, the doors to our hearts. Buffalo would provide a welcome and significant program unlike any other community in this country.

With 15 National Landmarks, the highest designation on the National Register, Western New York has the breadth, depth, variety and volume of exceptional structures, places and unique landmarks to be known as a nationally significant architectural museum. Showcasing our architectural, artistic, cultural and heritage assets to a national audience might help adjust the perception of Buffalo as someplace with much more than sports scores, bad weather and chicken parts — both internally and externally. This audacious goal was quietly adopted as the stretch target for success.

Five years ago, the conference planning was at the outer edge of a 25-year planning horizon for the 200th anniversary of the 1832 incorporation of the City of Buffalo. We are now 20 years from celebrating the sweep of civic history over two centuries. Decisions and investments we make today will define Buffalo long into the future.

We are on the precipice of understanding what makes this region a success. We can still hear our visitors’ delight in discovering the civility, safety, hospitality, personality, energy, friendliness, beauty, grittiness, authenticity and nationally significant solutions and challenges showcased in the conference program. Perhaps the legacy of learning and the thrill of teamwork, acquired through common goals and extraordinary cooperation, as well as the leadership exhibited by citizens who assisted visitors unasked and unrewarded, will be the guiding light that shapes and illuminates Buffalo for the next 100 years.

Through the open-hearted generosity of the community, we met our audacious goal.