Two days after the release of an economic study suggesting that water pollution saps some $140 million from the real estate market along the Buffalo River, the New York Times published an article chronicling the numerous efforts underway to revive life along the waterfront in New York's second largest city, stem the population loss, and reverse the economic decline on the north end of Lake Erie.
"It's important to the public's confidence that we can demonstrate that we can get something done on the water," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.
On the south end of Lake Erie, the Detroit Free Press published a news story saying that Congress appears unlikely to fund in 2006 a $20 billion plan to rehabilitate sewers, wetlands, and waterfronts across the Great Lakes region. The public works project could dramatically speed up waterfront revitalization efforts in cities like Buffalo. It would also spur innovation, generate jobs, enhance property values, and stregthen the overall competitiveness of the second most influential economic region in the United States.
"All Americans have someting to gain or lose in this," said Andy Buchsbaum, director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office. "The Great Lakes can either be a drag or a boon to the national economy."
