Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A new survey from Ciminelli Real Estate is asking you to shape the future of Downtown Buffalo.
"We've been looking at ways to revitalize downtown, and one of the ways that Ciminelli can best do that is bring more residents down there," Kyle Ciminelli, President of Ciminelli Real Estate told WBEN on Friday.
"We really wanted to have a pulse check on downtown residents and workers to really fully understand what they would want from downtown living."
Though most responses have come from people who already live or work downtown, the survey is open to anyone. Questions include typical asks like income, commute times and what kind of job you have, as well as what amenities you'd want to have near a downtown home. Ciminelli says today's homebuyers and renters want top-notch accommodations.
"Really the same features that you would see in a nice hotel or in a nice office building people are now expecting in their apartment building," he said. "Whether it's a gym, outdoor space... but most importantly I think for downtown, walkability and safety came out as the top two. Those two things really need to be addressed for people to feel comfortable to live downtown."
Other ideas in the survey take a more outside the box, though popular approach, asking respondents if they'd be more interested in moving downtown if their employer helped with rent.
"We got a very favorable response there, and that's promising because we did have a lot of our corporate friends and partners help pump this out to their employees, whether it was 43North, Delaware North or Odoo," Ciminelli said. "A lot of their respondents would have interest in slightly subsidized housing by their corporations and we've been in discussions with some of these companies already about potential options."
Responses have been coming in steadily. A link to the survey can be found above or at Ciminelli's website and social media pages.
