Buffalo's Olmsted Parks
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Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Buffalo's Olmsted Parks system consists of six parks and their connecting parkways and circles. It weaves through virtually every urban neighborhood, uniting people from different areas, and maintaining the cultural fabric that holds the community together. Buffalo, New York boasts the first and most complete system of parks and parkways designed by America's greatest landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted.  The system is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and covers approximately 1200 acres of Buffalo's green space. In 1868, city leaders wrote to Olmsted inviting him to Buffalo to design a showpiece park like his Central Park in New York City.  Olmsted committed to build, not just one park, but a system of parks and parkways. This system linked different areas of the city to three parks:  Delaware (The Park), Front (The Front) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (The Parade).  South, Cazenovia and Riverside Parks and their parkways, also designed by the Olmsted firm, were added later. The system governed the growth of Buffalo for years and upon its completion, Olmsted declared Buffalo to be "the best designed city as to its streets, public spaces and grounds in the United States, if not the world." Today, people from all over Western New York enjoy the rich legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted. Over the years, however, changing parks usage, lack of funding for adequate maintenance, and the demands of urban development resulted in the loss of parkland and threatened the future of the parks and the historic Olmsted design. To best meet the needs of today while working to protect, preserve, and restore Buffalo's important parks legacy, the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy continues its work to protect Olmsted's artistry for future generations. As of July 1, 2004, the Conservancy became the first not-for-profit organization in the country to assume responsibility for managing a park system. It is committed to broadening awareness of, appreciation for, and investment in the Buffalo Olmsted Park and Parkway System. The Parks: • Cazenovia Park • Delaware Park • Front Park (The Front) • Martin Luther King, Jr. Park • Riverside Park • South Park

Links & Resources: http://www.buffaloolmstedparks.org/