The Best Planned City in the World: Olmsted, Vaux, and the Buffalo Park System

From the Library of American Landscape History
Explore the development of the parks and parkways that Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed for Buffalo, New York, beginning in 1868.
A thirteen-minute documentary inspired by the book by author Francis R. Kowsky, published by UMass Press in association with LALH June 2013. The Best Planned City is the third film in the new LALH series North America by Design, available to a worldwide audience.
At the time, this development of connected green spaces as a park system was a revolutionary idea. Olmsted and Vaux's plans drew national and international attention; they were displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, where Olmsted declared Buffalo "the best planned city, as to its streets, public places, and grounds, in the United States, if not in the world."
Find out more about this film and other LALH projects by visiting www.lalh.org
North America by Design is a free, educational film series produced by LALH to foster understanding of the fine art of landscape architecture and appreciation for North America's richly varied landscape heritage. All films in the series are created in association with Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Inc.
This film was made possible by generous gifts from:
Susan L. Klaus
John K. Notz Jr.
Hodgson Russ, LLP
Azby Art Fund, advised by Thomas B. Lemann
Hickory Foundation, advised by Virginia James
Carolyn Marsh Lindsay
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
George W. Curry, FASLA
Peter Pennoyer
Vanguard Charitable Program, advised by Dr. and Mrs. W. Scott Peterson
Natalie Shivers, AIA
Walter and Nesta Spink
Nancy R. Turner
Lucy Ireland Weller
Charles D. Burnham, ASLA
Mrs. James Cooke III
Deirdre Cunningham, McLallen House
Carol Grove
Robert A. M. Stern Architects
Thomas Woodward
Roy J. Zuckerberg Family Foundation, advised by Lloyd P. Zuckerberg
Laurence A. Clement
Kelly Comras
Linda Florio
David Kamp
Henri J. LeClerc
Jacqueline J. Melander
Flora Nyland
Edward and Mary Olinger
Jon A. Peterson
Barbara Troup Phippard
Nicholas Quennell, FASLA
Roy and Laurie Regozin
Frances Shedd-Fisher
Alida Silverman
Jean Stringham in honor of Caroline Loughlin
David Swinford

[@andrewbnash]

Let's bring back some of the progressive thinking that inspired the parks and parkways illustrated in this film. Let's tear down the expressways built through Buffalo's parks and build a sustainable transport system linked to community based economic development. That's the future, Buffalo could lead the way.

[@seanjankowski9016]

Andrew Nash I agree. It is also funny, that expressway. I saw another documentary with the politicians in Buffalo that decided that expressway would be a good idea -- they all regret it now and agree it is having a negative effect.

[@taylorgall9516]

Buffalo needs to revive its industry along the water, that's the only thing that will carry the city into the future. Cheers, from across the river

[@anthonysiracuse]

@@taylorgall9516 you couldnt be more wrong my friend

[@anthonysiracuse]

7 years later and look how close we are now!!!!! And now Kathy Hochul is Governess and its looking more and more plausible!!!

[@craigellsworth3952]

@anthonysiracuse The thought that you'd believe your state tax dollars would come back to Buffalo is fiction.

[@debean5670]

My grandfather was born on Sidney St., off of Fillmore Ave., near E. Ferry, in 1910. He used to speak fondly of Humboldt Parkway and its beautiful trees. As a boy, it was his job to carry a ladder up and down the parkway and climb the old gas street lamps to put them out, before school (by the mid-late 1920s, there were still approximately 10,000 working gas street lamps in the city of Buffalo). He was devastated when they blasted the canyon through that neighborhood to put in the expressway.

[@craigellsworth3952]

@debean5670 My GGGG Grandfather was on the other side of the border. In exchange for his service he was given 200 acres of land at the brink of the Canadian falls. It extended from the waterfall to what is now Lundy's Lane. His first name was Francis.

[@craignunnallypurcell]

Olmsted’s work has stood the test of time.

[@Ascertivus]

Quality video on some quality landmarks. Excellent content.

[@racker9999]

Thank you for this splendid presentation which hopefully will inspire a renaissance in the Olmsted/Vaux model of humanistic thought and action.

[@sherylchapman4168]

Niagara is still the same way. Cheap, shoddy and circus like. Even JohnMuir hated it. The city of Buffalo turned the Humboldt Parkway into the 33 fwy. Why do people take beautiful things and turn them into crap??

[@CD-ev2vy]

I grew up on Humboldt pkwy near Kensington ave ìn the 60's. This is a nice historical presentation

[@armusc757]

Great documentary, however the city of Buffalo resides in WESTERN NY, not "upstate".

[@stella-gx8ne]

it’s WESTERN NY😡

[@HansBjorgman]

5:30 That tree to the left is like a bunch of trees formed together.

[@releventhurt]

Its possibly regrowth of the original single trunk that they didnt thin out

[@r.peterreinhardt1091]

Replant the city with tree types that will grow tall like the old Elms. There are Elm trees highly resistive to the Dutch elm disease, among other species. Tall trees, cool the city in the summertime. Neighborhood kids used to love to play in the streets when I was a kid back in the 50s.

[@hermanmarie333]

Excellent Documentary.

[@caiomonteiro4995]

thanks for the subtitle. I can't understand everything when it has only voices. :)

[@joeconrad9147]

Sure would love to see some photos of these magnificent buildings under construction

[@ISeeItThisWay]

There's more than Niagara Falls! Another Buffalo s story is the projection that it may be a popular destination for climate refugees relocating from our increasingly heated South!

[@philup6274]

No1 from the south moved up there.

[@sierrachoco5271]

@@philup6274 I think what John Bos is referring to is that many areas are now suffering from lack of fresh water (especially the SW). I saw on PBS people are re-thinking where they live and looking to areas where there is an abundance of water - the Buffalo- Niagara area was one of the places!

[@philup6274]

@@sierrachoco5271 stop watching PBS. It's brainwashed you ....

[@sierrachoco5271]

@@philup6274 versus what? Fox that brainwashed you!

[@philup6274]

@@sierrachoco5271 I don't watch what you consider TV.

[@RrawzZ]

And what about McKinley Pkwy. & South Park? There is no mention of them..

[@atrank]

Too bad it’s now crippled by decades of decline, high “administration costs”, big government, corruption, poor business environment (New York State), taxes…. The people are great, but in the modern day, are moving out of New York faster than any other state losing population.

[@smilergrogan1725]

The male narrator sounds like the guy who narrates "The Food That Built America".

[@cracploufglou]

When all quality spaces are replaced with car's infrastructures, "It was called progress", well I guess they could have said - It was liberalism beginning-

[@DavidJGillCA]

What do you know, a simplistic willful misunderstanding of the use of words is a fun way for knot-head Republicans to peddle their bullshit.

[@stella-gx8ne]

When they put the expy through the park they destroyed that area.

[@russell2910]

Fun fact, thousands of people disappear in buffalo's parks every single day

[@zekzo]

there arent thousands in a park in a single day 💀💀

[@russell2910]

@@zekzo I know. They all disappear 🫥

[@stella-gx8ne]

I’m sorry but “whaaaaaat.”

[@belindafalgout1675]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 #tartarianempire #buildings #worldwide #timereset #mudflood #orphantrains #fakery #frequency

[@jay-quinthunder7967]

And the sad thing is if I can go back in time to1876, And look at these Parks in their original state I couldn't go probably to certain areas, and or I would be harassed or even hurt or killed! Because I'm African-American sad good old America!

[@sierrachoco5271]

Hello Jay Quinn - I know you would be welcome in North Buffalo. We have a great diversity of ethnicity and nationalities here. Everyone is respectful of one another and there are very few problems here. So come on over and live with us - I know for a fact you would be welcome! Best wishes!

[@MR-tu9dj]

Might of been planned well but it’s a dump of a city today.

[@albieh2563]

Buffalo is not a "dump of a city".

[@ipomoeaalba936]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Nope.

[@ireekofbeans9397]

sussy amogus :( susussssss susssss