“for a community member who is in love with their neighborhood, it's not just a building to them, it's their life.”

Thank you Strong Towns for interviewing Bernice! Here are a few highlights from the post.

When all these materials, people, and processes come together, “It's not just the building that you're trying to build, it's the community that surrounds you,” says Radle. She also lives by her own words: “My farm is one mile, basically the 14213 zip code, it's a six- or seven-minute bicycle ride” from one end to the other. 

For Radle, starting small gave her an appreciation for the importance of locally owned businesses to a community. “Small businesses are where dreams come true,” says Radle, and she relishes providing commercial opportunities in her redevelopment work. “Most of my projects have been mixed-use commercial buildings [in which] the small storefront becomes a leader in the community,” says Radle. “It's like the cherry on top, right?

It’s not just the presence of local commercial outlets, which Radle calls “little centers for human interaction,” it’s the commitment of their owners that boosts a community. Local business owners provide eyes on the block, shovel snow, and pick up trash. For such citizens, operating their shop or restaurant is more than “a number on a spreadsheet; this is their everyday lives. So they won't give up unless they absolutely have to, and that makes the economy more resilient.” 

Radle champions the idea that historic preservation provides an economic boost to a community. She’s excited about a Buffalo program that provides funding to rehabilitate old buildings with small businesses. This could include roof repairs, masonry work, and structural repairs, and, in one recent example, the program fixed the floors of a neighborhood coffee shop in a historic building, enabling a popular minority-owned business to continue to serve its customers.  

Thank you Strong Towns for the highlight on Bernice’s work in Buffalo!

You can read the rest here: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2024/4/9/bernice-radle-small-developers-are-your-citys-biggest-champions

Bernice working on a house for HGTV / DIY Network in Buffalo, NY.