This project brought the UB Center head to head with the City of Buffalo’s economic development agenda. The issue focused on the contradiction between economic development and community development. The City wanted to build a road from Main Street to the Kensington Avenue, thereby creating a connector between Main Street and the industrial part along William L. Gaither Parkway. The UB Center wanted to turn the large land tract at Main-LaSalle into a residential development that would strengthen the community. This study made the case for residential development in the University Heights community and resulted in the construction of the first residential subdivision build in the community in 30 years. The project won the 1996 Outstanding Planning Project from the Upstate New York Chapter of the American Planning Association.