Welcome new signers and donors!  Thanks for your support of the Eclipse Escapade. It has come to my awareness recently that, in addition to the positive benefit our community might get from improving housing to anticipate the eclipse, added housing could prevent a calamitous situation; hours and hours of traffic gridlock.  To illustrate, let's think about the number of tourists that could come in terms all Western New Yorkers can understand - the term determined by Highmark Stadium, specifically, its full capacity.   

So, let's ask; how many Highmark Stadium's worth of umbraphiles could come to Buffalo to witness the total solar eclipse? (An "umbraphile" is an eclipse-tourist.)
About 400,000 eclipse tourists visited Colombia, South Carolina for the 2017 eclipse. Of course, we can't know such a high number will come here in 2024. Because many Buffalonians think their own city sucks, they will assume that eclipse tourists won't come here. I personally don't think Buffalo sucks, but let's leave that debate aside for the time being. Just consider that Colombia is not a touristy town like NYC or Niagara Falls; the eclipse tourists in 2017 went JUST to see the eclipse. Buffalo, on the other hand, has a lot to offer tourists, and furthermore, the memories and mentionings of the 2017 total solar eclipse are fresh in the minds of many Americans. About 216 million Americans watched the last eclipse, and many will wish to see totality again, or for the first time. Therefore, even if the naysayers are right and Buffalo really does suck, it is possible that, our suckiness not-withstanding, we will get even more tourists than Colombia got. But, let's use the 400,000 number. It's the best number we have.

How many is 400,000 in Highmark Stadiums? Highmark Stadium holds 71,608 Bills fans when it is completely sold out. (Or Billy Joel fans, or Metallica fans - whatever fan you got, they are all about the same size as umbraphiles.) So, do the math. 400,000 is about five-and-a-half Highmark Stadium's worth of people. Thus, five-and-a-half Highmarks of umbraphiles went to Colombia to witness the last total solar eclipse.

The skies of Erie County will be graced by a total solar eclipse on April 8 2024. Do we have the necessary lodging? No, we don't. Erie County, all hotels and Airbnb's combined, has about 11,000 lodgings available. You can subtract 11,000 from 400,000 and still get about 5.5 Highmark Stadium's worth of tourists to our city. In other words, we have about 2.5% of the lodging that would be necessary to house the number of tourists that went to Colombia to witness the last solar eclipse.

Now, don't think that the lack of lodging will keep umbraphiles at bay. Eclipse-chasers fully understand what all of Buffalo should be understanding now, that a total solar eclipse is an ethereal and oftentimes once-in-a-lifetime experience. The lack of lodging won't keep them away; it will just mean they can't stay the night. So, at 4:30 in the afternoon on a Monday, when the eclipse ends, right at rush-hour, the eclipse tourists will hit the throughways. Now think about how the throughway is for even a minor Bills game, and multiply that by five-and-a-half.
What about the Peace Bridge? Think of eclipse tourists on sojourn from Detroit and Toronto; they will want to drive on the Peace Bridge to return home. Remember, the eclipse ends at 4:30 PM on a Monday, right at rush hour. Think about how the Peace Bridge is even on an ordinary day. (And, by the way, the Peace Bridge goes to Canada. This matter is a matter of international commerce. Contact your congressperson.)

Hopefully, by now you can see why I am concerned. Traffic congestion isn't like the Tonawanda Coke plant that spewed out pollution for decades, but, nevertheless, traffic congestion DOES pollute. Such congestion is like a mini environmental calamity. If travelers have come from a long ways away, they could run out of fuel on the road and exasperate the situation. Ambulances, firetrucks, and police vehicles may not be able to get through. And this will be on a day when almost every Western New Yorker will be outside, looking up, with eyewear on that renders them blind. Do you think there could be a few accidents?

But, let's say I am wrong. Let's say the lack-of-sun and the supposed suckiness of Buffalo keeps umbraphiles at bay. Let's say we DON'T get 5.5 Highmarks of umbraphiles. Let's say we ONLY get ONE Highmark's worth of umbraphiles, about 70,000. Hell, let's say the lack-of-sun and the supposed suckiness of Buffalo is way more severe than I think, and we only get a paltry ONE-HALF Highmarks worth of umbraphiles in Buffalo on April 8 2024. One-half Highmark would be 35,000. 35,000 guests is more than three times the capacity of what the total lodging capacity of Erie County is, and I am assuming that there are no guests in Erie County for any other reason than the eclipse.

But let's say I am totally delusional and we get no eclipse tourists at all; ZERO umbraphiles come to Buffalo, not even one, because, you know, Buffalo really sucks that bad. Is there a way to prepare for the eclipse that would benefit our community regardless?

What if, in anticipation of the eclipse, we had massive housing renewal on the East Side? The East Side is where the science museum is located, and eclipse tourists will be interested in going there. The science museum will have programming for the eclipse. The East Side has a lot of vacant properties. The people of the East Side are thirsting for renewal, unity, and meaning.
It seems to me that we should find a way to create hostels for eclipse tourists in the East Side. As I like to say, we need "domiciles for umbraphiles." If our sky-watching guests have a way to stay the night on April 8 2024, this Western New York hospitality would mitigate the traffic problem. Furthermore, even if we don't get multiple Highmarks worth of umbraphiles on April 8 2024, housing renewal on the East Side would no doubt be a good thing.

To state it succintly, scenario number one; we renew housing on the East Side to anticipate the eclipse, and we get zero eclipse tourists, what would this scenario say about the suckiness status of Buffalo? I mean, even if the umbraphiles don't come, would not housing renewal STILL DEMONSTRATE THE RESPLENDENCE OF OUR CITY? Scenario number two; we don't do anything to prepare for the eclipse, and 400,000 people come and create the traffic congestion catastrophe of the century, what would THAT say about the suckiness status of Buffalo? We would have wasted a great, once-in-a-lifetime impetus for housing renewal, and we would have failed to stop a preventable trafficalypse. I suggest we move in the direction of least general suckiness.

Thank you for your signature.  Please share the song "Eclipsecstatic" and the petition.  Contact your representatives directly as well.