x
Breaking News
More () »

City Shaper: Joy Kuebler

This week's City Shaper is a WNY native who is designing public spaces in many towns and cities.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- On Mondays, we highlight Western New Yorkers who are contributing to Buffalo's renaissance. You are probably already familiar with the work this week's City Shaper is doing.

The "beach" at Canalside, the Bike Ferry space, the Williamsville Mill, and parts of the Botanical Gardens are all part of Joy Kuebler's portfolio.

"I don't have my name on a truck, and I don't cut grass, but what I do design are parks and public squares and waterfronts, and cityscapes," explains Kuebler.

Kuebler is a landscape architect. She's a North Tonawanda native who moved to Florida after college, and came back to Western New York twenty years ago.

"What brought you back here?" asked 2 On Your Side’s Kelly Dudzik.

"I was sure that Buffalo would have a renaissance even in 1998, and I wanted to be here when that happened," says Kuebler.

Kuebler is busy shaping Buffalo's community spaces, and she's enjoying every minute of it.

"I grew up here in the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s, and there was this very defeatist attitude. And, I think the biggest change, the biggest reason for the catalyst has really been that we are now really starting to believe in ourselves and to value ourselves in a way that we hadn't before," she says.

One of Kuebler’s latest projects, the Winter Garden at Oishei Children's Hospital, brought her team indoors.

"Everything from how you deal with soil, and sunlight, and wind is totally different in a creative space inside. And, when Kaleida approached us about this project, the vision had always been to have big trees that could almost be seen from the road," says Kuebler.

Giant trees weren't practical, so instead, Kuebler found hardy plants that will grow to create a canopy. She also made sure the space would be easy for wheelchairs to move around in, and she brought nature inside for kids to experience up-close. Now that the Winter Garden is open, Kuebler is excited to see what's next for Buffalo.

"I really see the next piece of Buffalo's continued growth and resurgence around strengthening its neighborhoods. Strengthening its walkability. It would be great if Buffalo's love affair with the car could kind of shift to a love affair with walking and multimodal transportation," explains Kuebler.

Kuebler is working on more projects right now including one in North Tonawanda that's focused on walkability and reinvigorating the downtown core.

If you'd like to nominate someone who is doing great things in Buffalo to be a City Shaper, send Kelly Dudzik an email explaining why you’d like to see them featured on Channel 2.

Before You Leave, Check This Out