Background
The Wintermission program was created by 8 80 Cities, a non-profit organization based in Toronto, Canada. 8 80 Cities exists to create safe and happy cities that prioritize people’s well-being.
Through this project, we set out to combat social isolation and increase levels of physical activity in winter for residents of all ages and backgrounds.
Wintermission Buffalo will unfold in three phases:
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- Engage
First, we’ll spark a city-wide conversation about life in winter.
- Engage
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- Launch
Ideas from the community will help shape a series of exciting new projects and events to be launched in winter 2019-20. - Strategize
Finally, we’ll develop the Buffalo Winter City Strategic Plan with policy and planning recommendations to make Buffalo a vibrant winter city.
- Launch
Timeline
November 2018
8 80 Cities launched a competition to select project partners in three U.S. cities. More than 60 applications were submitted by cities across the country. Buffalo was selected to be a Winter City Vanguard, along with Leadville, CO and Eau Claire, WI.
January 2019
Members of the three Wintermission city teams convened at the Winter Cities Shake Up conference in Saskatoon, SK.
March – May 2019
Residents in Buffalo will have opportunities to send ideas and feedback on what they love about winter in Buffalo and what could be improved.
November 2019 – March 2020
A series of new projects and events will be launched based on ideas received from the community. These pilot projects will be evaluated to determine their impact.
April – October 2020
The Wintermission Buffalo team will work with local partners to develop a Winter City Strategy with longer-term policy and planning recommendations to make Buffalo a vibrant winter city.
Winter in Buffalo
Memorable winter weather events such as “The October Surprise” and “Snowvember” are fundamental to Buffalo’s collective resilience. Since the iconic “Blizzard of ‘77,” the city has experienced six severe winter storms, the most recent of which culminated in nearly eight feet of snow and required the dispatch of the National Guard.
However cold Buffalo winters might be, its citizens and mayor are committed to the challenge. Through Wintermission, Buffalo wants to facilitate equitable public activity that shows it to be a creative, inclusive, engaging, and fun place to live, work and visit during winter. The city’s Wintermission plans include incorporating community into the developmental and implementation stages of winter programming further cultivating social cohesion between residents and the institutions who serve them.
Beyond the cities evolving efforts to address winter weather, the city has also committed to the World Health Organization’s standards of an “Age-Friendly City.” We are certain that Buffalo will further its internationally-renowned winter-wonderland status for all and transcend Wintermission and winter itself towards a more engaged and connected “City of Good Neighbors.”
Partners
Wintermission Buffalo is led by the City of Buffalo’s Division of Citizen Services, GObike Buffalo, and the Wellness Institute of Greater Buffalo, with support from 8 80 Cities, the Children & Nature Network, and the National League of Cities.
This program is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at CAF America.
