After decades of economic downturn, Buffalo had been seen as a Rust Belt city in decline. But grassroots-level work by Cornell University with community partners on sustainable redevelopment and improving livability is changing that.

The Partnership for the Public Good (PPG), founded in 2007 at Cornell in Buffalo by the ILR School, works with a diverse network of stakeholders. Cornell and ILR have been embedded in the city since 1946, conducting outreach and research – work that has accompanied the city through economic boom times, recession and revitalization.