About the Project
Our Neighborhood,
Our Stories
The Corridors of Community Learning project brings together Buffalo residents to learn about, and participate in, infrastructure decisions in their neighborhoods. Who needs to learn what in order for us to solve community problems? In particular, how do we foster meaningful conversations between:
- Researchers and Community Members
- Community Members in Different Neighborhoods
- Researchers in Different Fields
- Community Members and Policymakers
In the summer of 2025, researchers began to work with residents in two Buffalo neighborhoods. For each neighborhood, a series of five workshops allowed participants to share their local knowledge about how adjacent transportation corridors have shaped the past, present, and future of their communities. As an academic research team, the team provided the transportation context but did not promote a particular point of view or outcome.
We designed a process to highlight local knowledge using (1) neighborhood walks, led and planned by residents and documented through video, and (2) collective mapping, where participants identified and gathered materials—photos, recollections, artifacts—to visualize neighborhood knowledge. Through these activities, we are gaining insight into how residents build shared knowledge with their neighbors and across the city.
How the University at Buffalo Is Involved
The Corridors of Community Learning project is organized by two research centers at University at Buffalo, the Rudy Bruner Center for Urban Excellence in the School of Architecture and Planning, and the UB Institute for Learning Sciences in the Graduate School of Education. As an interdisciplinary effort, the project integrates expertise from different academic fields and uses a mix of design-centric research methods.
How Do I Get Involved
- Share the videos and maps on social media and with your family, friends, neighbors and representatives
- Schedule a screening to show and discuss the films and maps with your block club, community organization or school group
- Teachers, talk to us about including the films and maps in curriculum
- Learn about opportunities to create a film or map for your neighborhood
- Click here to join our mailing list and keep up-to-date with all the news