Buffalo Parking Has Had Its Lot

"When you look at this map, it's just shocking," said New Millennium President Jeremy Toth. "It should be very clear that downtown doesn't have a parking problem, it has a planning problem."

"If our master plan is to demolish all of downtown, then we're only halfway there," group member Patrick McNichol said sardonically. "If you look very closely, there are still some buildings that are standing in the way of parking progress."

The map unveiled at a Wednesday news conference shows that more than 200 surface lots and ramps cover a large portion of the downtown grid. The diagram, however, includes buildings with underground parking such as Main Place Mall. In a mocking gesture, the group is promoting a walking tour called "Park Buffalo" that showcases lots and ramps in "all their glorious splendor."

But downtown leaders deny that parking projects have been launched in a planning vacuum, and they insist efforts are under way to encourage transportation alternatives.