The Buffalo YIMBY Festival will provide a platform for individuals and groups involved in grassroots community organizations to gather; exchange ideas, experiences, skills and strategies; and collectively imagine our future city. YIMBY promotes the role of community groups as an integral force for positive and sustainable change in the Buffalo-Niagara Region.

The Festival will be an opportunity for people to gather, spread the word about their work, exchange ideas to effect change and strengthen their networks. It’s a chance to celebrate achievements and identify new challenges and opportunities, in an atmosphere focused on listening, learning and engaging. This event invites community groups from across the Buffalo-Niagara Region to interact with policy makers, educating them about the issues that face our communities, as experienced by the community. YIMBY provides an opportunity for neighbors to meet neighbors, residents to meet politicians and politicians to meet community groups in the spirit of people coming together for positive change.

The theme of YIMBY 2017 is Buffalo Block-by-Block, acknowledging the geographic and socioeconomic divides in the Buffalo-Niagara Region, and in response, highlighting some of the amazing work people are doing to address these divisions and embrace unity.