By: Mary Carr Lee, Mayors Innovation Project
When Brian Kulpa leaves office at the end of this year, he’ll be remembered as a pragmatic leader who steered the Town of Amherst through a period of progressive urban development while managing fiscal responsibility with innovative cost management. Recently he sat down with the Mayors Innovation Project to talk about his time leading one of New York’s largest municipalities by population.
Amherst, a suburban community of 130,000, is considered a vital satellite city to Buffalo. Kulpa, an adjunct professor of architecture at University of Buffalo, has dual master’s degrees in architecture and urban planning. So it’s no surprise that during his eight years in office, he championed a radical shift from Amherst being an auto-centric, big-box retail suburban community to a pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use center for education, business, and culture.
Eight Years of Championing Green Spaces
Noting the national downturn in traditional suburban office space, Mayor Kulpa championed an economic development planning approach that focused on retrofitting retail environments in contemporary mixed-use spaces. Landmark projects during his time as Town Supervisor include:
The Heart of Green Space: His collaboration with Erie County to transform the former Willowdale Country Club into the magnificent 140-acre Willowdale Park is a testament to his belief in preserving natural beauty and creating communal green space in the town center.- Adaptive Reuse: The ingenuity of repurposing the former Harley Davidson facility into an innovative police training center illustrates a commitment to maximizing value and minimizing waste, turning a former $140 million commercial asset into a civic gain. (getting photo)
The Future of Commerce: The ongoing, transformative project to convert the vast Boulevard Mall into a vibrant mixed-use residential and commercial space will serve as a powerful bookend to his earlier success with the celebrated Picture Main Street project in Williamsville, which revitalized that area with parks, plantings, and community festivals.
Crucial to the success of these developments was Kulpa’s unwavering belief in community engagement and transparency, prioritizing public hearings and open communication. “Sometimes my staff had to drag me to meetings and town halls. But I realize the nature of these projects is that it’s one very long public conversation which will ebb and flow. Open two-way communication is needed both for the community and the private sector and state investors,” Kulpa noted.
Fiscal Responsibility and Management
Recognizing the challenge of managing rising costs in a town heavily dependent on property taxes, controlling expenditures is paramount in maintaining solvency and a competitive tax rate. Kulpa’s administration addressed this challenge head-on by adopting a strategy of self-insurance effectively controlling health care costs for the city. “It allows us to supply incredibly good insurance to our employees which is certainly helpful when we’re trying to recruit talented people. And it allows us to direct the budget for what we think our expenses are going to be.”
The Town of Amherst’s FY26 budget is $178 million and includes a 0.02% tax rate cut while providing future investments in senior and youth services, social programs, and crime prevention.
The Enduring Legacy
When asked how he hopes to be remembered, Supervisor Kulpa offered a simple yet profound reflection: he hopes residents will recall his efforts to transition Amherst from a place defined by its cars and large retailers to one characterized by its pedestrian accessibility and diverse housing options.
As he steps down to dedicate time to his family—including coaching his three children in sports—and to pursue new endeavors in government advocacy and planning, he leaves behind a town fundamentally changed for the better. His advice for future leaders rings true to his own practice: understand the community’s layers, look forward to the future of the economy, and never “rest on laurels.”