Neighbors Invest In West Side Community
Parts of the city’s West Side have seen a slow turn-around over the past few years, an emergence from their often crime-ridden past, in large part due to the street-by-street work of private residents investing themselves and their money into the neighborhood they call home.
Citizens have formed organizations, like the West Side Community Collaborative, to address the problems that plague their community. Their most visible successes can be found on the cleaned-up 19th Street and in the greenery sprouting from private and community gardens throughout the neighborhood. They’ve bought, renovated and found owners for properties at no profit (see Harvey’s post); washed graffiti weekly from walls and fences; planted hundreds of trees and grown countless gardens.
Now several committed community leaders are purchasing a building at a pivotal intersection (currently home to Queen Sheba corner store, above) with the highest hopes for what it can mean to the neighborhood.
“The key to our success has been being able to show the residents that the people they are waiting for to come fix their problems are all set up to fail if the neighbors don't do their part first,” said Harvey Garrett, executive director of WSCC. “We shouldn't be waiting for ‘the City’ to come fix all our problems - we are ‘the City.’”
Garrett, Blair Woods, and Monique Watts are in the midst of purchasing 426 Rhode Island Ave, with plans to house the Urban Roots Community Garden Center, the first cooperative of its kind in the neighborhood, in the currently unoccupied half of the space. Tentative plans involved then selling the building, at no profit, to Urban Roots when the organization is financially stable.
“In all of these private investments in the neighborhood, our goal is not to make money, it’s to improve the neighborhood,” Garrett said. “We want to bring the outside [of the building] back to its turn-of-the-century elegance.”
Garrett said they will focus on rehabbing and cleaning up the outside of the building, funded from investment from several other community members. Though considering different leasing possibilities for the other half of the building, Garrett said they will work toward keeping Queen Sheba as the tenant.
The Garden Center will be a Co-op that will provide the neighborhood, and much of the city, no doubt, with original plants and gardening supplies. Pick up our January issue of BRM to learn more about the Urban Roots project.
Woods said, more than anything, they’re helping to build a retail presence on a corner (and in a community) that is in the midst of a significant turnaround. Development plans for its surrounding buildings are beginning to look promising.
“We’re doing it to secure that corner and establish a retail presence,” Woods said. “We hope to get people to notice the opportunity that is there, and spur some future development.”
Awesome guys! This is great news - congratulations!
Finally, people are learning to "do it yourself". Far too long we've sat, complained and waited for the city and other outside source to clean up our problems. Just like I've always said "You want something done? Do it yourself". Congrats to these people, look forward to seeing the progress unfold.
Good news and good luck.
This is a nice looking corner.
It's a great corner. We are designing a new park right next door that should be started in the spring. There is a Flat Iron shaped building with a mansard roof (covered on BRO in the Fall) right accross the street being rehabbed by it's owner, The brick building you can see in the photo is in the process of being (slowly) rehabbed, and we've been planting thousands of dollars in trees and community gardens all around (and a Urban Roots mural as well). It's also only a few blocks from the Left Bank Resturant and Prime 490.
We decided a long time ago to focus our energy on actually doing things rather than pointing our fingers at things we think someone else should be doing. The resulting progress continues to attract public and private investment and the momentum continues to grow.
Harvey
There is no doubt that Buffalo's West Side has the most turn-around potential then any other part of the city. The West Side already is home to some of the city's most impressive housing stock. As you move more and more west...it becomes waterfront property. What could be more valuable? The West Side has HUGE potential!
BCB,
I agree with you but I think the strongest part of the West Side is actually just South of the area we (the WSCC) are working. To me it's the Lower West Side that will come back the strongest, followed in a few years by the Upper West Side (Grant Street area).
We are doing very well in the Middle West Side because we are hyper proactive in our neighborhood work. The biggest come backs will utimately be the far upper and lower West Sides though. Until then we are going to keep kicking but and holding the middle ground. The good news is that all three neighborhoods that make up the West Side (Upper, Middle - us, and Lower) all work pretty well together.
And you are right on target with your comments on the waterfront. It's only 15 short blocks between Richmond avenue and the Waterfront - the WSCC is roughly half way there on our block by block heavy lifting - pretty soon it will all be downhill.
Harvey
I wish Grant could wait a few years to turn around, but it is so run-down now that I fear the wreckers will get much of it before any upturn.
The Grant Street area needs a plan that is driven by it's residents and embraced by City Hall. Bob Franke is working on it and we all need to support him.
Grant has more intact infrustructure than Elmwood Ave, great proximity to Buff State (who is starting to take some ownership of it), solid neighborhoods from Main all the way to within three blocks of Grant, is situated just a few blocks from the waterfront, and vibrant diversity. The more time you spend on Grant - the more you fall in love with it's potential.
It will come back - it just needs some love.
Harvey
Congrats- this is huge- I used to run my scootershop directly across the street (buffalo 66) and witnessed many illegal transactions taking place
at the corner store. This will no doubt be a vast improvement to the neighborhood, and will expand the desirable living areas to include Rhode Island st..