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I think Matt is rather severely overstating the situation. I know plenty of people, including quite a few families who live west of Livingston. They haven't had any problems so far as I know. And Connecticut is getting a lot of investment these days... the Horsefeathers building now houses the farmer's market on winter Saturdays and a high-end restaurant, the owners of Bistro Europa are moving these business to Connecticut in the former Golden Key tavern, etc. That stuff doesn't usually happen in a "gangland". Maybe your friends who "needed a fix" put you in association with a criminal element that most people never encounter, and that has colored your view of the neighborhood.
I think that several years ago, the Grant-Ferry neighborhood was pretty rough. There are still lots of poor people living in that general vicinity but "poor" does not necessarily equal "bad", just poor. There's been some significant individual efforts to improve both Grant-Ferry as well as Connecticut Street. It's patchy because it's individual investors buying and renovating 1 property at a time ... until suddenly people realize that the entire neighborhood is a lot better than it used to be, and they want in. I think that's been the case in the Cottage District.
This kind of "micro" or "bootstrap" redevelopment happened and has been happening in many areas of Buffalo west of Main Street for decades. It's starting to spread into Connecticut Street and Grant-Ferry as well as into Black Rock. Grant-Amherst is showing some signs of life along Amherst Street, probably due to Wegmans coming into the neighborhood and encouraging other business people to buy into the area. There a great meat market that's a hidden treasure over by Assumption Church, and a doggie day care near there, too.
I think when you live in a city, you just get used to living close to less than desirable areas because they always exist in relatively close proximity to more desirable neighborhoods. It's also relative. I'm sure that people who live around Lincoln Parkway and Amherst Street are very cautious about driving to the Wegmans which is also on Amherst but a long block west of Elmwood. Since I lived in that neighborhood for a couple of decades years ago, I don't see it as particularly "unsafe". However, I would never consider living on Grant Street or further west.
Despite living in West Seneca, I go to that Wegmans myself at least once a week, most often late at night or in the wee hours of the morning (prime time/location for sushi and beer purchasing), and I have no concerns about that store or its immediate surroundings. Relative to Lincoln and Amherst, located all of, what, two blocks away, you are certainly right that there would be a significant change in neighborhood 'feel', especially given said proximity. But that block or two of Black Rock west of Elmwood (all the way up until Grant) does strike me as safe enough--reminds me a bit of Kaisertown closer to home. A friend of mine who's since departed Buffalo for a university appointment in Toronto used to live alone in his grandmother's old house near that Wegmans, on Germain Street, and as far as I'm aware he never had any problems over there. To me, Grant south of Amherst, or more specifically Buff State, is where things become problematic.
Referring to your next post which mentions the arrival of said Wegmans, do you know when that location was established? You make it sound as if its inception was relatively recent, while I'd been operating under the assumption that it had been there for a while. I've only been going to that location for a few years now, and I wasn't really familiar with that block of Amherst Street before the time I first stumbled across that secluded (by supermarket standards, as it's set back and there was no signage on the street) location.
Last edited by Matt Marcinkiewicz; 04-15-2014 at 12:49 AM..
I think Matt is rather severely overstating the situation. I know plenty of people, including quite a few families who live west of Livingston. They haven't had any problems so far as I know. And Connecticut is getting a lot of investment these days... the Horsefeathers building now houses the farmer's market on winter Saturdays and a high-end restaurant, the owners of Bistro Europa are moving these business to Connecticut in the former Golden Key tavern, etc. That stuff doesn't usually happen in a "gangland". Maybe your friends who "needed a fix" put you in association with a criminal element that most people never encounter, and that has colored your view of the neighborhood.
There is some merit to what you say in the last sentence, certainly, and overall. Had a couple close calls on the West Side...remember a situation on Breckenridge off Grant that I'd rather not re-live. Two unknowns got into my car (I was not entirely sober at the time, either), leading me to believe I was being carjacked as I waited for the person I had transported...I wound up giving both of these guys a ride to a couple different locations on the East Side, and I luckily escaped with the loss of nothing more than pocket change. These guys had bloodshot eyes, with dispositions suggesting they were ready to "do something", but I just looked each of them in the eye, offered a handshake, and introduced myself. I meant no harm if they didn't...and it turned out that no harm was done. Doesn't mean I wasn't ridiculously scared for the following hour, until I pumped my fist alone on Bailey Avenue that that situation had come to a close. Another related memory is a bit hazier as I wound up partaking in unknown substances myself (I remember a nasal spray being involved, memorable for the befuddlement it induced as to what exactly was in the spray) with some guy who was an "acquaintance" of my friend's who'd just been released from prison and was preparing to settle scores with old enemies. But, as for the people you know, "not having any problems" (and I admittedly did just use essentially those words as a relative endorsement of Germain Street in my last post) is not the same as "not having reason to suspect you might soon have problems". I guess for me, generally anxiety-prone as I am, it's probably more of a "cost" to live near or in higher crime areas, as the accompanying worries will likely take more of a toll. Plus I place a personal premium on being able to roam neighborhood streets at night, preferably beer in hand, and I don't know how comfortable I'd be doing that in many west side areas.
Also, I'm close to my dad, a county probation officer, and he tells plenty of stories (to my mother and I, and no one else, lest I jeopardize the last few planned years of his service to Erie County, heh). Biasing factor perhaps but I guess for proper balance I might just need to befriend some psychologists who deal with a suburban clientele who can disclose their otherwise confidential information, thus allowing me to maintain the realistically ugly view of all segments of society that's the only fair viewpoint to possess.
As a final postscript I just thought I'd add that the friend I was transporting in the first story (which occurred in maybe 2009) died in 2011 of an opiate overdose.
Last edited by Matt Marcinkiewicz; 04-15-2014 at 01:07 AM..
Despite living in West Seneca, I go to that Wegmans myself at least once a week, most often late at night or in the wee hours of the morning (prime time/location for sushi and beer purchasing), and I have no concerns about that store or its immediate surroundings. Relative to Lincoln and Amherst, located all of, what, two blocks away, you are certainly right that there would be a significant change in neighborhood 'feel', especially given said proximity. But that block or two of Black Rock west of Elmwood (all the way up until Grant) does strike me as safe enough--reminds me a bit of Kaisertown closer to home. A friend of mine who's since departed Buffalo for a university appointment in Toronto used to live alone in his grandmother's old house near that Wegmans, on Germain Street, and as far as I'm aware he never had any problems over there. To me, Grant south of Amherst, or more specifically Buff State, is where things become problematic.
Referring to your next post which mentions the arrival of said Wegmans, do you know when that location was established? You make it sound as if its inception was relatively recent, while I'd been operating under the assumption that it had been there for a while. I've only been going to that location for a few years now, and I wasn't really familiar with that block of Amherst Street before the time I first stumbled across that secluded (by supermarket standards, as it's set back and there was no signage on the street) location.
Grant Street has been rough since at least the 1960s, and while Grant-Ferry has shown some improvement in recent years, the northern end of Grant remains so undesirable that despite its proximity to Buff State, few students live over that way. If they're looking for cheap housing, they'll try the eastern part of Grant-Amherst (the area bounded by the Scajacquada Creek/Expressway, Elmwood, Grote Street, Grant/Military).
I'm not sure when the Wegmans was built. I lived on Marion Street off Bridgeman which is the street at the light at Wegmans for nearly 20 years but I moved to Albany in 1987 and didn't move back to WNY until 1998. I can't remember if the Wegmans was there in 1998. It was a really positive addition to the neighborhood IMO because it made a lot of people from other areas aware of the neighborhood and made Amherst Street a viable business street again.
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