Buffalo has been on the receiving end of a lot of positive press over the last couple of years with articles pointing to a turnaround for the Queen City. As far as locals go, we eat these articles up as confirmation of a renaissance going here. They are shared extensively social media. Everyone shares the #Buffalove.
The latest example was published today by the New York Daily News. It’s an article titled ‘Once-dicey Buffalo, New York is on the cusp of something big, from its booming city center to its buzzing West Side’ written by Michael Kaminer. To be honest, I don’t read every #Buffalove article that floats past me on social media. I didn’t read this one until a Facebook friend of mine shared his thoughts on piece. Brian Marek pointed out how the East Side was treated in the story. And I have to say that I agree with him. To have locals perpetuate the stereotype that the East Side is bad is just flat out wrong.
Here is what Brian Marek wrote on Facebook:
“From its booming city center to its buzzing West Side, Buffalo — once considered too dicey to even walk around — feels like a city on the cusp of something”
“Buffalo’s rough edges haven’t been entirely smoothed. I was still warned away from neighborhoods like the East Side. And empty storefronts pock some downtown blocks. But momentum’s in the Nickel City’s favor.”
Both of those paragraphs are from the same article just posted by the NY Daily News about the city. I didn’t bother posting the link because I’m sure it’ll flood your news feeds throughout the weekend. It’s a nice article about how the attitude is changing on the West Side and basically tells everyone to go to all the places every one of these articles tells you to go.
Whoever is in charge of the promotion of this city right now, whether it’s Visit Buffalo Niagara or some other entity, y’all are doing a bang up job. You can’t go a week without seeing a new article like this. Congratulations you have successfully turned the West Side around enough where a majority of the people here aren’t afraid of it.
Instead of warning people of the East Side though, why not tell them about the gems hidden in an area that is waiting for its turn? Wouldn’t it make sense to find some businesses or landmarks in the area and hype them up to maybe draw investors into an area that so many people try to ignore? I like to believe that time is coming sooner than later, with the recent news of the brewery going on Clinton in the Kaisertown/ Babcock area and the proximity of Larkinville, people are going to have to go out of their way to ignore the East Side.
I may not be involved as much as I’d like in promoting the area, maybe it’s time to change that. Here’s hoping the steps I’m taking right now will help bring a positive effect to an area I feel a connection to more than most other parts of the city.
Stop being afraid and start welcoming the rest of the city into the renaissance.
