The West Side Over Time

Greer: So I want to go back a little bit, you say that you moved to Buffalo in your 20s. I'm curious how you've seen the city change since you initially moved there.

Caitlin H.: Yeah. I felt like mostly just the. The commercial development, I think also the neighborhood that I've lived in, the two one three has changed a lot, I think when I first moved here. Let's say. But like 15, 15 or 16 years ago, I lived on Richmond and. It was. Like. Still considered like the West Side at that point, because it was most of Elmwood and now. I think it's definitely part of the Elmwood Village. So now I live a little less of that. I've lived on West Ferry for a little bit and now I live on Parkdale, which is like a block from Grant and. Yeah, I just I think that. I don't know, it seems like. I don't know enough about gentrification to call it gentrification. I'm not sure if that's exactly what it is, but I think it's like houses in this area on the West Side were cheap enough for people like me to buy them, you know, 10, 12 years ago. And so now then. Neighborhood is now the neighborhood that looks like the Elmwood Village looked like 15 years ago when I moved there.

Greer: So can you paint a visual picture about what it might have looked like 15 years ago?

Caitlin H.: For me and my age group, I guess… the big difference would be people renting apartments versus people trying to buy houses. I think so, that was kind of. I don't know the vision maybe was like if I had friends that lived on the west side, they were. Renting and then through the last like 10 years, it's all those same people have been trying to buy the houses that they were renting on the left side. So it seems like more of a. Permanency almost. Or let it also kind of like settling in. I think. I think when people do that or like a house like that is owner occupied. People tend to. Want to make it their own space more or they're more careful about the. Works, they put it into their living space because they know that it's going to be this for a long time. And so I can see that, too, I think that. There more a little light. Quirky personality, things like you're going to. Really, spend more time on your garden if you know that it's going to be yours and you're investing in it and you're going to stay there rather than just like, I don't know, maybe the landlords can raise the rent in a couple months and you know, they can take care of their own yard or whatever. So, yeah, that's one thing I like to is you. It's like you can see more personality almost. As people feel more comfortable or more permanent, I think are grounded in the places that they live.

 Greer: So also, I'm curious if you could describe like if someone was hearing about these website and Elmwood Village, right? How would you describe those as two distinct neighborhoods like what makes them, you know, two distinct areas in Buffalo?

Caitlin H.: Yeah, I think it's like money and race are the two main dividing sectors where you. Like the houses in the unlit village are bigger and they're nicer and they're very expensive, and so it's like way people with more money usually live there and then like people who can't afford to buy real estate and so they return. And I think that. As that's happened, people who rent or people with lower income have been pushed west into like. Rental properties look like at a time, landlords and. People who aren't really invested in the property of the people that live there.  

Greer: Do you think like fifteen years ago, the race and class element would have still been the same distinguishing factors between the Elmwood Village and the West Side? Or do you think it's more recent?

Caitlin H.: No, I think they still would have I think the major changes that what feels like the border, quote unquote of the word village has been pushed west.

 Greer: So I want to go back to you mentioned something about permanency and how that can foster like personality and a neighborhood. Could you speak more about that and maybe give an example of a sort?

 Caitlin H.: Yeah. I think the garden example is an easy one for me because it's something that takes. Time, but other than that, like not a ton of resources like you can get seeds from the dollar store from like, you know, you can get seeds from the food that you eat or whatever. So that. Having a garden like that always signals to me like a sense of. Permanency where? Like that space to something that you have control over. And if you want. To be there and feel comfortable in it and be a part of it. Having a garden or like investing a little bit of time into growing something, whether it's like front yard, backyard potted plants, whatever that's like it, that. To me is like an easy signal of feeling connected to like the land that your honor, the space that you're in, where if you are. Actively working with her, I think. But there are other easier examples, like just like picking the garbage up out of the yard after garbage day, you know, like that's either my job or my landlord's job, depending on how much I care about, you know what the driveway looks like or whatever. And I think if it's your own space that you're invested in and that you feel comfortable in, you're more inclined to take. That initiative to make it a space to be comfortable, and I mean, I know that time is always like a big factor too, like you just sometimes you just don't have time to do that, but. Yeah, it's like time and the like motivation to do it. Mm hmm.