Carlton Street and Peach Street (google map).
One of the East Side's most notorious zombie properties is located in the Fruit Belt directly across the street from the city's Futures Academy. On this day the front door was wide open, again.
Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day.
One of the East Side's most notorious zombie properties is located in the Fruit Belt directly across the street from the city's Futures Academy. On this day the front door was wide open, again.
Photos from this series are cross-posted on fixBuffalo's facebook page and archived here - Photo of the Day.
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4 comments:
As ugly as this house may be, the real tragedy is that it is a fairly new house and it has already become a potential landfill because of lack of responsibly of the original owner.
Provide housing to those who do not work for it and there will be little to no appreciation.
Dear BR and Anonymous:
You have no idea what you're talking about when you refer to this house as being provided "to those who did not work for it..."
And, the metamorphosis of the Fruit Belt began long before the Medical Campus became a reality.
Many of us in the Ellicott, Masten and Fillmore district worked hard for many years to qualify for "subsidized houses." "Subsidized" does not mean free. Rather, the owners of these houses must qualify for lower interest mortgage rates and live in the houses for a clearly specified number of years."
Over twenty years ago, my husband and I were fortunate to qualify for a "subsidized" mortgage on a house to be built on a vacant lot on the East Side. We paid off the mortgage and the subsidy. The City of Buffalo and Erie County now collect property taxes from us instead tending to another vacant lot.
I also suggest that you do some research before making assumptions. The property you cite may have been substandard to begin with. Or, the bank may have foreclosed and simply abandoned the property.
I also suggest that you take a ride through the Ellicott, Fillmore and Masten districts where you will see many neighborhoods including "subsidized" houses.
We love our home and are proud that we have contributed so much to our community over the years.
Diana,
I apologize if I have offended you but allow me to make a counter statement: Twenty-three years ago when I was a young urban professional making $22,800 a year, I was offered no subsidized housing or any form of program to attract me to the City of Buffalo simple because one, it did not exist and two, as a white male, I would have been laughed-out of the room.
As like then and now, white, single men are held to a different standard and I don’t mean higher standard, a different one.
So, I purchased a barely livable former cottage and with my own earnings, slowly brought the cottage into the 20th century.
I have never asked or even inquired for assistance and, other than being layed-off twice in my almost 30-year career, I have never been offered any form of assistance nor would I even think of inquiring.
Oh, by the way, I preform inner city work pro bono and the majority of the people who I work with are all white, very seldom do you see a minority give back to society even if it assists their own community.
Before you begin screaming racism – this is a cultural difference between you and me and, where you could relocate to white neighborhood tomorrow, I could never move to a black neighborhood as I would never be welcomed.
Sad commentary on the 21st century but true.
Hi,
Twenty-four years ago, we were looking for a house when someone told us that we should investigate the new houses that the City of Buffalo was building.
During the Griffin administration the City of Buffalo was awarded block grant funds to build new houses for qualified low and middle income applicants. All applicants had to meet strict Federal income guidelines--based on the family's size and the total household income regardless of race, sex or national origin. The only other stipulation was that anyone receiving a subsidy would have to live in the house for at least ten years.
The information about the block grants was readily available. We would not have known about it if a friend had not heard about it and passed the information along to us.
We did not have any political connections, and we just barely qualified financially for the subsidy.
One of the criticisms of the program at the time was that some of these subsidized houses were scattered throughout the city instead of creating whole new communities. In fact, a White lady who worked at the same institution I did moved into a new home in another part of the city. Thanks to block grant funding we moved into our new homes at about the same time.
As for your last points, how sad that you have had such negative experiences. The only thing that could keep you out of most reputable Black neighborhoods is your attitude. Most of us don't care what your color is as long as you are a good neighbor.
Throughout my life up until now I have had good White neighbors who were accepted because they were good people. My Black and White neighbors have always wanted the same thing--to live our lives in peace.
Unlike you, I have seen more good than bad in Black and White people that makes me optimistic about life in the future.
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