Probably but I would have no idea. The "safety" problems were more people getting run over with horse drawn carriages. It certainly wasn't the wild wild west
In the '80s though bar owners and business owners regularly carried firearms and had attack dogs in the back of their businesses because shit was really really bad
Oh, sorry I read early 1900's lol
Yes especially the 1980's, super dangerous. In 1998 I saw a dude with a baseball bar on ripper smashing the windows of every parked car. Like 8 of them in a row. I drove to a payphone and called the cops 😬 bad times
They had it closed down to traffic for so long, even the Town Restaurant went out of business. They redid the sidewalks and the plumbing and the street . But people went wild down there when cops and no one else could drive down the street. The resident coke dealer died, and bad guys are vying for the business. That's why the neighborhood is so bad now
Ever since Covid Allen has taken a serious turn from what it used to be. It’s a shame honestly. Feels just like a dirty shit hole now. Used to be fun and cool and artsy. Elmwood is still great but yeah Allen just sucks. Super bummer.
I think Allen had a larger college scene pre-covid, which has moved more towards Elmwood post-covid.
It seems like less people go to Allen in general recently, but it feels the same. There was always a level of "what the fuck is going on outside" when walking between bars.
I definitely miss when it was more populated, though. It was like non-stop meeting people. Now it feels a little bit more dive bar-ish, with the same crowd at the same bar every time.
Idk, it's still somewhat the same. It was always more alive after 12am. That is still the same. Younger people partying.
I think the demographic just switched from predominantly white college kids to the local demographic.
I honestly wonder if pending the SCOTUS decision in Grant's Pass, if the City will move to ban sleeping on public property. Along party lines, the court did seem to sympathize with Grant's Pass's argument.
No. It's just the change of seasons. The homeless people make enough money to take busses up and down the coast. They migrate. Obviously it's difficult to be homeless without shelter in the winter, so they'll take a ticket to get warmer. But obviously it gets very hot down the coast in the summer so they'll make their way back up if they can. Not to mention a myriad of other factors that increase the homeless population around the spring time of year.
It’s working its way down elmwood as well. My section has gotten significantly worse in the last year or two. Junkies everywhere, litter everywhere, just reckless behavior in general. I grew up in the EV, it’s never been like this.
What’s the reverse of gentrification?
There are consequences. Those consequences come only after being *convicted* of a crime, not just accused.
Otherwise, I could just accuse you of something, and you'd get to be punished, before you even get a trial.
I familiar with this anecdote, and I don’t contest it. Correlation is not causation, though it might be in that case. It’s not the case, here. While violent crime is down in Buffalo (9 in 1k residents in 2019 to 7.3 in 1k in 2023) property crime is up.
In the months after Kathy Hochul’s pistol permit legislation passed and before they went into effect, Erie county issued 15 years worth of permits to residents. Registered conceal carry ownership grew that much in direct response to the limiting legislation. You could easily make the argument that that’s why violent crime dropped because of the time relation. Are we going to?
> You could easily make the argument that that’s why violent crime dropped because of the time relation. Are we going to?
I would argue, that yes, more law abiding gun owners do tend to make a community safer. We found that out when right wing fash started trying to show up here.
Oh, did you honestly think I was anti gun owning?
No, I made no assumptions. I was just illustrating that anecdotes are convenient when they are convenient and easily dismissed why they aren’t. Seems we have much in common. There are always many layers of contributing factors.
> I was just illustrating that anecdotes are convenient when they are convenient and easily dismissed why they aren’t
So... How is it easily dismissed, in either case?
Agreed. We have had a homeless person defecate in our alley way twice in the last week, leaving behind both the 💩 and the clothes they used to wipe themselves with. Our property manager doesn’t know what to do 🙃
I feel like North Buffalo has taken a subtle shift for the worse in the past couple of years as well. Not nearly to the extent of the west side, but still
Used to go down there a lot before covid hit. Was nice and weird, bums and people trying to sell drugs to you but was just annoying and never felt unsafe. After covid it got sketchy as shit. Shootings down there relatively frequently, people following you around after leaving the bar, hostile drug dealers and bums. Went to the pink for like ten years before covid and now the bouncers all have to wear vests and do patdowns walking in. I feel no desire to go down there any more.
I saw a shooting on elmwood around Cole’s like two weeks ago and saw a shooting couple months ago in front of falley. This is just the shooting that I saw btw and I don’t even go out every weekend
Yes. It’s worse all over the country. I was in Phoenix AZ last year. There was encampments lining many, many streets as far as I could see. This was in an area with nice hotels. There’s definitely way more aggressive homeless people probably due to untreated mental illness. The cuts in healthcare and social services are really wrecking havoc. I’ve noticed a lot more homeless in my area in Florida. Before the last couple years I didn’t see that many. There really needs to be more funding & resources for people in that situation that want to get help
Google the “Bell Riots”, a fictional event from Star Trek that in the late 90s was scheduled to happen in 2024. TLDR: homelessness led to straight up sanctuary cities, police opened fire, rioting ensued.
They may have been off by only a couple of years. We are not that far away from that happening.
I mean, I don't disagree, but how is "affordable housing" supposed to help people who don't have money, and are too messed up from mental issues or drug abuse to hold a job?
Statements like this act like all the homeless people who can't afford $1,000 rent would be able to afford $500 rent, and the problems would go away.
Maybe some of them could, but I doubt they're the ones trying to kill people, defecating in driveways, or causing any of the other problems being talked about in this thread.
I mean, something that needs to be brought up to the council. Can't make changes if their constituents don't bring forth issues that they want changed.
So reach out to your councilmember. 🫡
Its true. I always wondered why there was such a heavy police presence in Allentown pre covid, I assumed it was due to free coffee at Towne and endless parking tickets able to be issued to the bar crowd parking questionably on Allen. Now, no cops, traffic is way lighter down there, no free police coffee at Towne, might have something to do with it. I never cared for the police presence before, but now I appreciate how much safer that area was at the time.
It's an on-the-job protest to prove bail reform doesn't work. If you have encountered a BPD officer or been a victim of a crime since 2020, they will flat out admit it. Everyone. DA, officers, detectives. Blame bail reform.
I dunno... Seems that's exactly what caused the 2007 Recession...
And who is it causing issues at Bills games? I don't think the poor, homeless, crackheads are the ones doing it...
You should read before you comment on something you don't know about. Bail is before trial. Unless someone has a prior conviction then they aren't a criminal when bail is set.
Bail only punishes poor people because they don't have the resources to get a bond while wealthy people do. This has nothing to do with whether or not someone has actually committed a crime. Ya know, that whole innocent until proven guilty thing?
That's literally not the point at all of bail reform. It was to keep people from sitting in jail for months before arraignment, not to never arraign them at all. Obviously this is very expensive for the city and state to incarcerate people for misdemeanors or less.
My sister has mental health struggles and she sat for a month in the holding center before being arraigned and released. This is what that was trying to address, not never charging people for the crimes they committed.
I wasn’t singling out bail reform. Instead, I was noting the lack of follow through by the criminal justice system once accused of a crime. Street crime is virtually ignored.
I lived in that area for 5 years and was so happy to leave! I moved out in December. I heard that Clinic nearby was another reason the area got worse. Lots of drug use, pan handlers disrupting traffic and getting into fights, assaults, car break ins. We had to call the cops numerous times due to weirdos trying to break into our house and trespassing in our yards and front porches. That place is a shithole. It has its pluses but too much negative is outweighing the positive.
An increased cop presence ON FOOT would be the simple solution to this. Police used to have much better relationships with the community when they actively patrolled neighborhoods ON FOOT and made their presence known and people got to know them. Unfortunately it’s much easier to eat pizza and drink coffee sitting in your double parked car. Those bulletproof vests and hilariously unnecessary Batman utility belts are heavy.
Thing is... Each time cops would ~~accost~~ make contact with any of those addicts or homeless, there would be stink about how cops pick on the homeless.
We need some broken windows action in Buffalo. Saw it work in NYC, should work here as well.
> Each time cops would accost any of those addicts or homeless,
Maybe cops shouldn't be accosting anyone, as that's not their job...
Cops aren't "supposed" to be armed thugs... (Well, actually, they are, but thats a different topic)
> . Saw it work in NYC, should work here as well.
It did not work in NYC.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sorry-malcolm-gladwell-nycs-drop-in-crime-not-due-to-broken-window-theory-12636297/
I haven't found it to be all that much better or worse than usual.
But temporary AirBnB type rentals plus a general rise in homelessness nationwide could be contributing factors. Fewer people who own their own property means less personal investment in the area.
There's way too many AirBnBs, and they always go to council meetings talking about how they improve their neighborhoods, but are responsible for the removing possible rentals/housing from the market.
Seriously. Witnessed some guy nearly beat some dude to death in front of steakout and had to testify about what I saw to a grand jury… this was 22 years ago.
There is way more homelessness and open drug use than there was 10 years ago.
I saw 3 junkies getting hit off in the span of a couple minutes walking up to Casa Azul about a month ago. And that was while the sun was still up.
I absolutely don't have the answers but I highly recommend anyone who regularly engages with these posts on Reddit (and who genuinely cares) to get involved with one of the community associations who serve the area. Allentown Association, KCA, etc.
i’ve always felt that it was weird and i’ve never minded that. but recently i’ve had a lot of issues down there and it makes me so sad. good to hear that it comes in waves though, hoping it gets better soon
I moved to EV in 2020 and the whole world went downhill after that..
Anywho, yeah, the quality of the naberhood isn't the same. Within the last two years, someone's been stabbed on my block, people have been mugged, I find a fair share of homeless folks asleep on the sidewalk (or worse), a month or so ago I walked by a gentleman that had the piss beaten out of him.
But how do we fix this?
Edit: I feel like that construction project they let drag out was the nail in the coffin. Ruined business for a lot of pinnacle places on that block.
I've lived in the neighborhood for a decade now and haven't felt it become more dangerous. More homeless yes, but that's city-wide, not specific to Elmwood-Allen. I *have* noticed a disturbing trend towards someone hiding Trump 47 / LGBTQ CULT stickers all over the neighborhood, and that honestly unnerves me more than anyone I've met on the street.
I hate to say it because they are a great organization, but Friends of the Night is a large factor in this. They allow clients to loiter at all hours. The traffic used to be enclosed to just the sidewalk outside their building, but now it's spread far beyond and Friends of the Night isn't doing anything to encourage the crowds to disperse.
Yup, people have been saying Allentown is just like this in the warm months. The amount of drug addicts has ballooned the past two years. Spotting a sleeping homeless person is pretty common even a few blocks away now. The vape store near Elmwood and North has had a consistent group of homeless ppl for weeks now. It's annoying. I feel for them but somethings gotta be done when it comes to rent control and other social programs.
lol I was thinking the same thing. I live right in the middle of it and never once felt unsafe. It’s very neighborly in the early morning/evening hours.
Police get paid a lot to not have a presence outside of their patrol cars. The police need to do their jobs and prevent crimes not react to crimes only.
It’s not any different sounding then when I lived there 20 something years ago. Had my cars windows smashed out and my massive cd collection stolen. There used to be a lot of the buff psych patients wandering around too, because they had nowhere to go after it closed.
I live right around the corner from Allen and Elmwood corner, I walk my dog on allen all the time. It's not really that scary for the most part. Yes, homeless beggars are here and there, but a "sorry man I don't got anything" will solve them asking for change.
The problem is that x out of y still give them money, so it's worth it to them. People either need to stop giving them money or police need to enforce some applicable statute.
I was just at Allentown Pizza last Saturday night after work and this homeless guy walks in harassing customers (including my husband and I) and the owner told him to leave and the guy said he’ll shoot every last one of us in there. My husband and I got out of there quick meanwhile there’s two cops chilling in their car outside on their phones so I walk up and ask them to please go in there and get that guy and they said “he’s harmless, he won’t do anything)
Allen always used to be a bad neighborhood back in the 80’s and 90’s. The neighborhood started to improve (hence the expensive street widening project) and now it’s cycling back around again.
What is your theory based on evidence or your perception? Give me the Crime data for
For Alan Elmwood for the last two years and see what you feel is action reality or if your mind is playing tricks on you or the media is playing tricks on you putting thoughts in your mind that’s not there or you might just be a scary person. Thank you.
I'm assuming you're talking about Allen at night, and yeah, it definitely has been getting worse. It was pretty much fine but maybe a little sketchy 10 years ago, it started getting more sketchy maybe 5 years ago, and now it's an absolute mess.
I know someone who's been shot by a stray bullet, know multiple people who've witnessed a murder, seen a Mexican standoff in the middle of the street, and seen a guy get beaten bloody and left unconscious on the sidewalk.
We need cameras and beat cops who actually walk the streets. They need to arrest anyone who assaults or threatens to assault anyone, or is found to have an unregistered handgun. The DA office needs to bring all those crimes to trial so they can be given sentences longer than a year, which will ensure they end up in state prison so the county doesn't foot the bill.
I used my Byrna for the first time ever right before I moved out of Allentown a few months ago. Hopefully that dude thinks twice about menacingly walking up to someone screaming about shooting them next time.
Highly recommend a Byrna.
You know, I feel like trying this.
If the guy who was walking around pretending to shoot people reappears and does that to me... spray. Anyone dishing out threats for not giving them money... spray.
Allen has been sketchy at night since the late 60s and 70s. Back then it was the Hippie district in Buffalo, and it attracted all kinds of people. The bouncer at the Brick Bar was killed by a shotgun blast right in front of the bar in 75-76 era after he tossed a guy. Guy came back and shot him.
In the 80s it was even wilder when everyone at the Brick Bar was buying cases of OV splits for $8.00 and just getting trashed. I dated a girl who lived on Allen two buildings down from the Gate and I went to pick her up at 730 on a Friday morning so we could head to Toronto and there was a dude passed out on her sidewalk. She came out and dumped a bucket of ice water on him and said, "Get lost."
The hookers were another great era, they finally shooed them out of the area.
By whom? Government's job is to protect rights (including property) and freedoms, not to pay others' bills. In turn, these rights and freedoms give people agency to make better living for themselves.
My massage office is between Allen and North, it's a different situation daily. Always someone asking for money.. it doesn't have quite the same vibe it used to
I would start by shifting responsibilities of traffic enforcement to speed/red light/school zone cameras. Generates more tax revenue and reduces dangerous driving habits while freeing up time for police offers to patrol and interact with the community on a ground level. It could also mean more and faster responses to 911 calls.
Also I think strong safety nets and development programs tackle the root cause of crime more than polcing, which I view as a bandaid. Obviously not all, but at the end of the day police don't solve serious or violent crimes regularly and spend little time on crime control. Even active shooters are mainly stopped by nonlethal bystanders. Tough issue that nuances the public doesn't care about so nothing will probably be done.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/police-are-not-primarily-crime-fighters-according-data-2022-11-02/
Here's a source, I started writing most of that but didn't want to just talk out of my ass
I lived on Allen from 2018-2022 and pre Covid it was the absolute best, safe, and fun area.
After Covid there were so many shooting directly outside my apartment (and a friends down at the other end of Allen) that we both moved to Elmwood. Much better over here but still has its typical issues living in a city.
It does suck though because I had such pride living on Allen and grew up in my early 20s there. Would love to make my way back someday but not with the state it is now.
Gentrification and higher rent can result in streets being less safe. People who pay $2,000/month tend to be the type that work a lot and then stay inside. They don’t watch over the neighborhood and don’t add as much to the community.
Additionally, the new streetscape on Allen has less visibility. Elevated parked cars block the view of the sidewalk.
Maybe the bar and restaurant scene got more fancy, but less community and fewer eyes on the side walk = more opportunity for crime.
No. There would never be a study on something like that. Cities are in a constant state of flux with too many variables to account for.
But Jane Jacobs makes an argument for it in ‘The Life and Death of Great American Cities’. It’s based on her observations of urban decline in the 1950’s. Old housing gets bull dozed, a generation of residents get pushed out of the neighborhood, fancy apartments go up, rich people move in, and criminals get bolder.
So I can’t prove it but I can attest to feeling most unsafe in some heavily gentrified areas of cities like Seattle or San Francisco.
Wow.
So you make a statement and your source is *feelings.*
I got that right? So you’d rather everyone just stay poor than try to make an area better. Sounds great. Stay where you are. Please don’t move to my area.
No, you don’t. My source is a book. And I’d rather keep neighborhoods affordable for long time residents who are invested in the community.
I’d rather walk at night with a neighborhood of working class people watching over the street, than a neighborhood of tech workers.
I see some comments saying that it’s never been this bad as far as 60 years ago. Did you ever think that maybe it seems worse because we’re all just getting older now our perspectives and tolerance and attitudes towards things like homelessness and street people are shifted to suspicion and intolerance?
And referring to people as Bums is so degrading when having mental health issues, addiction and no home can happen for so many reasons and through circumstances that make life difficult is just as disrespectful as feeling accosted by a panhandler etc. Being poor or Mentality ill or homeless shouldn’t be a crime.
It’s often the people who have jobs and everything else that street people don’t have that attack and criticize the people who have the least. Sure it’s a hassle to feel and experience what many have mentioned. But be glad you have a place to live. Sleep and a source of income, friends, family and better mental health than others.
Be glad you have a toilet, shower and a place to rest in peace with comforts of home. Try putting yourself in their place. Calling a neighborhood a shit hole is so insulting and very Trump sounding. The attacks on all of what’s being said in this subreddit are so toxic and unnecessarily harmful .
We’ve lost our humanity when we attack others who are less fortunate, less healthy and more vulnerable than the rest of us.
It must be exhausting to be homeless and unable to get your most basic needs every single day. Just something to think about. Life isn’t easy on some good days. It must be brutal for someone who is struggling with addiction, mental illness, poverty and homelessness.
I know your comment wasn’t directed at me, but I’m going to respond because I feel that we’re missing the part that these people are dangerous to housed AND unhoused people in the community. I have spent time volunteering in SF’s tenderloin, I was the volunteer coordinator/“head chef” in one of the oldest soup kitchens in the country, I lived on Elmwood next to Savoy for a year, my childhood home is 150 feet from a massive homeless camp, and I have had homeless family members due to addiction and mental illness so I do fully understand your point about “this can happen to anyone”. Because you’re right, it can, and we should be grateful that it hasn’t. BUT I draw the line at dangerous and violent individuals. Last night, there was a man lighting fires up and down Allen St. Legitimate fires that I saw with my own eyes. I’m assuming this is what eventually led to the fire starting at the Old Pink. This city needs community resources and we need them BADLY. That’s why I came to reddit. To express my concerns and understand if this is a recurring, long term problem that they have been trying to tackle or if it’s a newer problem that we need to push our representatives to address. Yes, some comments in here are terrible. Downvote em and move on. Not everyone’s a good person
I understand your point and frustration. You’re absolutely right to feel as you do. And my points were not directed at you. I just wish we could all be a bit more compassionate towards people.
I see a lot of wicked comments that are not helpful or necessary.
But…Somethings got to change. I wish I could do more. I’m a retired licensed mental health professional and social worker. My physical health is not what I would like it to be. But I know no one can fix everything and sometimes it is just not possible to create a solution. There are limits.
Mental health and addiction are truly what’s causing these situations.
The guys at Allentown pizza lock the gate now, though, so I don't have a drug alley behind my building!
The corner has been quieter this week, too, because of that.
Yep, had some crackhead woman approach us while we were sitting on the patio at Frizzy’s during the art festival. She was strung out on something and was belligerent.
Worked and/or lived in the area from early '95 - December 2003, when I moved to Baltimore. It was always potentially dicey. I knew most of the resident homeless & addicted people and fed many out the back door of the restaurant I worked at so I was relatively safe from being accosted. Still happened from time to time.
There should be an ethnographic study done of the steady decline of Allen street. I remember moving to Buffalo in summer 2016 and being totally gobsmacked at how effortlessly cool and prosperous it was on Allen. So full of life, so many unique spots and food trucks and crowds of bright-eyed folks looking for adventures. Now, it feels like walking down Allen is akin to dumpster diving for a shooter of tequila in a back alleyway somewhere. I fully expect to be stabbed in the gut every time I have to go there.
I feel like such a hardass for living here when I read comments like this.
I'm going to send the property managers a link to this thread if they try to raise my rent this year.
My husband and I recently moved to Buffalo, but we spent the summers of '22 and '23 here and had our fair share of incidents and WTF Happenings all on and around Allen St. Everyone seemed to be pretty conditioned by it, so I imagined it's been bad for a minute. Keep your wits about you , friends.
Truthfully I have no desire to punish this man. He was severely mentally ill. I do have the desire to do my best to support people and organizations that have the resources to help people like him
Mentally ill or not, it’s a public safety concern. If someone is mentally unstable and off medication there’s not punishment for that it’s a serious matter and there’s outreach to intervene for the safety of all including the person who possibly missed his meds.
Absolutely! Was blocked on the sidewalk leaving a restaurant by a menacing group of 5 large men talking loudly about how they hated the police (I’m not a police officer). I was with my young son and it was nerve wracking.
Yeah- obviously they did! They got off the wall and walked directly in front of us- blocked us and made us walk around them into the street. Wtf? It was ridiculous. They were enjoying scaring a woman and her kid.
Yeah my boyfriend lives on Elmwood near Summer St and every time we go to 7/11 or Just Pizza there’s always a homeless person standing outside looking ominously. One time another one was screaming at everyone who walked by, including us, and the employees from Just Pizza had to scare him off by threatening to call 911. Also a couple years back one of my friends who also used to live on Elmwood said one time she got followed home, luckily her boyfriend was there too.
Oh & last time I went bar hopping on Allen, I saw three different fights.
Overall, that area in general is definitely becoming more and more dangerous.
Bubble man died. Whole neighborhood lost its way.
The bubbles kept us safe. They fended off the evil spirits.
I attended the Pride parade, and there were bubbles coming out of the window of his apartment, so all is not lost.
After he died the landlord gifted all the tenants bubble machines, hope is not lost for the bubble man lives on in all of us.
Used to work on Allen street but had to move to cuse. I HAD NO IDEA :( definitely added some positive spice
Is he actually dead??
Yes.
He did? That’s so sad!
A few years back - https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/buffalo/buffalos-bubble-man-of-allentown-dies-at-age-75/amp/
From what I understand, other than the bubbles, there’s not much good to say about that dude.
Yeah it’s definitely gone from weird but safe to weird and scary. It used to feel artsy and maybe some strange people but never scary
It's never really been safe. Lived there for years starting in 2003.
Wasn't all that safe in the late 1900's either...
Probably but I would have no idea. The "safety" problems were more people getting run over with horse drawn carriages. It certainly wasn't the wild wild west
In the '80s though bar owners and business owners regularly carried firearms and had attack dogs in the back of their businesses because shit was really really bad
In the late 1900's? I think we had cars then. I know I saw lots of them, Hondas, Fords, Chevys, etc.
Oh, sorry I read early 1900's lol Yes especially the 1980's, super dangerous. In 1998 I saw a dude with a baseball bar on ripper smashing the windows of every parked car. Like 8 of them in a row. I drove to a payphone and called the cops 😬 bad times
They had it closed down to traffic for so long, even the Town Restaurant went out of business. They redid the sidewalks and the plumbing and the street . But people went wild down there when cops and no one else could drive down the street. The resident coke dealer died, and bad guys are vying for the business. That's why the neighborhood is so bad now
The guy usually at the gate died??
Ever since Covid Allen has taken a serious turn from what it used to be. It’s a shame honestly. Feels just like a dirty shit hole now. Used to be fun and cool and artsy. Elmwood is still great but yeah Allen just sucks. Super bummer.
It was a dirty shithole then too. You were just young and drunk
It started before Covid, but it’s when the cops got off their feet and got into their cars that it started to go downhill
Dirty isn’t the issue lol
Then why’d you mention it? I repeated what you said, and then you said “that’s not the issue”. Then what is the issue?
This is the one haha
Wait. When was Allen anything other than a dirty shithole? It was that 20/25 years ago.
I think Allen had a larger college scene pre-covid, which has moved more towards Elmwood post-covid. It seems like less people go to Allen in general recently, but it feels the same. There was always a level of "what the fuck is going on outside" when walking between bars. I definitely miss when it was more populated, though. It was like non-stop meeting people. Now it feels a little bit more dive bar-ish, with the same crowd at the same bar every time.
All the neighborhood alcoholic hang out around Allen. Like the Pink just found a way to expand its shit down the whole street. Allen sucks
Idk, it's still somewhat the same. It was always more alive after 12am. That is still the same. Younger people partying. I think the demographic just switched from predominantly white college kids to the local demographic.
I will say that the number of people around the Friends of the Night People building has increased quite a bit over the past few months.
Yeah I drive past it every morning and there has definitely been a major increase in people over there.
Yeah, even in the past few weeks, there's been a huge increase.
Yes, homelessness in Buffalo was up 55% even last summer compared to a year before.
Yeah.
Yeah I volunteered there years ago and there was some folks. Now it’s lines of people
I honestly wonder if pending the SCOTUS decision in Grant's Pass, if the City will move to ban sleeping on public property. Along party lines, the court did seem to sympathize with Grant's Pass's argument.
No. It's just the change of seasons. The homeless people make enough money to take busses up and down the coast. They migrate. Obviously it's difficult to be homeless without shelter in the winter, so they'll take a ticket to get warmer. But obviously it gets very hot down the coast in the summer so they'll make their way back up if they can. Not to mention a myriad of other factors that increase the homeless population around the spring time of year.
It’s working its way down elmwood as well. My section has gotten significantly worse in the last year or two. Junkies everywhere, litter everywhere, just reckless behavior in general. I grew up in the EV, it’s never been like this. What’s the reverse of gentrification?
Cityfication (pronounced shit-if-i-kay-shun)
No. Cops quiet quitting.
Bail reform needs to be adjusted. Addicts should not be locked up but if your crimes affect other people there should be consequences.
There are consequences. Those consequences come only after being *convicted* of a crime, not just accused. Otherwise, I could just accuse you of something, and you'd get to be punished, before you even get a trial.
Okay let’s see what consequences Drumpf will get.
How would you solve the issues they are having in this neighborhood.
Cops quiet quitting usually results in a reduced crime rate.
Source?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/09/nyc-cops-did-a-work-stop-yet-crime-dropped/
I familiar with this anecdote, and I don’t contest it. Correlation is not causation, though it might be in that case. It’s not the case, here. While violent crime is down in Buffalo (9 in 1k residents in 2019 to 7.3 in 1k in 2023) property crime is up.
In the months after Kathy Hochul’s pistol permit legislation passed and before they went into effect, Erie county issued 15 years worth of permits to residents. Registered conceal carry ownership grew that much in direct response to the limiting legislation. You could easily make the argument that that’s why violent crime dropped because of the time relation. Are we going to?
> You could easily make the argument that that’s why violent crime dropped because of the time relation. Are we going to? I would argue, that yes, more law abiding gun owners do tend to make a community safer. We found that out when right wing fash started trying to show up here. Oh, did you honestly think I was anti gun owning?
No, I made no assumptions. I was just illustrating that anecdotes are convenient when they are convenient and easily dismissed why they aren’t. Seems we have much in common. There are always many layers of contributing factors.
> I was just illustrating that anecdotes are convenient when they are convenient and easily dismissed why they aren’t So... How is it easily dismissed, in either case?
Agreed. We have had a homeless person defecate in our alley way twice in the last week, leaving behind both the 💩 and the clothes they used to wipe themselves with. Our property manager doesn’t know what to do 🙃
Oh gods I can't believe I forgot about this, this happens periodically around my block as well. Barf.
this is why I installed a gate to my alley way 🤣
This happened in my driveway when I lived in Allentown…. I’d find a shit and a tank top every now and then.
I should say this was 10+ years ago
I worked in the EV for 14 years and worked in Allentown for 3 1/2 years.. Believe me, none of this is new. None of it.
So, EV is just reverting to it's natural self? EV was certainly pretty sketchy in the 90s.
I was born in the 80’s, grew up there in the 90’s, this is nothing like it was back then. Don’t even pretend like it was.
I feel like North Buffalo has taken a subtle shift for the worse in the past couple of years as well. Not nearly to the extent of the west side, but still
Ever since lockdown, social standards took a nosedive…
These types of comments are hilarious. Its almost like people never stepped into the city, until the past year or two...
Used to go down there a lot before covid hit. Was nice and weird, bums and people trying to sell drugs to you but was just annoying and never felt unsafe. After covid it got sketchy as shit. Shootings down there relatively frequently, people following you around after leaving the bar, hostile drug dealers and bums. Went to the pink for like ten years before covid and now the bouncers all have to wear vests and do patdowns walking in. I feel no desire to go down there any more.
What shootings?
I saw a shooting on elmwood around Cole’s like two weeks ago and saw a shooting couple months ago in front of falley. This is just the shooting that I saw btw and I don’t even go out every weekend
One of those is 2 miles from Allentown and the other was September 2023. I’m also curious about these “frequent shootings”
Homelessness has gotten worse with the housing crisis, unfortunately. I wouldn't be surprised if we get big city style homeless camps before long.
Yes. It’s worse all over the country. I was in Phoenix AZ last year. There was encampments lining many, many streets as far as I could see. This was in an area with nice hotels. There’s definitely way more aggressive homeless people probably due to untreated mental illness. The cuts in healthcare and social services are really wrecking havoc. I’ve noticed a lot more homeless in my area in Florida. Before the last couple years I didn’t see that many. There really needs to be more funding & resources for people in that situation that want to get help
Google the “Bell Riots”, a fictional event from Star Trek that in the late 90s was scheduled to happen in 2024. TLDR: homelessness led to straight up sanctuary cities, police opened fire, rioting ensued. They may have been off by only a couple of years. We are not that far away from that happening.
2024 gonna be lit. Irish Reunification too!
This
You mean the rising inequality and rent prices are having a negative effect on the people that have to live there?
Who'd've thought?
I mean, I don't disagree, but how is "affordable housing" supposed to help people who don't have money, and are too messed up from mental issues or drug abuse to hold a job? Statements like this act like all the homeless people who can't afford $1,000 rent would be able to afford $500 rent, and the problems would go away. Maybe some of them could, but I doubt they're the ones trying to kill people, defecating in driveways, or causing any of the other problems being talked about in this thread.
Build more housing, abolish the green code
Update it to allow for denser and larger developments.
Also acceptable, but I don't trust Buffalo to do that
I mean, something that needs to be brought up to the council. Can't make changes if their constituents don't bring forth issues that they want changed. So reach out to your councilmember. 🫡
Buffalo was the first city to abolish parking minimums, so don’t be so pessimistic
They don't have to live there.
[удалено]
that’s so sad because it’s such a fun place to be aside from all the chaos 😭
The BPD silent strike is the worst kept secret in the city.
This. Let's talk about it.
Its true. I always wondered why there was such a heavy police presence in Allentown pre covid, I assumed it was due to free coffee at Towne and endless parking tickets able to be issued to the bar crowd parking questionably on Allen. Now, no cops, traffic is way lighter down there, no free police coffee at Towne, might have something to do with it. I never cared for the police presence before, but now I appreciate how much safer that area was at the time.
It's an on-the-job protest to prove bail reform doesn't work. If you have encountered a BPD officer or been a victim of a crime since 2020, they will flat out admit it. Everyone. DA, officers, detectives. Blame bail reform.
So, they're all blaming not throwing innocent people into jail for the reason they cannot perform their jobs?
Why risk getting sued when the criminal isn’t getting punished? This is what Buffalo voted for so we cannot be critical of the people’s choices.
Bail isn't the punishment. That's the point of bail reform. Bail only punishes poor people.
It’s typically not the rich ones zombified out and causing all the problems
Tell that to my suburban boss on his 3rd DUI still driving around after drinks.
If I see him on Allen at 3am making the neighborhood unsafe I will, until then we can focus on the crackheads!
I dunno... Seems that's exactly what caused the 2007 Recession... And who is it causing issues at Bills games? I don't think the poor, homeless, crackheads are the ones doing it...
Bail punishes the criminals but OK. Enjoy your deteriorating neighborhoods and stop complaining.
You should read before you comment on something you don't know about. Bail is before trial. Unless someone has a prior conviction then they aren't a criminal when bail is set. Bail only punishes poor people because they don't have the resources to get a bond while wealthy people do. This has nothing to do with whether or not someone has actually committed a crime. Ya know, that whole innocent until proven guilty thing?
That's literally not the point at all of bail reform. It was to keep people from sitting in jail for months before arraignment, not to never arraign them at all. Obviously this is very expensive for the city and state to incarcerate people for misdemeanors or less. My sister has mental health struggles and she sat for a month in the holding center before being arraigned and released. This is what that was trying to address, not never charging people for the crimes they committed.
I wasn’t singling out bail reform. Instead, I was noting the lack of follow through by the criminal justice system once accused of a crime. Street crime is virtually ignored.
What would they get sued for? Police have no obligation to investigate crimes and DAs have no obligation to charge crimes.
Criminals do get punished. After a conviction.
lolol silent strikes usually result in lower crime rates. See: NYPD "Blue Flu"
I lived in that area for 5 years and was so happy to leave! I moved out in December. I heard that Clinic nearby was another reason the area got worse. Lots of drug use, pan handlers disrupting traffic and getting into fights, assaults, car break ins. We had to call the cops numerous times due to weirdos trying to break into our house and trespassing in our yards and front porches. That place is a shithole. It has its pluses but too much negative is outweighing the positive.
We're glad you left too.
Found the junkie.
Yes, I am heavily addicted to caffeine and nicotine.
So glad you left. Now it’s less of a S Hole.
\*Batman has entered the chat\*
I work at the edge of Allentown. Hung out therecsince the late 70s. It has never been this bad.
Allen always had their share of derelicts, winos and crazies for at least 50 years
I agree with this. I walk Allen everyday, I don't think it has changed that much. Homelessness ticked up last year...let's see what it's like in July.
Exactly. It's either rose colored glasses, or complete ignorance if people think it was ever paved with gold and fun...
An increased cop presence ON FOOT would be the simple solution to this. Police used to have much better relationships with the community when they actively patrolled neighborhoods ON FOOT and made their presence known and people got to know them. Unfortunately it’s much easier to eat pizza and drink coffee sitting in your double parked car. Those bulletproof vests and hilariously unnecessary Batman utility belts are heavy.
Thing is... Each time cops would ~~accost~~ make contact with any of those addicts or homeless, there would be stink about how cops pick on the homeless. We need some broken windows action in Buffalo. Saw it work in NYC, should work here as well.
> Each time cops would accost any of those addicts or homeless, Maybe cops shouldn't be accosting anyone, as that's not their job... Cops aren't "supposed" to be armed thugs... (Well, actually, they are, but thats a different topic) > . Saw it work in NYC, should work here as well. It did not work in NYC. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/sorry-malcolm-gladwell-nycs-drop-in-crime-not-due-to-broken-window-theory-12636297/
I haven't found it to be all that much better or worse than usual. But temporary AirBnB type rentals plus a general rise in homelessness nationwide could be contributing factors. Fewer people who own their own property means less personal investment in the area.
There's way too many AirBnBs, and they always go to council meetings talking about how they improve their neighborhoods, but are responsible for the removing possible rentals/housing from the market.
Thank you
A family friend got murdered on Allen st by some psycho 7 years ago, so I’d say that it’s sucked for a while now.
Seriously. Witnessed some guy nearly beat some dude to death in front of steakout and had to testify about what I saw to a grand jury… this was 22 years ago.
I feel like it’s about the same as it’s been but that might just depend on luck of the draw. Have seen a lot more stupid drivers though.
There is way more homelessness and open drug use than there was 10 years ago. I saw 3 junkies getting hit off in the span of a couple minutes walking up to Casa Azul about a month ago. And that was while the sun was still up.
I absolutely don't have the answers but I highly recommend anyone who regularly engages with these posts on Reddit (and who genuinely cares) to get involved with one of the community associations who serve the area. Allentown Association, KCA, etc.
Allen waxes and wanes. If you’re not from here you might not realize that. Unsafe I think it’s a bit extreme, but fucking weird is more apt.
i’ve always felt that it was weird and i’ve never minded that. but recently i’ve had a lot of issues down there and it makes me so sad. good to hear that it comes in waves though, hoping it gets better soon
I moved to EV in 2020 and the whole world went downhill after that.. Anywho, yeah, the quality of the naberhood isn't the same. Within the last two years, someone's been stabbed on my block, people have been mugged, I find a fair share of homeless folks asleep on the sidewalk (or worse), a month or so ago I walked by a gentleman that had the piss beaten out of him. But how do we fix this? Edit: I feel like that construction project they let drag out was the nail in the coffin. Ruined business for a lot of pinnacle places on that block.
I've lived in the neighborhood for a decade now and haven't felt it become more dangerous. More homeless yes, but that's city-wide, not specific to Elmwood-Allen. I *have* noticed a disturbing trend towards someone hiding Trump 47 / LGBTQ CULT stickers all over the neighborhood, and that honestly unnerves me more than anyone I've met on the street.
There are more and more people who are homeless now. It’s a systemic issue.
I hate to say it because they are a great organization, but Friends of the Night is a large factor in this. They allow clients to loiter at all hours. The traffic used to be enclosed to just the sidewalk outside their building, but now it's spread far beyond and Friends of the Night isn't doing anything to encourage the crowds to disperse.
Yup, people have been saying Allentown is just like this in the warm months. The amount of drug addicts has ballooned the past two years. Spotting a sleeping homeless person is pretty common even a few blocks away now. The vape store near Elmwood and North has had a consistent group of homeless ppl for weeks now. It's annoying. I feel for them but somethings gotta be done when it comes to rent control and other social programs.
Ive lived here six years and have never felt unsafe. I also go to bed by like 11pm at the latest so no clue what it’s like after that.
lol I was thinking the same thing. I live right in the middle of it and never once felt unsafe. It’s very neighborly in the early morning/evening hours.
Police get paid a lot to not have a presence outside of their patrol cars. The police need to do their jobs and prevent crimes not react to crimes only.
It sounds like the Allentown I used to live in 20 years ago.
It’s not any different sounding then when I lived there 20 something years ago. Had my cars windows smashed out and my massive cd collection stolen. There used to be a lot of the buff psych patients wandering around too, because they had nowhere to go after it closed.
Y’all just didn’t notice it before.
Sounds like typical Allentown to me.
I live right around the corner from Allen and Elmwood corner, I walk my dog on allen all the time. It's not really that scary for the most part. Yes, homeless beggars are here and there, but a "sorry man I don't got anything" will solve them asking for change.
The problem is that x out of y still give them money, so it's worth it to them. People either need to stop giving them money or police need to enforce some applicable statute.
honestly as long as you’re nice it’s not that bad. you get people shouting at you but like… just ignore them lol
I was just at Allentown Pizza last Saturday night after work and this homeless guy walks in harassing customers (including my husband and I) and the owner told him to leave and the guy said he’ll shoot every last one of us in there. My husband and I got out of there quick meanwhile there’s two cops chilling in their car outside on their phones so I walk up and ask them to please go in there and get that guy and they said “he’s harmless, he won’t do anything)
I work at a bar downtown, just a skip over but, it is getting worse.
Allen always used to be a bad neighborhood back in the 80’s and 90’s. The neighborhood started to improve (hence the expensive street widening project) and now it’s cycling back around again.
What is your theory based on evidence or your perception? Give me the Crime data for For Alan Elmwood for the last two years and see what you feel is action reality or if your mind is playing tricks on you or the media is playing tricks on you putting thoughts in your mind that’s not there or you might just be a scary person. Thank you.
I'm assuming you're talking about Allen at night, and yeah, it definitely has been getting worse. It was pretty much fine but maybe a little sketchy 10 years ago, it started getting more sketchy maybe 5 years ago, and now it's an absolute mess. I know someone who's been shot by a stray bullet, know multiple people who've witnessed a murder, seen a Mexican standoff in the middle of the street, and seen a guy get beaten bloody and left unconscious on the sidewalk. We need cameras and beat cops who actually walk the streets. They need to arrest anyone who assaults or threatens to assault anyone, or is found to have an unregistered handgun. The DA office needs to bring all those crimes to trial so they can be given sentences longer than a year, which will ensure they end up in state prison so the county doesn't foot the bill.
In my experience it’s the same. People are going to fear monger though
Hit em w the bear spray…
I used my Byrna for the first time ever right before I moved out of Allentown a few months ago. Hopefully that dude thinks twice about menacingly walking up to someone screaming about shooting them next time. Highly recommend a Byrna.
You know, I feel like trying this. If the guy who was walking around pretending to shoot people reappears and does that to me... spray. Anyone dishing out threats for not giving them money... spray.
any recommendations?
Where did you get yours? When I looked online it said they won’t ship the pepper balls to NYS
PA isn't far from here...
That’s what I was thinking too
While it's never truly been safe,I will agree. We have had a storefront down there for almost 11 years now & it is much different.
Allen has been sketchy at night since the late 60s and 70s. Back then it was the Hippie district in Buffalo, and it attracted all kinds of people. The bouncer at the Brick Bar was killed by a shotgun blast right in front of the bar in 75-76 era after he tossed a guy. Guy came back and shot him. In the 80s it was even wilder when everyone at the Brick Bar was buying cases of OV splits for $8.00 and just getting trashed. I dated a girl who lived on Allen two buildings down from the Gate and I went to pick her up at 730 on a Friday morning so we could head to Toronto and there was a dude passed out on her sidewalk. She came out and dumped a bucket of ice water on him and said, "Get lost." The hookers were another great era, they finally shooed them out of the area.
I hate to see Allen st being this way. It wasn't this bad back in 2014-2018. Covid definitely made it worse
Buffalo has a poverty problem that needs to addressed!
By whom? Government's job is to protect rights (including property) and freedoms, not to pay others' bills. In turn, these rights and freedoms give people agency to make better living for themselves.
My massage office is between Allen and North, it's a different situation daily. Always someone asking for money.. it doesn't have quite the same vibe it used to
Cops get budget increases so they can say it's not enough and then don't do their jobs. Rinse and repeat the democratic way 😎
Please offer us your solution
I would start by shifting responsibilities of traffic enforcement to speed/red light/school zone cameras. Generates more tax revenue and reduces dangerous driving habits while freeing up time for police offers to patrol and interact with the community on a ground level. It could also mean more and faster responses to 911 calls. Also I think strong safety nets and development programs tackle the root cause of crime more than polcing, which I view as a bandaid. Obviously not all, but at the end of the day police don't solve serious or violent crimes regularly and spend little time on crime control. Even active shooters are mainly stopped by nonlethal bystanders. Tough issue that nuances the public doesn't care about so nothing will probably be done. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/police-are-not-primarily-crime-fighters-according-data-2022-11-02/ Here's a source, I started writing most of that but didn't want to just talk out of my ass
I lived on Allen from 2018-2022 and pre Covid it was the absolute best, safe, and fun area. After Covid there were so many shooting directly outside my apartment (and a friends down at the other end of Allen) that we both moved to Elmwood. Much better over here but still has its typical issues living in a city. It does suck though because I had such pride living on Allen and grew up in my early 20s there. Would love to make my way back someday but not with the state it is now.
I wish it had potholes
Gentrification and higher rent can result in streets being less safe. People who pay $2,000/month tend to be the type that work a lot and then stay inside. They don’t watch over the neighborhood and don’t add as much to the community. Additionally, the new streetscape on Allen has less visibility. Elevated parked cars block the view of the sidewalk. Maybe the bar and restaurant scene got more fancy, but less community and fewer eyes on the side walk = more opportunity for crime.
Do you have a study that says higher rent causes more crime?
No. There would never be a study on something like that. Cities are in a constant state of flux with too many variables to account for. But Jane Jacobs makes an argument for it in ‘The Life and Death of Great American Cities’. It’s based on her observations of urban decline in the 1950’s. Old housing gets bull dozed, a generation of residents get pushed out of the neighborhood, fancy apartments go up, rich people move in, and criminals get bolder. So I can’t prove it but I can attest to feeling most unsafe in some heavily gentrified areas of cities like Seattle or San Francisco.
Wow. So you make a statement and your source is *feelings.* I got that right? So you’d rather everyone just stay poor than try to make an area better. Sounds great. Stay where you are. Please don’t move to my area.
No, you don’t. My source is a book. And I’d rather keep neighborhoods affordable for long time residents who are invested in the community. I’d rather walk at night with a neighborhood of working class people watching over the street, than a neighborhood of tech workers.
This is absolutely the dumbest theory I've read here.
Used to party a lot up there post college (late 2000’s to early 2010’s). Never had issues. Now, Hell no. Hard pass.
I see some comments saying that it’s never been this bad as far as 60 years ago. Did you ever think that maybe it seems worse because we’re all just getting older now our perspectives and tolerance and attitudes towards things like homelessness and street people are shifted to suspicion and intolerance? And referring to people as Bums is so degrading when having mental health issues, addiction and no home can happen for so many reasons and through circumstances that make life difficult is just as disrespectful as feeling accosted by a panhandler etc. Being poor or Mentality ill or homeless shouldn’t be a crime. It’s often the people who have jobs and everything else that street people don’t have that attack and criticize the people who have the least. Sure it’s a hassle to feel and experience what many have mentioned. But be glad you have a place to live. Sleep and a source of income, friends, family and better mental health than others. Be glad you have a toilet, shower and a place to rest in peace with comforts of home. Try putting yourself in their place. Calling a neighborhood a shit hole is so insulting and very Trump sounding. The attacks on all of what’s being said in this subreddit are so toxic and unnecessarily harmful . We’ve lost our humanity when we attack others who are less fortunate, less healthy and more vulnerable than the rest of us. It must be exhausting to be homeless and unable to get your most basic needs every single day. Just something to think about. Life isn’t easy on some good days. It must be brutal for someone who is struggling with addiction, mental illness, poverty and homelessness.
I know your comment wasn’t directed at me, but I’m going to respond because I feel that we’re missing the part that these people are dangerous to housed AND unhoused people in the community. I have spent time volunteering in SF’s tenderloin, I was the volunteer coordinator/“head chef” in one of the oldest soup kitchens in the country, I lived on Elmwood next to Savoy for a year, my childhood home is 150 feet from a massive homeless camp, and I have had homeless family members due to addiction and mental illness so I do fully understand your point about “this can happen to anyone”. Because you’re right, it can, and we should be grateful that it hasn’t. BUT I draw the line at dangerous and violent individuals. Last night, there was a man lighting fires up and down Allen St. Legitimate fires that I saw with my own eyes. I’m assuming this is what eventually led to the fire starting at the Old Pink. This city needs community resources and we need them BADLY. That’s why I came to reddit. To express my concerns and understand if this is a recurring, long term problem that they have been trying to tackle or if it’s a newer problem that we need to push our representatives to address. Yes, some comments in here are terrible. Downvote em and move on. Not everyone’s a good person
I understand your point and frustration. You’re absolutely right to feel as you do. And my points were not directed at you. I just wish we could all be a bit more compassionate towards people. I see a lot of wicked comments that are not helpful or necessary. But…Somethings got to change. I wish I could do more. I’m a retired licensed mental health professional and social worker. My physical health is not what I would like it to be. But I know no one can fix everything and sometimes it is just not possible to create a solution. There are limits. Mental health and addiction are truly what’s causing these situations.
My sister lives there and talks shit about the bums every time I see her. I try to avoid the area.
The guys at Allentown pizza lock the gate now, though, so I don't have a drug alley behind my building! The corner has been quieter this week, too, because of that.
Sweet! Great news!
Yep, had some crackhead woman approach us while we were sitting on the patio at Frizzy’s during the art festival. She was strung out on something and was belligerent.
Good, hashtag make Buffalo scary again
Worked and/or lived in the area from early '95 - December 2003, when I moved to Baltimore. It was always potentially dicey. I knew most of the resident homeless & addicted people and fed many out the back door of the restaurant I worked at so I was relatively safe from being accosted. Still happened from time to time.
There should be an ethnographic study done of the steady decline of Allen street. I remember moving to Buffalo in summer 2016 and being totally gobsmacked at how effortlessly cool and prosperous it was on Allen. So full of life, so many unique spots and food trucks and crowds of bright-eyed folks looking for adventures. Now, it feels like walking down Allen is akin to dumpster diving for a shooter of tequila in a back alleyway somewhere. I fully expect to be stabbed in the gut every time I have to go there.
I feel like such a hardass for living here when I read comments like this. I'm going to send the property managers a link to this thread if they try to raise my rent this year.
My husband and I recently moved to Buffalo, but we spent the summers of '22 and '23 here and had our fair share of incidents and WTF Happenings all on and around Allen St. Everyone seemed to be pretty conditioned by it, so I imagined it's been bad for a minute. Keep your wits about you , friends.
I hope you filed a police report and called city hall to at least have evidence of a report and you made official statements about what happened.
Truthfully I have no desire to punish this man. He was severely mentally ill. I do have the desire to do my best to support people and organizations that have the resources to help people like him
Mentally ill or not, it’s a public safety concern. If someone is mentally unstable and off medication there’s not punishment for that it’s a serious matter and there’s outreach to intervene for the safety of all including the person who possibly missed his meds.
Absolutely! Was blocked on the sidewalk leaving a restaurant by a menacing group of 5 large men talking loudly about how they hated the police (I’m not a police officer). I was with my young son and it was nerve wracking.
Did they say anything to you directly? Why did men talking about not liking cops make you nervous? God forbid ppl stand outside on the sidewalk.
Yeah- obviously they did! They got off the wall and walked directly in front of us- blocked us and made us walk around them into the street. Wtf? It was ridiculous. They were enjoying scaring a woman and her kid.
1979-1983. I lived in Allentown. 1984 moved to Lakeview neighborhood in Chicago, Northside. Safer, cooler, great career potential...
I’ve said countless times, out of any city I’ve been to, Buffalo/Allen has the most aggressive homeless
Yeah my boyfriend lives on Elmwood near Summer St and every time we go to 7/11 or Just Pizza there’s always a homeless person standing outside looking ominously. One time another one was screaming at everyone who walked by, including us, and the employees from Just Pizza had to scare him off by threatening to call 911. Also a couple years back one of my friends who also used to live on Elmwood said one time she got followed home, luckily her boyfriend was there too. Oh & last time I went bar hopping on Allen, I saw three different fights. Overall, that area in general is definitely becoming more and more dangerous.
Gee, I wonder why...