By Anthea Passmore
Buffalo, NY – West-Side neighborhoods in Buffalo have attracted the attention of County Legislature candidate Maria Whyte. With a vacant house as her backdrop, the Democratic hopeful in the Legislature's 6th district unveiled a four point revitalization plan Tuesday.
Maria Whyte is passionate about revitalizing the west-side neighborhoods of Buffalo. Having identified depressed housing and economically failing west-side communities as problematic Whyte is throwing all her efforts into finding a solution. Housing and building regeneration remains an important socio-political issue in Buffalo and Whyte believes it to be a catalyst to many other problems of the city.
"I think it's related to so many things. I want to start by making those connections," Whyte said. "(Housing) is related to jobs and schools. The truth is it's a very vicious cycle because the fewer jobs we have, the more folks leave Buffalo. The more folks leave Buffalo, the less good our schools are. And the worse our schools get, the less people want to locate here. And then our neighborhoods head into a downward spiral of vacant homes."
Whyte's plan proposes the creation of a countywide neighborhood revitalization fund, relief period on the increase of property taxes for residents who make improvements to their homes and the creation of an Erie County Citizens Inspection Board.
"Quality housing increases neighborhood security," Whyte said. "The people of Erie County know the daily reality of what vacant houses are used for. There's a serious concern of neighborhood violence, health and safety and fire hazards."
Whyte believes that Erie County government should play a role in addressing housing problems on the West-side, saying neglect of this issue would result in serious societal implications.