By Joyce Kryszak
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-764237.mp3
Buffalo, NY – Six abandoned homes on 19th street will be renovated and resold as part of a block-by-block plan to stabilize Buffalo's West Side.
The $1 million restoration project is funded with a combination of city, state and federal funds. The city partnered with Homefront to lead the public and not-for-profit collaborative effort.
The idea of block-by-block is to focus urban renewal projects in concentrated areas to increase neighborhood stability. Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown says this will add to the many well-maintained homes already on 19th Street.
Renovations will begin sometime this winter. Homefront will then assist low-to-moderate income, first-time buyers who want to purchase the restored homes. Augustine Gilchrist lives on the block of 19th street where work is being done. She is also a board member of PUSH Buffalo, a grassroots not-for profit working to rebuild the West Side. Gilchrist says this is a positive step.
Gilchrist and others say that bringing in those jobs for the young people on the West Side is what's needed most to make the neighborhoods safe and stable.
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