Buffalo's West Side Story: Migration, Gentrification, and Neighborhood Change

Abstract

Using a multi‐methods approach, we examine socioeconomic and demographic change in Buffalo, New York's, West Side neighborhood. We do this by performing a systematic case study of the neighborhood analyzing census tract data, crime data, key informant interview data from community leaders and organizational representatives, and content analysis data from local newspaper articles. Results suggest that although the neighborhood has shifted dramatically over the last forty‐five years, the changes have been uneven across the West Side. Two divergent areas have emerged: one neighborhood fueled by white gentrifiers and another driven by international migrants.

Gentrification in the “City of Good Neighbors”: Race, Class, and Neighborhoods in Buffalo

“…However, over the last two decades, they have diverged into two different areas. Some refer to what we call the "West Side" as the "Waterfront" area of the West Side (see McManus (2016) and Adelman, Ozgen, and Rabii (2019) for more discussion on these points). The differences in the two neighborhoods allow for a rigorous comparison of the residents' reasons for moving into one of them.…”

Cities and Immigrants: The Local in Anti–Immigration Federal Policies

“…By the 1960s, deindustrialization, economic globalization, and automation had taken their toll on Buffalo's economy and residents (Adelman et al. 2019). In the single decade between 1970 and 1980 alone, the city lost 23 percent of its population (Goldman 2007; Pitegoff 1991).…”

“…However, similar to other Rustbelt cites, Buffalo experienced an economic reversal of fortune after the Second World War, accompanied by a dramatic population loss starting in the middle of the 20th century. By the 1960s, deindustrialization, economic globalization, and automation had taken their toll on Buffalo's economy and residents (Adelman et al 2019). In the single decade between 1970 and 1980 alone, the city lost 23 percent of its population (Goldman 2007; Pitegoff 1991).…”

Using estimates of undocumented immigrants to study the immigration-crime relationship

“…In particular, the immigrant revitalization perspective suggests that immigration may lessen crime by bringing businesses and jobs into communities that have been in decline (Lee and Martinez 2009;Sampson 2017;Sampson, Morenoff, and Raudenbush 2005). Likewise, immigration can revitalize predominantly poor residential areas by decreasing vacant housing, which might otherwise serve as a base for drug dealing and other crime in stressed communities (Adelman, Ozgen, and Rabii 2019;Vigdor 2014). Extant research drawing on the revitalization perspective overwhelmingly indicates that immigration either has no effect on crime or actually reduces it (Ousey and Kubrin 2018).…”