Worlds Apart

In a piece written a few weeks ago, local investigative reporter Jim Heaney tells a tale detailing the contrasting lives City of Buffalo residents experience.  For the most part, there's North & South, and then there's East & West. I feel compelled to share this because Mr. Heaney does a fair job of keeping things into perspective.

Buffalo is certainly experiencing a revival of sorts. There are developments in the tens — and even hundreds — of millions of dollars all throughout downtown and the waterfront. We should welcome and celebrate this progress. However, we must not lose sight of those who live a vastly different reality.

In the nation's third poorest city, many of our residents can relate more to abandoned homes, hopes and dreams, than the sight of constructions cranes going up in the air. Their reality is the constant sight of dilapidated buildings, high crime rates and unemployment.  All the while, lack of education and severe literacy rates are a way of life.

So, while we celebrate and join in the festivities taking place at Canalside this Summer and reserve high hopes for solar panel companies moving in to provide a new wave of jobs, let's not forget those without a voice.  Lest our own neighbors live a world apart from the one we live in.