© 2024 Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

140 Lower Terrace
Buffalo, NY 14202

Mailing Address:
Horizons Plaza P.O. Box 1263
Buffalo, NY 14240-1263

Buffalo Toronto Public Media | Phone 716-845-7000
WBFO Newsroom | Phone: 716-845-7040
Your NPR Station
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Walton, Brown tout plans for East Buffalo

Bailey Avenue just south of Cloverdale Avenue in the City of Buffalo August 2020
Thomas O'Neil-White
/
WBFO News
ailey Avenue just south of Cloverdale Avenue in the City of Buffalo August 2020.

Endorsed Democratic candidate India Walton and her incumbent challenger Byron Brown and have decidedly different views on what’s best for Buffalo’s East Side over the next four years.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown speaks in Riverside in June 2021
Thomas O'Neil-White
Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown speaks in Riverside in June 2021

As Election Day nears, the two candidates are painting a clearer picture about the possibilities for the largely African American part of the city which has seen reinvestment at a snail’s pace compared to other parts of the city.
Brown said reinvestment starts with supporting the growth of minority-owned businesses.

“That's critically important that people from the community are able to build in their community and have businesses in the community where they live providing services in the community,” he said.

This also means developing and fostering partnerships between white business owners and developers who understand the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion with minority-owned businesses.

“We're continuing to facilitate the growth of black businesses,” he said. “Businesses of color on the east side through the Beverly Gray Business Exchange Center.”

City of Buffalo

The Exchange at Beverly Gray, is named after the former Common Council member and provides supportive resources for minority-owned businesses to grow.

Brown’s theme of business development also includes a workforce for advanced manufacturing jobs.

“Programs that will provide training to people that will take six months a year two years that will prepare them for jobs that are coming online in this community where they will get paid family sustaining wages, living wages,” he said.

Brown’s plan is for money from the American Rescue Plan Act be used to invest in training programs to quickly upskill individuals.

For Walton, the former Executive Director of the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust, creating equity through increased homeownership is near the top of her agenda.

Endorsed Democratic candidate for Mayor of the City of Buffalo India Walton talks about her vision for East Buffalo in early October
Thomas O'Neil-White
Endorsed Democratic candidate for Mayor of the City of Buffalo India Walton talks about her vision for East Buffalo in early October

“In a way that we're providing opportunity for homeownership because I believe that homeownership is going to help stabilize neighborhoods. We also have a huge problem with racial wealth inequality and homeownership is going to help address that,” she said.

Providing a pathway for homeownership will lead to improved public safety—a priority Walton has harped on well before considering a run for Mayor. Despite accusations of wanting to defund the police, Walton has different ideas about how law enforcement should serve the community.

“Not only from the standpoint of making sure that officers are outside of their vehicles, interacting with the community and building relationships,” she said. “But also, you know, thinking about trauma informed care and violence prevention from a holistic perspective where we're teaching a peaceful lifestyle and not just responding to crime after it happens.”

One issue Walton and Brown agree on is the need to improve the infrastructure in neighborhoods throughout East Buffalo.

“Sidewalks, streets curbs parks making sure that the built-in environment is as attractive and beautiful in East buffalo as it is anywhere else in the city. Giving folks a sense of pride and where they live and a sense of hope for the future,” Walton said.

Bailey Avenue and Warwick Avenue
Thomas O'Neil-White
A Bailey Avenue sidewalk in the City of Buffalo from August of 2020

“Road repair, sidewalks curbs, broadband access making sure that there is Internet access not only on the east side of buffalo but for people throughout the city,” Brown said.

The neighborhoods of East Buffalo take on a sharper focus this election after a recent study by University at Buffalo Urban Studies Director Dr. Henry Louis Taylor, Jr found little improvement in socioeconomic indicators for Buffalo’s Black community—and even a decline in some of them—over the last 30 years.

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Thomas moved to Western New York at the age of 14. A graduate of Buffalo State College, he majored in Communications Studies and was part of the sports staff for WBNY. When not following his beloved University of Kentucky Wildcats and Boston Red Sox, Thomas enjoys coaching youth basketball, reading Tolkien novels and seeing live music.