I've lived in the University Heights, willingly, for the last three years.
I've dealt with hordes of students running through the streets on their way to parties. I've seen a random couple roll around while making out on my lawn. I've had nearly naked girls try to come into my house, mistaking mine for the frat house next door - because apparently they didn't take the blasting of "Gangnam Style" as a hint.
Those are just the minor annoyances. I agree there are real problems in the Heights.
My friends lived on Lisbon for a couple months. Multiple times when we sat on the front porch, a haggard and dirty crackhead would come up to us asking for drugs. We'd say we had none and he would leave - or so we thought. One time, 20 minutes later, he jumped out of the bushes and asked again. He said he just moved in next door; we realized he was lying when he started loitering in front of "his house" and asked the people who walked out of it for weed.
A friend of mine was mugged when he was peeing behind a dumpster on Lisbon. My friend told me that one time on Merrimac, a group of guys chased down a student who was riding his bicycle and proceeded to rob and beat him - they took his bike. At a bar once, a large man came up to me and said something like, "I have $10,000 in my pocket and a car outside. I'll take you wherever you want to go."
Once, as I walked home from the bar late at night, a man started talking to me. My mother always taught me the old adage, "Never judge a book by its cover," so I politely conversed with him. He continued to walk with me down the street until I ran into an acquaintance. I didn't stop to talk to him; we only greeted each other as we walked by. The stranger promptly crossed the street and I don't know where he went.
I know it's a dangerous area compared to campus. I know I shouldn't walk home by myself at night.
Still, I would rather live there than on campus.
I'm a poor college student. I don't have a car. I'm limited in the ways I can get to and from campus without public transportation - and the Stampede is paid for with my tuition already. I don't have the funds to live in the fancy apartments on Sweet Home or the ones on campus and there is no way in hell that, as a 21-year-old single woman, living in the dorms would be bearable for me.
My apartments were far from luxurious and the landlords I've dealt with weren't exactly nice and responsive.
But I'm aware - and I'm sure many other Heights residents are, as well - that you get what you pay for and I've never paid over $275 a month for rent.
The only thing that has ever been stolen from me was my bicycle, and it basically was my fault anyway for leaving it on my front lawn. Even though it was locked, I woke up the next morning, after spending about $100 fixing it the day before, and it was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately for me, the Buffalo Police Department didn't really make my stolen bicycle its top priority.
Everyone talks about the negative aspects of living in the University Heights and those are extremely important. I agree there should be changes and UB should take responsibility for some of the problems their students face. UB might not be in the protection business, but what kind of business will you be in when no students want to come to your university?
Still, there are great things about living in the Heights, which often get overlooked.
There's an atmosphere of freedom in the Heights for me, especially during the day. It's a college area - there's a kind of connection between students because we all live in close vicinity and you're bound to see many of the same faces often.
I love the independence that comes with living away from home. I'm responsible for myself and have no one looking over my shoulder nagging me to do homework or clean up.
I like living in the University Heights but I'm not na??ve. I carry mace with me when I go out at night, if I have a bad feeling about a stranger walking near me, I try to avoid them as best as possible and I'm aware my landlord is not a man seeing me as anything but a paycheck.
I knew what to expect when I signed my lease to live in the Heights. Like most things in life, there are good and bad qualities. Of course there is danger and crime, but there's also affordable housing and a place of independence.
Email: lyzi.white@ubspectrum.com
