NIAGARA FALLS — Block clubs are alive and well in Niagara Falls. This is a good thing because our neighborhoods need to come together and work with those in our government in a cohesive manner to make improvements as time and funding allows.

The purpose of the Niagara Falls Block Club Council is to unite individual block clubs and assist in the development of new and emerging clubs. The council works for improved conditions regarding drug and crime prevention, security, public safety, lighting and cleanliness in order to enhance neighborhood living conditions and create programs and projects and apply for funding to become a self-sufficient organization.  

During my years of involvement with block clubs in Niagara Falls, I have met some outstanding community leaders who have taken on the challenges in their neighborhood and have devoted the time and energy to bring the residents together to accomplish these goals. These are not people you read about or even know about, but they are individuals who for the most part have been the organizers and leaders since the group’s inception.  Some say, we are the “president for life” as it is difficult to get others to take the challenge.

Some of our individual block clubs are more active than others. Some hold regular monthly meetings and some meet to make a larger audience for speakers of interest. I have found that every neighborhood in our city is different. You can go around a corner and go from bright to blight. You can find a neighborhood with many children and some with none. Some are quiet streets with well-kept homes and residents who beautify their area, some have many vacant lots and houses and some have none.  Some are plagued with seasonal problems related to student housing. A few in the inner city are surrounded with high crime activity but have kept it away from their area and some have just been invaded with the criminal element.

The common denominator here is the desire to live in a clean and safe place and the willingness to do something positive to correct it or keep it that way. Many do not want to move away, some are not in a position to do so and some are moving into these areas. I find some of our block club boundaries consist of several blocks, while some are starting out with one or two blocks, as the problem around the corner may not be the same as the problem on your block. And, it definitely makes it easier to get to know your neighbor and work together, which is the real goal of these  organizations.

Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s, residents knew who lived on their street. Things were more permanent then and families rarely moved around as they do today. When a wedding occurred, neighbors were part of the guest list. Children became “best friends for life” with someone from their neighborhood and some married and settled close to the house they were raised in.  

Along came the loss of the industrial jobs, the “white flight” and the start of suburban life and the aging population, which created real changes in neighborhood life. Parents who relocated to senior housing, nursing homes or the “after life” left behind a small home on a quiet street that may have needed some updating. The children already lived in the suburbs or moved to find a job in a distant location and had neither the need nor the desire to retain the property. Ultimately, it was sold to someone with an interest in “income property” and usually for an amount less than the actual appraised value. Many of the buyers saw this as an opportunity to grow, and what may have started as an occasional purchase became a full-fledged business with some owning more than 50 or even more single and multi-family units spread throughout the city. Federal dollars were available to fix up housing with the promise to rent to low-income residents and three agencies carved up the city to provide these services along with the central Community Development Department of the city.  

Sometime this worked and sometimes it did not. Reliable renters became hard to come by, the housing changed hands often and the tenants came and went as more vacancies became available throughout the city.

During the 1980s and early ’90s as the criminal element and the illegal drug activity moved across New York state to Syracuse, then Rochester and finally in our area, this began to take its toll on housing. Entire neighborhoods were affected very quickly. I guess no one noticed this cancer as it spread or perhaps they were not prepared for it or even worse, perhaps they were creating jobs and profiteering from it.  Next time we will hear about how neighborhood-watch block clubs began, grew and try to make a difference.  

The annual Crime Night Out event hosted by these groups will be at the HANCI Center for Joy at 1117 Michigan Ave., from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.  Beginning as the “Rally in the Alley” in the South End in the mid-1990s and continuing with the National Night Out effort, which I believe has since disbanded, the event continues in many communities as a yearly opportunity for neighbors to meet law enforcement at a block party. The public is invited.

Norma Higgs serves with the Niagara Beautification Commission and Niagara Falls Block Club Council. Her columns appear Mondays in the Gazette.