Pride and Gratitude in the Greater Kaisertown Village

Kaisertown is a community best described as an insulated neighborhood separated by natural and man-made buffers from other contiguous residential areas.

To the south, the placid stream of Buffalo Creek. West, the Niagara Thruway and the light industrial areas of Bailey Avenue. The north contains more light industry on Dingens Street. The eastern boundary, incorporating small residential slices of Cheektowaga and West Seneca would qualify it as the Greater Kaisertown Village.

In our area are four houses of worship; three centers for community activities; a bakery; two hardware stores, one of which hasn’t changed much from the days when my Dad told me, "If you can’t find it at Palczynskis, it doesn’t exist!"; four or five fast food take-outs and at least twelve of the ubiquitous "community pubs."

Purely speculative, we contain about 6,000 households in mostly owner-occupied, well-kept dwellings. Our median income is slightly higher than comparable Statistical Metropolitan Areas. Our sons and daughters have almost universally gone on to accomplish great things, both here and in other areas of the country.

Kaisertown, as a community, is recognizable anywhere in the region. Ask someone in Black Rock about Kaisertown, in Blasdell, Cheektowaga, Tonawanda, West Seneca, East Aurora, Clarence Center, or Amherst. Invariably, the recognition is immediate and accurate. Ask about the West Side, the answer would be "Niagara Street." North Buffalo? "Hertel Avenue." East Side? "Broadway – Fillmore" or "Martin Luther King Park." Perhaps South Buffalo would be an easily identified area. But "South Buffalo" could very well describe Seneca-Babcock, The Valley, Seneca-Cazenovia, Abbott-Mercy, Abbott-Discovery, Abbott-City Line, South Park-Southside, South-Park-City Line, McKinley Parkway, etc. Each of these is an entity on their own, sharing an identity with adjacent communities. To paraphrase Shakespeare: "Kaisertown is Kaisertown is Kaisertown!"

And perhaps the overriding attitude of the Kaisertown Village is a deep and abiding pride in community. Could the reason be the insularity of the area? The shared ethnic, religious, and political persuasions? The true sense of being – "This is our place and we love it"? Or maybe all of the above. But whatever the motivation, the pride is there, and is paramount as the preeminent jewel in the crown of the "Queen City".

The Kaisertown Coalition, as a community organization, has listed in its Mission Statement, among other positive interests, that it is dedicated to building and sustaining that pride in the neighborhood. The Kaisertown Coalition was formed in 1999 and we are now in the process of taking it to the next level. The intent is to build and retain interest and activities that will reflect the pro-active and progressive realities of Kaisertown. Initiatives and activities being formulated in the near-term will positively impact the promise of a neighborhood on the cutting edge of community viability and leadership.

We don’t just love our Kaisertown neighborhood, we are filled with gratitude, and especially proud to be part of the premier community in Western New York.

Reprinted by permission of the Greater South Buffalo Chamber of Commerce