Sylvia Smith

Yes, is a picture of me when I was just hanging out in the West End with my daughter. As you know, I was showing her around, you know, because I had her living in the West End. So I'll be showing her like different parts of the Laurel Homes and Lincoln Courts and Stanley Rowe, where she and I grew up at. Oh, I love the West End. I've, like I say, I grew up, you know, from the West End, living with my mother. And we raised my kids there and had a job with Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority for 31 years, and just retired in December. that's why I raised my two kids down in Stanley Rowe. And then I was able to buy a house through Cincinnati Habitat. So yes, I really love the West End. That's why I continue, I bought a  house in the West. knows I love the West End. Everybody knows. I keep coming back. Coming back. I keep coming back. I like it down here. Because it's convenient. The buses are convenient. Even if I need to walk, it's convenient. I was taking my picture, cause I was on my way to work. I was going to because there was asking about the library, you know, library was just closed and it was fixing it up. I heard that things are going on with the West End. And I was like, Oh, I'm glad that they fixed the library. Because my grandkids love it over here. They're young, and they love to read. So when they come to my house, all they say is manna Can we go to the library, go to the library. I have six kids. And with the six kids, I got 26 grandkids. Oh, wow. And when they come down, everybody loves the library. There is so much bad going on. The books can keep them, you know, focused and let them know, there is is some good going on. That's why I liked the library.

it's a lot of opportunities over here. They have the library. They have the cat house. And they also have you know, apartment complex for people. There's homeless. And they also have security over here, where I live at. a shelter on 12th Street when you homeless, they give you a shelter to live in. And then when you live in a shelter for so long. They build apartments over here where we can transfer and being our own our own living arrangements. it's not as well overwhelmed. where I'm at right now in this area is very peaceful and is secure. And where I live at, we have cameras. And we have staff members watch over us and police officers. Sometimes it's dangerous, sometimes not. And you gotta be on your P's and Q's and be alert and watch your surroundings. it's been a good neighborhood for things you know, bless you the churches and now we have churches, churches that good churches of God and go there to keep the you know, stop the violence and keep things good with God and just you know, work in establishments and just living keeping it peaceful about living good life, you know, learn life and good life outside.

This picture right here, even though it might not look like I was probably one of the happiest days of my last few years of living was my first day next door at the Tender Mercies house. I had watched it being built way before I knew I was going to be there.there. And I thought, well, how nice that building is, you know, and I even stopped a couple of times to watch because I was in construction earlier in my life. So it just, you know, and then it was such a shock that I got a phone call from Mary who was running the place at the time that I was going to get one of these apartments you know, I was just elated. I've lived in West End the last eight years.  I've seen this place grow, I'll say that a lot in the past, you know, seven, eight years, you know, yeah, it's been a great thing. And from what I hear, it's gonna keep going. Just a place of growth, and, you know, people, I think, have maybe a little more hope, in their mind, you know, and even under, maybe in their faces of, you know, maybe, you know, as bad as this country is right now, and it's cheap, but, you know, people that need it are getting a little something now, anyway, if it's nothing but better housing, you know, they've built so many housing for lower incomes.

you know, just to become a part of this neighborhood, because I think it's just so nice, you know, I mean, there's green space all over here, you know, now there's TQL, you know, I watched that being built and, you know, the museum here, Music Hall down there, you know, just surrounded by good things, you know, I'm happy where I'm at.

It's a picture of me on the way to work I work for a security company called NSG and they're headquartered Kroger's headquarter building was just pretty much we had to work in the snow back in the winter. Beautiful day that day was. It to me, it's an it's an upgrade for my lifestyle growing up in West End, it was kind of rough when I was a child. And this just allows me to know that there's better things than what it was when I was a child. You know, more opportunity. It helps the city grow. It's especially important It's home it's all I know I've been here 43 years of my life. To me, this is home. I don't picture myself leaving.

I see the beautiful side of the West End that a lot of people probably haven't experienced or seen. Yeah, it's, to me, it's the best neighborhood in the city but some I disagree if you haven't experienced the West End come experience it.