"I think that's really the core of why Five Points is successful and why Buffalo is successful – it is really nice," said Kevin Gardner, the owner of Five Points Bakery. "It's just that people haven't seen the value." Once people start appreciating their city or street for what it has, Gardner said, others do as well.

Gardner last month unveiled plans to open an artisan market on the corner. The gas station bodega across the street also upped its game, opening a hot food counter that sells sandwiches and subs.

"The neighborhood changed,” said Masen Ali, flipping chopped steak on the grill. “We had to change with it.”

‘It almost feels like punishment’

But just across the street, near the intersection of West Utica and Shields, change has looked different to Mikal Jackson, a 28-year-old construction worker. The neighborhood “looks nicer,” Jackson said, but many of the families he grew up with moved out when landlords sold their houses or jacked up their rents. The new neighbors are wealthier and keep to themselves; many moved to the West Side from places like Williamsville or Lockport, he said.