Earlier this month, 25 shots rang out at the corner of Onota and Walnut streets in Pittsfield's Westside neighborhood. Just a few houses away, Alyssa Altman felt like her young family was in the middle of it.
“I was upstairs,” she said. “I mean, it actually felt like it was coming through the house. That was the scariest one, just because [of] how it felt like it was in your home. You duck down because you don't know where it's coming from. It was absurd.”
This latest incident, which left two people with gunshot wounds, is just one of three shootings in the neighborhood this month. Altman — a lifelong Pittsfielder — has lived on Onota Street for 12 years. She’s seen it all.
“I had a person die over here from police violence in front of my house, shootings down here, accidents galore in front of this house from drunk drivers,” Altman said.
Altman's neighborhood, just steps from Pittsfield’s core, is one of the most densely populated communities in Berkshire County. It's also one of the most impoverished.
It’s burdened with a dilapidated housing stock, high levels of crime, and other end results of decades-long redlining practices that funneled those with the least resources in Pittsfield into what was deemed its least desirable district.
That being said, the neighborhood that has become the heart of the city's Black community is also vibrant, with murals created by local students to gardens overflowing with flowers. There are ongoing efforts to promote safe, family-friendly cultural events and offer young people creative and engaging activities.
Altman wants to keep living there. But after three separate shootings within one square mile of the neighborhood, the pressure to leave is rising.
“My family doesn't want me to [stay], but it's where I grew up,” she said. “This is what I know, my resources, my networking's here. But it's not like [moving is] off the table. So, we'll see. The 25 shots- I was like, 'oh, you know, it's random.' And then [there were] two more shootings later after that. Me and my husband talked about leaving last night. It's unfortunate because I grew up here and it's not a bad town. There's violence, but it seems like it's a group of people that’s bringing it to the neighborhoods.”
While law enforcement in Pittsfield — including the Berkshire district attorney’s office and the city's police department — have announced a new task force dedicated to stopping the violence, no arrests have been made in any of this month’s incidents.
Westside locals like Altman say they remain in limbo because they don't know when shots might be fired next.
“It's all different times and everything, so what are you, going stay in the house all day long? Because it's broad daylight or it's at night, so it's not really like you have an idea of like what's going to happen,” she said. “So, I guess it's just living your ordinary day life and hoping that nothing happens, right?”
The second shooting of the month took place on Aug. 16 around Francis Avenue and Linden Street. Three people were wounded. Mary Anne Rist lives on Linden, but she wishes she didn’t.
“I'm trying to find a new place to live,” she said. “I've been in a nursing home recently because [of] my handicap. It's just nonstop violence. I want to go. Literally, I want to go.”
After almost two decades living in the Westside, Rist – who requires a motorized scooter to get around – said she has had enough.
“It's all the time,” she said. “They had a drive-by shooting right here across the street. They went through the building, and they have kids over there. And King Street, forget it. You got all sorts of violence here, and they just threw out this person because [they were] a drug addict.”
But because Rist relies on disability benefits, it isn’t clear what opportunities exist for her.
“I'm stuck with this option,” she said. “I've got to try to find a place to live."
Just up Linden Street, Destiny Young and Caleb Pratt are raising their kids in the community they’ve called home their entire lives.
“Anytime we hear any type of gunshots, any type of noise, we're inside,” said Young. “I just tell them how it's unsafe. They don't get to walk anywhere by themselves. We walk them everywhere, even though the park is right there. The park is even dangerous.”
Young appreciates the work going to make the Westside safer and more welcoming, but the situation remains dangerous on multiple levels.
“Early-in-the-day shootings, it's light out. There are police driving by, and this is Linden Street, so people drive at least 35 and up going down the street. There are signs that say ‘watch out for children,’ and no one really cares, so it sucks," Young said. "They're trying to clean up out here, but it's not really working.”
Pratt is prepping their five children with new guidance for a community shaken by shootings.
“Definitely to stay away from people that they don't know,” he said. “And if they hear gunshots, they’ve definitely got to run home immediately.”
Pratt isn't quite sure if life is getting better or worse in the Westside.
“That's a hard question, honestly, because the results are there's still people getting shot out here,” he said.
Young agreed that it’s a complicated question.
“It's a little better in some spots, and then the fact that they're using guns and knives makes it worse, because 10 years ago people would just fight with their hands, and now you get upset and someone's pulling out a gun,” she said.
Right now, Young said raising a family is nerve-wracking at every level.
“It's expensive,” said Young. “Everything's going up: the price of food, the price of living. You're not getting paid enough at your job to live, and it's just, yeah, something needs to give. Rent prices need to drop, food prices, or something, because, yeah, it's a little crazy.”
Despite it all, she remains committed to her community.
“There’s good people on the Westside. There are people walking around trying to clean up the town and the dirt and garbage and the needles," Young said. "There are people out here trying to do better for the kids. So, I love it. I love my hometown, I love the foliage, I love some of the things they try to offer for kids, the help they do give. It just sucks that the violence is getting a little out of hand, and I'm hoping the police and the City Council can do something about that to clean it up.”
But, a third shooting Tuesday on Circular Avenue near Division Street, just a day after the new anti-gun violence task force was announced, has others skeptical.
Ally Annecharico lives just a stone’s throw from the scene of the third shooting, which wounded one person.
“I grew up like in South County, in the middle of the woods, where there was nobody around,” he said. “So, I'm not used to like so many people and so much weird stuff happening. It's kind of uncomfortable. I'm either in my house or not here a lot.”
She isn’t confident city police can solve Westside’s problems.
“I don't see them much up here,” she said. “I see them up North Street all the time, which is fine because I know there's a lot of stuff going on up there, but I don't see them much here at all.”
She wants to leave the neighborhood, but doesn't think she has many options in an era of stagnant wages, high rents, and limited housing options.
“Don't come here,” she said. “I wouldn't come here. It was not my ideal choice to live, but [it] fell into my hands, so here I am.”
