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Hello. I will be doing a job tranfer to a new agency in Buffalo in the next 6 months. I am currently residing in NW Indiana (Chicagoland).
We have been tracking the local real estate listings and communities. We are almost (but not completely) certain that we will be living in the suburbs as we have two small children that will be entering school in the next 5 years and we were not anticipating sending them to private schools.
We are interested in older homes with character (pre-WW II) in walkable areas with parks, practical shops and other amenities within walking distance. Community events and recreation for the kids as well as ourselves is also a big plus.
I will be taking public transit downtown (most likely bus) for work and a quick and easy commute is ideal. We do not want to be house-poor so our house price max is about $140,000 (but ideally it should be significantly lower due to the property tax burden).
Thus far, we have been closely tracking the following areas: Kenmore, Tonawanda (city), North Tonawanda, Amherst (14226 zip), Cheektowaga, West Seneca, Lancaster, and Hamburg. Admittedly, the place with the most listings that we like by far is Kenmore.
Any info and advice in regards to our search is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I live in Kenmore and like the fact that you can go outside at night and walk your dogs or chat with neighbors with no worries. That being said, you wouldn't have a problem with transportation, but as far as walkable, if you mean little shops, there isn't much. Just a small strip on Delaware really. There is a nice park just off Elmwood that has a pool for residents in the summer. Its a safe community, quiet. Recreation? Well, there's a golf course, and several things for kids to do, but those would entail driving just to get to the northern part of the city (the zoo, more parks, etc..). Its not far, but just not really walkable from Kenmore. The rest of the places you listed are nice as well however the City of Tonawanda is very different from the Town (Kenmore is a village in the Town). It's less of a "nice" place, although there are pockets of ok areas. Lots of sports for kids here, through the Town Parks and Recreation Department.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_B_46383
Hello. I will be doing a job tranfer to a new agency in Buffalo in the next 6 months. I am currently residing in NW Indiana (Chicagoland).
We have been tracking the local real estate listings and communities. We are almost (but not completely) certain that we will be living in the suburbs as we have two small children that will be entering school in the next 5 years and we were not anticipating sending them to private schools.
We are interested in older homes with character (pre-WW II) in walkable areas with parks, practical shops and other amenities within walking distance. Community events and recreation for the kids as well as ourselves is also a big plus.
I will be taking public transit downtown (most likely bus) for work and a quick and easy commute is ideal. We do not want to be house-poor so our house price max is about $140,000 (but ideally it should be significantly lower due to the property tax burden).
Thus far, we have been closely tracking the following areas: Kenmore, Tonawanda (city), North Tonawanda, Amherst (14226 zip), Cheektowaga, West Seneca, Lancaster, and Hamburg. Admittedly, the place with the most listings that we like by far is Kenmore.
Any info and advice in regards to our search is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I have noticed that homes in Tonawanda city tend to be priced significantly lower than most of the other areas listed, even though the school test scores, crime levels, etc. there are comparable. I'm guessing this is a less "demand" area due to its blue-collar/industrial nature?
If you don't take this transfer will you lose your job?
Buffalo is a horrible place to live. Half of the businesses are shuttered. Unemployment is rampant and it's a mecca for urban crime and blight. If there's anything you can do to stay away, I recommend it. And forget about taking the bus for the commute. Buffalo isn't a CITY like Chicago. It's a sleepy little town that's similar to Detroit - run down and nothing to offer. Hate to be so negative, but do something for your family, go somewhere that has sun!
Definitely true. I'm a little surprised the crime isn't higher, but then again, the Town has the Sheridan-Parkside projects (old WWII housing now mostly absentee landlord run). The project area however, is more isolated than the entire City of Tonawanda.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_B_46383
I have noticed that homes in Tonawanda city tend to be priced significantly lower than most of the other areas listed, even though the school test scores, crime levels, etc. there are comparable. I'm guessing this is a less "demand" area due to its blue-collar/industrial nature?
Buffalo, the city itself is in an enormous amount of disrepair and economic deprivation. It isn't a city in terms of perspective, if you are thinking of NYC or Chicago, Boston, etc..The transit system is lackluster, but works for it's purpose. I wouldn't get on the subway if you offered me a million dollars, but then again, it doesn't really go anywhere, does it?
So no, if you are looking for true city life, not here. I'm not from here, by the way, I lived in NJ and NYC most of my life, as well as Boston and FL. I like that there are no traffic jams here, far less stress, cheaper living and access to Ontario. The people here are the true resource of the area, and most of them don't live in the city (by city, I mean downtown, not South Side, etc.). The summers are nice, not humid and pretty rarely go above 80 degrees.
IN the end, its about what's important to you. I have friends who moved here from LA. They specifically left the rat race for a better quality of life and they do like it here. Reviving the city itself is kind of a joke to those of us who have moved here. Ten years of hearing about projects that anywhere else would have been completed or discarded within a year make it almost a running joke. It's not a progressive place, not fast paced and won't be (if ever) for a very long time. For those of us who lived the heart attack paced life elsewhere, that sounds good to us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gateway312
If you don't take this transfer will you lose your job?
Buffalo is a horrible place to live. Half of the businesses are shuttered. Unemployment is rampant and it's a mecca for urban crime and blight. If there's anything you can do to stay away, I recommend it. And forget about taking the bus for the commute. Buffalo isn't a CITY like Chicago. It's a sleepy little town that's similar to Detroit - run down and nothing to offer. Hate to be so negative, but do something for your family, go somewhere that has sun!
We moved from Austin, TX to Hamburg & couldn't be happier. No traffic, no rat race, no keeping up with the Jones' mentality. The Village of Hamburg has a very walkable & charming downtown area (as do Orchard Park & East Aurora). All the suburbs have recreation departments that have programs/sports for children. Most of the suburban schools are very good to excellent. Transit into downtown is available & they have a park/ride just off Rt 5 in Hamburg (though I couldn't tell you how good the schedule is/would be for you). The City of Buffalo (as well as some of its inner ring suburbs) do have some run down areas but its nothing like the Gateway312 (who I suspect is a previously banned poster named Canerican) is making it out to be.
I have to agree with you. Of all the places to live, Hamburg is one that I could recommend. It's a great suburb. I think that there is the tendency to get a fair amount of snow so that's something that I'll warn you about. Williamsville and Clarence are also great areas. It's just the areas that ring downtown Buffalo have unfortunately experienced the same economic downturn that every other area outside of a big city has experienced. The rats have even fled downtown to infest Kenmore and the local areas. Property values have plummeted. Gang violence is rampant. Buffalo just isn't immune to the same problems and issues that have plagued every other moderately sized city.
I am under no illusions that the Buffalo area (especially the central city) does not have serious problems, much of it related to the economic restructuring of the last 30-35 years. However, as noted above, quality of life is a major factor for us. My current commute via car and train is 1.5 + hrs. each way door to door. I have done this for nearly 3 years now and its wearing very thin. "Keeping up with the Jones'" has never been our thing, and I'm not expecting Buffalo to have all of the draws of a "mega" metropolis like NYC or Chicago.
I'm not so sure that the old advice to "move where there's sun" (i.e. the Sunbelt states) has the credibility it had 20 years ago. Outside of the oil patch states, many of the highest unemployment and foreclosure rates in the country are found in the South and Southwest. The manufacturing firms that fled to the Carolinas from places like Buffalo in the early 1980s have been closing up shop and moving overseas at a brisk pace even before the Great Recession. St. Lucie County, FL, where I once lived, was the proverbial "boom town" circa 2005, on all the "fastest growing" and "hottest real estate markets" lists. The entire economy was based on real estate speculation and easy credit. Now 5 years later, official unemployment statistics rival Flint, MI and houses have lost nearly 60% of their peak value.
I live in the City of Buffalo, I love my neighbors, I walk everywhere, I use the Subway and I send my kids to City Honors. There are private schools if you are scared.
Some people are so F-in retarded, the suburbs are the reason why cities like buffalo are the way the are. Sprawl and idiot F-ers who just dont give a crap.
Go Sabres...
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Insane to move to Buffalo
