Hamburg, NY (New York, Buffalo, Union: real estate, property taxes, job)

[nwff]

Can anyone tell me any info about Hamburg?
I live in northwest Washington state, and am looking to move to the east coast. When i was little I used to go visit relatives in hamburg every christmas and summer and I loved the area.... any pros and cons?
thanks.

[I'minformed2]

Hamburg is in Erie County, where Buffalo is. That area is starting to make a pretty decent economic turnaround after decades of decline. Hamburg is in the southern area of Erie county that gets WAY more snow than the northern half because of it's long shore with lake erie. But there are many winter sports/activities in the area because of that.

[nwff]

thanks, one more question:
I am a firefighter out here in washington, and when i was looking online at the hamburg website it looks like all the fire departments are volunteer. is that the case? I could always try Buffalo that is only like a half hour away isn't it?

[GretchBriBri]

From what I have seen on the local news the fiscal mess that Erie county has gotten itself into has caused many firehouses to be closed down, soooo I don't know how hard it would be to find a job.

Hamburg is nice in the summer, but they get slammed in the winter with snow and wind!

Lately the Buffalo News has been reporting about a rise in heroin use among Hamburg teens and the connection it has to Buffalo- I don't know how bad the drug problem is- just remmebering what I saw a couple weeks ago on the news. Hope this helps.

[nwff]

How far is it to Buffalo from Hamburg?

[GretchBriBri]

I believe it is at least 15 miles to downtown buffalo from hamburg.

[lore9070]

I recently spent time teaching in the Hamburg school district, and can tell you from that standpoint that the system is excellent. Charlotte Avenue, the village school, was recently rated the number three elementary school in New York State. Union Pleasant, which is a much larger and more diverse Hamburg School, has an outstanding special education program. All of the elementary schools have great music programs and extra resources for any learning need- counseling, remedial reading and math, etc. Other great towns near Hamburg that you may wish to look into are Orchard Park and East Aurora.

[Sueb]

I live approximately 15 min. south of Hamburg and to tell you the truth all the small towns around here are all volunteer. Buffalo isn't a great choice in my opinion because they are and have been for quite awhile in a fiscal crisis. We are getting out of here and moving to NC. The taxes and bad weather are a couple of the reasons. We can get 2-3 foot of snow overnite, but if you ski it's a great area. Kissing Bridge is right around the corner from me. Let me know if you have any more questions about the area and I will try to help you out.

[homeward bound]

I lived in East Aurora, which is near Hamburg, for several years. VERY nice town. Kinda pricey real estate, and high property taxes, as people have said. But housing is still a good bargain there, especially considering that many of the houses are very stately. And you do get excellent services for the taxes. Yes, the winters get a lot of snow, even by western NY/Great Lakes standards. But there's still a lot to do, and the town handles the snow quite well. Summers are gorgeous. A nice place to raise a family with a fine school system, good doctors, nice parks, etc. Civilized!

[aquaecny]

Most fire companies in all of upstate NY are volunteer. The only exceptions are the city ones. I was a volunteer firefighter in Stillwater (Saratoga Co.).