Is Buffalo back? (Cheektowaga, Hamburg, Florida: sales, insurance, crime rate)

[Canerican]

I wonder how many of those people took your misguided recommendations & moved to Toledo with its unemployment rate still in the teens? Yes sir, you are really doing a great service to the American people.

Please point me to that post. I never recommended that city. I just pointed out that it was doing better at growing, and might be a better option than Buffalo.

He thinks NY's property taxes are one of the greatest evils in the world (even though those same property taxes help make NY's public school system one of the best in the nation).

With a staggering 65% graduation rate. Which puts it in the bottom 15, while we spend the 2nd most per student. Money get wasted in NY.

I am far from the only one who thinks that taxes are too high.

I can't wait until he gets out in the real world & has to figure out how to pay for his $300K house on his $60K/year salary

Pretty much every city has housing below that price point, unless you are in NYC, Boston, Tampa, Miami, ATL, or parts of the Southwest.

Look at Tulsa, a city far bigger than Buffalo, with plenty to do, housing prices average roughly $140,000, and taxes are less than half of what they are here.

Imagine you pay $4000 for your housing tax, and are paying about 6% income tax on $60,000. You could quite easily find a state where your property tax would be $2000 per year, and income tax would be 4%. That means that over a 25 year mortgage, you could afford $86,000 more on housing, because of saved taxes.

So if you can afford a $150,000 house here, you can afford a $240,000 house elsewhere. The difference is when you retire, you sell your house, and in this other city you have $90,000 more to retire on, because NYS took $90,000 more in taxes than the average state over 25 years.

You might be very wealthy and have $90,000 to fork over to the government, but I am not, and would prefer not give my money so that our government can promptly waste it on welfare programs, and uncompetitive union-only contracts.

---

If taxes were the only problem in NY, most people would learn to live with them, but they aren't.

It's a city rich with tradition, community pride and facts to back it up, unlike some of the people who post all of it's flaws. At the end of the day Buffalo is a personality, if you fit into that personality then its the place for you, if not, then there are plenty of other places in this country that might work for you.

I totally agree. I have said it many times, if you value the arts and whatnot Buffalo is a great city for that. If you are more Conservative, you will feel quite shut out by the area (and seeing as 48% of WNYers voted for McCain, I have a feeling many voters feel disenfranchised by Conservatives being shut out of the political process not only in WNY but also NYS)

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[jblake78728]

NY State's public school system is ranked 3rd in the nation, that is what taxes go toward. Whether or not children take advantage of the quality education they are offered is another matter (which has absolutely nothing to do with taxes). The number of immigrants and refugees we get in the major cities in NY as well as families leaving adversely effect these numbers. Buffalo's graduation rates are low, there is no denying that (as are most inner city graduation rates across the country), the same can't be said for the majority of the suburbs ..........

Hamburg 88%
Frontier 87%
Orchard Park 89%
Amherst 87%
Clarence 92%
Iroquois 93%
Sweet Home 87%
Williamsville 94%
East Aurora 91%
Lancaster 89%
Grand Island 88%
West Seneca 85%
Depew 82%
Cleveland Hill 82%
Tonawanda 80%

Even districts like Cheektowaga, Cheektowaga-Maryville, Cheektowaga-Sloan, Kenmore-Tonawanda are in the mid to upper 70's.

Isn't it just ironic how the suburbs have a more stable population & the graduation rates are much higher?

https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/Co...08&county=ERIE

[jblake78728]

Originally Posted by Canerican

Pretty much every city has housing below that price point, unless you are in NYC, Boston, Tampa, Miami, ATL, or parts of the Southwest.

Really?

Gaithersburg, MD ....... median home value $353,660
Home appreciation over the last year ....... 12.9%

Just today didn't you recommend someone to move there instead of WNY????
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I do know what you are saying but the housing prices in Buffalo are so far below many other cities in the nation that you would have to pay taxes for a long, long time before you would begin to lose out. Its very possible that a $100K house in metro Buffalo would go for $200K (or more) in many other cities. Even if I was paying $2K/year more in property taxes (which is a high estimate) I would have to pay in for 50 years before I exhausted that extra $100K I saved by buying in Buffalo.

DC $346,260
Charleston, SC $238,890
Raleigh, NC $202,480
Cary, NC $269,430
Va Beach, VA $239,890


Buffalo, NY $71,530

Even Hamburg & Amherst come in at $50-$100K below most of these cities.
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At the end of the day its almost all going to come out even (unless you choose to live in Mississippi, Alabama or Louisiana which might work well for you). Either you are going to pay extra for the house or extra on taxes ...... at least when I pay extra on taxes I know I'm getting a deal on my house & know that my tax dollars will provide my children with access to a much better education than what they would have gotten in Texas.

[ckhthankgod]

Originally Posted by jblake78728

NY State's public school system is ranked 3rd in the nation, that is what taxes go toward. Whether or not children take advantage of the quality education they are offered is another matter (which has absolutely nothing to do with taxes). The number of immigrants and refugees we get in the major cities in NY as well as families leaving adversely effect these numbers. Buffalo's graduation rates are low, there is no denying that (as are most inner city graduation rates across the country), the same can't be said for the majority of the suburbs ..........

Hamburg 88%
Frontier 87%
Orchard Park 89%
Amherst 87%
Clarence 92%
Iroquois 93%
Sweet Home 87%
Williamsville 94%
East Aurora 91%
Lancaster 89%
Grand Island 88%
West Seneca 85%
Depew 82%
Cleveland Hill 82%
Tonawanda 80%

Even districts like Cheektowaga, Cheektowaga-Maryville, Cheektowaga-Sloan, Kenmore-Tonawanda are in the mid to upper 70's.

Isn't it just ironic how the suburbs have a more stable population & the graduation rates are much higher?

https://www.nystart.gov/publicweb/Co...08&county=ERIE

Also, considering that 70% of American kids graduate in 4 years, even urban high schools in Buffalo like Hutch Tech, DiVinci, City Honors(one of the best high schools in the country), Buffalo VPA, Emerson and even McKinley are well above that number in the latest graduation percentages for those High Schools. I think Lackawanna has the lowest grad. rate for the suburbs at 71% and many districts in other regions would take that, especially considering the blue collar nature, recent history and urban environment of that community.

Like you said jblake, the graduation rate is based off of various criteria and NY State's system offers a great deal for children to be successful, as well as many private options for children in the metro areas across the state. People also have to think about readiness in terms of education as well.

Upstate NY is actually more of a moderate area in terms of politics. So, to play the "liberal" and "conservative" cards is kind of pointless here, as Democrats and Republicans have been well represented in Upstate NY.

I say go for it, as NY is a state in transition and has always offered a lot for individuals and families. Same goes for the Buffalo area.

[Canerican]

Gaithersburg, MD ....... median home value $353,660
Home appreciation over the last year ....... 12.9%

How much did housing appreciate in Buffalo last year?

Bueller, Bueller, Bueller...

I should have added the DC metro area, I forgot for some reason, and am sincerely sorry, and thankful that you pointed out that I forgot a metro area.

Charleston, SC $238,890
Raleigh, NC $202,480
Cary, NC $269,430
Va Beach, VA $239,890

All under $300,000. It may come as a surprise to jblake that there are actually plenty of cities where you can get nice housing for around $150,000.

NY State's public school system is ranked 3rd in the nation

3rd what? 3rd highest job placement after high school? And ranked that way by whom? The NEA (which loves NYS)

*** As for housing prices. Take a look at the link below and educate yourself, there are MANY very attractive cities where housing prices are right around $150,000. Many of those cities are newer, so the houses will be mostly only 20-30 years old, compared to Buffalo where many are over 100 years old and in decrepit condition.

***PDF FILE***

http://www.realtor.org/wps/wcm/conne...33ff4e813808c1

[jblake78728]

Originally Posted by Canerican

How much did housing appreciate in Buffalo last year?

Bueller, Bueller, Bueller...

-2.3% ..... whats your point?
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Originally Posted by Canerican

All under $300,000. It may come as a surprise to jblake that there are actually plenty of cities where you can get nice housing for around $150,000

$150K is still nearly 2x's as much as what you would pay for a nice house in Buffalo or even some of the suburbs, which doesn't even get into the fact that most of those places are in the entertainment deprived south or worse yet ... Oklahoma or some other dust bowl state. Don't get me wrong if all you are looking for in a city as far as entertainment is bowling & church many of those cities you love (Charlotte,Columbia,Tulsa) are great places ...... sadly, I prefer a wider variety of options. My 3br house w/ 2 car garage in Hamburg was under $95K, my taxes are around $2500/yr. I can walk to the lake or drive to downtown Buffalo within 15 minutes. A similar house in almost any other US suburb would be near or in some cases well over $200K.

If you want to spend double your money on a house + live in an area with inferior schools & less culture so be it, its your choice.

Originally Posted by Canerican

3rd what? 3rd highest job placement after high school? And ranked that way by whom? The NEA (which loves NYS)

This has been posted before in regards to your misinformed rants (several times in fact) but I forgive you for not seeing it as we all know that you completely ignore anything that disproves your fairy tales.

3rd Best: New York
Total Score: 84.1 (out of 100)

Overall State Grade: B
Chance of Student Success: B
School Finance: B+
K-12 Achievement: C-

http://www.walletpop.com/specials/be...-in-us?photo=2

[Canerican]

Gaithersburg was 12.9%. You pay more there, but at least you are making money on your biggest investment.

[jblake78728]

Originally Posted by Canerican

Gaithersburg was 12.9%. You pay more there, but at least you are making money on your biggest investment.

it was - 12.9

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[Canerican]

Oh, I was surprised that the growth was so great since the Beltway has been so hard hit, I misread your post. Oops.

Buffalo tends not go up during the good times, but in the downtimes, like now, it doesn't go down. I don't really consider that a positive, but if you are one who hates risk and can't afford for your house to have a chance of going down, Buffalo may be a very choice (as would Cleveland, Detroit, or the rest of the rustbelt)

[HomerBrink]

Canerican-where are you getting your data from? according to the chart you posted median housing prices in the DC area have fallen 14% since 2006. Most likely that would include Gaithersburg.