Buffalo's undeserved bad reputation (Lexington: credit, living, price)

[cheese9988]

Congradulations, another single digit poster. Its like last week just started.

[Buffalonian4life]

Originally Posted by cheese9988

Congradulations, another single digit poster. Its like last week just started.

Indeed.

[mikesuicide]

Originally Posted by ucanthandlethetruth

I lived in Buffalo for 40 years and thank god me and my family finally left 10 years ago....someone PLEASE answer this question....
Can you buy a shirt and tie downtown?! (no)
If somehow you live downtown can you walk to
a market to buy a head of lettuce?! (no)

Until then, Buffalo will be the sh*thole it has been and
always been.

Why do you think that the Buffalo.com website does not
allow access for web comments like every other web based
news....I'll tell you, because more people have LEFT BUFFALO
than actually currently live there. The majority of comments
would likely come from those who have been fortunate enough to
leave and that commentary would generally not be complimentary...

Well This will be the first time Buffalo's worth was measured by a head of lettuce and mens wear. Let me point out to this poster as I have to others. Don't displace your inadequesies on Buffalo. Your inability to survive here and make a decent income are your own short comings. I'm sure you truly harbor some kind of love/hate relationship with this fine city otherwise you would'nt lurk in its community forums.

[Urban Peasant]

Originally Posted by ucanthandlethetruth

I lived in Buffalo for 40 years and thank god me and my family finally left 10 years ago....someone PLEASE answer this question....
Can you buy a shirt and tie downtown?! (no)
If somehow you live downtown can you walk to
a market to buy a head of lettuce?! (no)

Until then, Buffalo will be the sh*thole it has been and
always been.

Why do you think that the Buffalo.com website does not
allow access for web comments like every other web based
news....I'll tell you, because more people have LEFT BUFFALO
than actually currently live there. The majority of comments
would likely come from those who have been fortunate enough to
leave and that commentary would generally not be complimentary...

Ummm, Buffalo's downtown may lack pedestrian traffic at certain times of the day or week but from what I recall, there were still a few shops there that sell clothes and accessories. Buffalonianforlife already said yes about a grocery place near downtown but even if there weren't any, that should be no surprise. Here in Boston, there is only one grocery store relatively near our downtown and it is an upscale grocery store so not everyone (including myself) can afford it. Grocery stores are just not fixtures in city downtowns yet and if Buffalo has one already, then it has beat out the progress of many other major cities. I don't even recall finding a grocery store in downtown or midtown Manhattan the last time I visited NYC.

I guess I can feel sorry for your hating of Buffalo even after 40 years of living there. On google maps, many parts of your former city look even nicer and cleaner than my home city. I would like to move to the City of Good Neighbors once I get the opportunity. The one thing that is killing Buffalo is the thing that nearly killed Boston years ago and that is high taxes but every other place in the region besides Buffalo is suffering from that. You can't just blame one city for its shortcomings.

[Buffalonian4life]

Thank you Urban Peasant! I am shocked at the knowledge of Buffalo and cities in general you have, well done post.

PriceRite grocery store just opened up a mile from downtown. There's a Tops Food Market on the West Side too. The incredibly acclaimed Washington Market just opened up in a recently renovated beautiful block of the city downtown. The Elmwood Lexington Coop is a fantastic grocery market full of various foods, from fresh "lettuce" to the most diverse and ethnic food spices. A couple days ago, Buffalo saw its first department store to open in the city in over a decade - a Class A Kohl's Dept. Store has just opened up in a beautiful part of the city near Elmwood. Hundreds of shops, entertainment venues, nightlife options and bars, high quality restaurants, and thousands upon thousands of downtown lofts have opened up in the past 9 years alone. This city is on the rise, it might not be no NYC, Chicago, LA, Philly, Toronto, or Boston , but this is a unique cultural area to itself.

BTW - The Ellicott Square building, built in 1896 in Buffalo as the world's largest office buildings for 16 years, has been renovated and houses a downtown mall type market. It includes many Class A retail venues and restaurant vendors. - High quality designer brands have moved into the building as well - for the question of if you can buy a shirt and tie downtown...what an absurd question, and quite frankly, ridiculously ignorant.

Many people have this mindset and it has not broken free from the typical citizen. Word is starting to spread that this hidden treasure of Buffalo is revealing itself in a whole new way, and is a growing, thriving, beautiful metropolis. People have to come here and see for themselves - today!

What's holding this city back is its terrible absurd reputation, and some relatively high taxes. Other than that, we've got it made over here in Buffalo!

[cheese9988]

My wife does most of the shopping (don't laugh), but can't you buy a head of lettuce at a Wilson Farms or a local deli? I could see a coconut or something, but I would think a head of lettuce would be easy to find at a corner store.

[Buffalonian4life]

Originally Posted by cheese9988

My wife does most of the shopping (don't laugh), but can't you buy a head of lettuce at a Wilson Farms or a local deli? I could see a coconut or something, but I would think a head of lettuce would be easy to find at a corner store.

Yeah, seriously. And there are 100's of them in Buffalo.

[BuffaloTransplant]

Originally Posted by ucanthandlethetruth

I lived in Buffalo for 40 years and thank god me and my family finally left 10 years ago....someone PLEASE answer this question....
Can you buy a shirt and tie downtown?! (no)
If somehow you live downtown can you walk to
a market to buy a head of lettuce?! (no)

Until then, Buffalo will be the sh*thole it has been and
always been.

Why do you think that the Buffalo.com website does not
allow access for web comments like every other web based
news....I'll tell you, because more people have LEFT BUFFALO
than actually currently live there. The majority of comments
would likely come from those who have been fortunate enough to
leave and that commentary would generally not be complimentary...

You lived here 40 years and left 10 years ago. Ok, you either were born about when I moved here in the 1960s or are younger.

IMHO, the worst enemies of Buffalo are: 1) people who left Buffalo and 2) Buffalonians who never were anywhere else.

FWIW, I came here in the 1960s and never left ; the city grew on me............I am very happy here- I settled here, worked here, married a "local", raised my (now married) kids here and we still live in the home we got in the early 1970s. Lots of people I know did the same. Now, a new generation is actually discovering good things about the city ... and those who left? Your choice. Our kids did not and have good jobs. Buffalo is what you make of it.

[Buffalonian4life]

Originally Posted by BuffaloTransplant

You lived here 40 years and left 10 years ago. Ok, you either were born about when I moved here in the 1960s or are younger.

IMHO, the worst enemies of Buffalo are: 1) people who left Buffalo and 2) Buffalonians who never were anywhere else.

FWIW, I came here in the 1960s and never left ; the city grew on me............I am very happy here- I settled here, worked here, married a "local", raised my (now married) kids here and we still live in the home we got in the early 1970s. Lots of people I know did the same. Now, a new generation is actually discovering good things about the city ... and those who left? Your choice. Our kids did not and have good jobs. Buffalo is what you make of it.

Wonderful, true post. Indeed you have truly discovered the WNY life. Cheers! ~

[Canerican]

Buffalo does deserve its bad reputation, if it wasn't for the fact that I finishing my PhD here I would be living somewhere else - Alaska would probably be better.

We have idiot politicians that think that raising taxes on the rich, and leaving the average Joe almost zero property right. That plus the massive bureaucracy makes this a horrible business environment.

People had their houses taken due to eminent domain because the governor wanted to make a few Indians happy. How is that right? If I am considering moving here, I am going to look at that and say, "woah, they can force me to give up my property for a private for-profit venture."

And then taxes... we have the 4th highest aggregate county tax in NY, the second highest taxed state. If I am considering a place to set up shop, despite the fact that there are lots of educated people, I will go somewhere where there is less of a tax burden.

Finally, have any of you applied to modify your own home? It's a nightmare. It costs a fortune - to modify your own property.

It upsets me because this place has such great potential. I've lived here for 5 years and think that it is home to the nicest people in the world, but until we see some actual change (not a an oversized bait and tackle shop downtown) Buffalo will continue to have its bad reputation.